Barry Taylor/WireImage.com
Danica Patrick's father says she could be leaving IRL for NASCAR as soon as next season.
Posted on 07/10/2006 11:15:28 AM PDT by Warren_Piece
JOLIET, Ill. -- Danica Patrick's father is exploring the possibility of the popular Indy Racing League driver moving to NASCAR as soon as next year, the Orlando Sentinel reported Monday.
The Sentinel reported that T.J. Patrick, who has managed Danica Patrick's career since childhood, was in exploratory talks with some NASCAR teams at Chicagoland Speedway on Sunday.
"I'm trying to get her here [into NASCAR]," T.J. Patrick told the Sentinel.
T.J. and Bev Patrick, who formerly lived in Roscoe, Ill., attended NASCAR's USG Sheetrock 400 because "we've had some inquiries" from NASCAR teams, T.J. Patrick told the newspaper.
The Sentinel reported the couple was in the Nextel Cup garage area as guests of Roush Racing, which fields drivers Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle and Jamie McMurray and runs Fords on the Nextel Cup circuit.
Danica Patrick's contract with Rahal-Letterman Racing team ends after this season and the Patricks are negotiating with other IRL teams as well as NASCAR teams, the Sentinel reported. The newspaper said team co-owner Bobby Rahal declined comment through a spokesman.
Patrick, who became IRL's most recognizable driver by leading part of the 2005 Indianapolis 500 and finishing fourth, has yet to enjoy similar success in 2006, as Rahal-Letterman has endured a frustrating season.
Rahal-Letterman, which enjoyed a power advantage by running Honda engines in 2005, lost that advantage when the entire league shifted to Hondas for 2006. It was the last team to use a Panoz chassis and struggled to adjust when it finally switched to a Dallara, used by every other team in IRL, after the Indy 500. And the team lost one of its drivers when Paul Dana was killed during practice before the IRL's season-opening race in Homestead, Fla.
I have a friend who refers to the "bar code" as a "lower back tramp stamp".
(Also, I don't know how I left the Butt Paste car out of my scenario.)
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