[media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignleft” width=”265″]
[/media-credit]Danica may not compete in the IZOD IndyCar Series anymore but she still has a shot to win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this year. On July 28th the Nationwide series will take to the famous 2.5 mile track for the first time in history with the running of the Indy 250.
With the race forthcoming, Danica is excited to get back to a track that she has tremendous past experiences with.
“Part of me definitely feels it is one of the home tracks for me,” Danica says in speaking to SI.com. “If anything my love for that track and my feelings about it are what is going to make the big difference because it puts me in a good mood right off the bat.”
Danica is certainly not the first IndyCar driver to switch to the NASCAR circuit, former open-wheel stars coming to IMS in stock cars have had a variety of success and Danica looks to continue that trend.
“The amount of laps that I’ve run around there definitely helped me about the small details about the track surface and things like that. I think it will help for those things,” Patrick states.
The success that other open-wheel racers have had at the Brickyard in a stock car leave great anticipation for what the driver of the #7 GoDaddy Chevrolet Impala can accomplish at the track. Former 1997 IRL Champion and Indiana native Tony Stewart has won the Sprint Cup race at Indianapolis in 2005 and 2007.
2000 Indy 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya had the car to beat and dominated the majority of the race in 2009 only to be caught speeding on pit road with just 35 laps to go. The penalty issued by NASCAR cost him a victory and produced a heated rant on his radio afterwards. The next year saw Montoya continue his early-race dominance at the track. Though, in the form of an ill-advised call for four tires in a late race pit stop, Montoya again saw his chance at winning fade fast.
Contrary to the generality of open-wheel racers converting to stock cars and struggling for many seasons to come, Indianapolis may prove to be an exception to the observed principle.
With former open-wheel racing stars earning success at Indianapolis in NASCAR, one must wonder the degree of success Patrick can attain at the legendary track. Will the inaugural race at Indy for the NASCAR Nationwide Series produce another magical moment at the Brickyard?
