Stewart: Danica "serious'' about racing in NASCAR

 

Tony Stewart says it's more a matter of when Danica Patrick comes to NASCAR then if after meeting with her recently at his shop (her second visit there this year).

 

What it looks like is likely to happen is that Patrick will remain in the Indy Car series but then do some Nationwide races on her free weekends.

 

Also a few other things to note from the track Saturday but back to Danica and Tony first.

 

Tony Stewart on Danica Patrick visting his race shop recently for a second time:

 

"We're just trying to help her. She's really come to us for a lot of advice about what to do, and I think a lot of that is that she understands that I went through the same thing she went through. We've known each other through different personal services deals that we both had and some shows that we've done together when we've had time to actually sit and talk. We just seem to get along real well. I know that she's talked to a lot of teams in NASCAR right now and she's trying to figure out what it is she wants to do or how she wants to go about it. I took her down and I told her that "Your seat is going to be a big part of it, no matter where you go, so we sat and got her down there and tried to give her an example of where her seats needed to be in the process. Just spent some time while she was in town just answering her questions more than anything. It's not so much us asking questions as she's asking our opinion of what do we think right now. I'm glad to be there to have someone to bounce ideas off of. I'd love to see her come. I think it would be awesome for our sport if she could could come over here and be out here and be successful.''

 

Q: Is it your impression that she's serious in considering NASCAR as opposed to using it for leverage (with Indy Car)

 

TONY: I know that she's serious about it.

 

Q: Are you going to be her next boss and teammate?

 

TONY: No. Like I said she's come over just talking about things right now. I kinow that that's what she wants to do. She looked me straight in the eye and said this is what I want to do, it looks like fun. It looks like a lot of work, but it looks like fun. I don't think she has some misguided idea that it's going to be easy doing it. She wants to do it the right way.  She has the intentions of doing everything right.

 

Q: Sounds like she's leaning toward IRL schedule with some Nationwide races. Is it easier for her to talk to you because you don't have a Nationwide program. She can come to you and you're not trying to put her in a car.

 

TONY: She wants to know how to make the transition more than anything. She's trying to put together her IRL deal and try to figure out how to transition that into NASCAR. I think she's trying to do it the right way. She's not just cutting the cord and then all of a sudden jumping into a car she's not familiar with. She wants to stay successful with where she' sat but at the same time ... try to figure out a way to be able to drive and get some seat time in a car to where she can start learning to where when she does come.

 

Q: Matter of her coming to NASCAR more when then if

 

TONY: I think so. I think she really wants to do it, it's just trying to figure out the time frame and waht steps should she take to dod it right and show everybody that she wants to do it the right way.

 

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Erik Darnell makes his Cup debut this weekend. He'll drive in seven of the last 12 races in the No. 96 car that Bobby Labonte has been in all season. The move was made because the team didn't have sponsorship for seven races and Darnell and Roush Fenway Racing (Darnell is a development driver for the team) came up with sponsorship for him. Darnell knows this is a make-or-break opportunity for him in Cup.

 

"Obviously, I have to go there and show that I’m able to do this and I’m capable of doing this in a Sprint Cup car because this is where I want to be down the line,'' he said. " To tell you the honest truth, I don’t know that I have anything lined up next year yet on the Nationwide side or the Cup side or anything like that, so I think this is kind of my opportunity to go out there and show that I can run in these cars. 

 

 "Being a young racer, this has always been my dream to make it to this level and this is gonna be my chance to go out there and show what I can do, but as far as plans for next year or anything set in stone, there’s nothing there yet.  It’s all gonna depend on these seven races.  Hopefully, they go well and we can turn that into something, but as far as these go, that’s all I’ve got right now.”

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# Bootie Barker, replaced as Michael Waltrip's crew after Bristol by Gene Nead, is back in the Cup garage as a crew chief. Barker remains with Michael Waltrip Racing and is on loan to Max Papis and Germain Racing. Recall that Germain Racing and MWR have a technical alliance.

 

# Carl Edwards was using crutches to get around the garage Saturday. Matt Kenseth will be available as a backup driver should Edwards need it in Saturday night's Nationwide race.

 

# Scott Miller, crew chief for Jeff Burton, also is serving as director of competition now for Richard Childress Racing after the reorganization. Miller says it's a move the team looked at making last year but didn't. Miller's role is to better integrate what the engineering staff back at the shop is doing to help the teams at the track and other ways the shop can be more effective. The engineering role is key with some of the cutbacks at Chevrolet with its racing program. Teams are going to have to do some things more for themselves than they had to in the past.

 

# For those who question if Tony Stewart's team has gone through enough battles this season to be ready for the rigors of the Chase, crew chief Darian Grubb notes his team has had to go to a backup car about five times this season and says he's confident in his crew.

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