TALLADEGA, Ala. — Danica Patrick is a big topic in NASCAR garages again.
The renewed buzz at Talladega Superspeedway stems from Patrick’s first IndyCar Series win, with NASCAR drivers and team owner Jack Roush discussing the daunting challenges of a move from open-wheel racing for anyone, male or female.
Patrick’s win Sunday in Japan made her the first woman to win a major open-wheel race.
“It’s not clear because she won an open-wheel race that it would be a straightforward thing for her to step into a stock car,” said Roush, adding that officials with Roush Fenway Racing had spoken to Patrick in Phoenix before her win as well as last year. “Quite to the contrary, I think she’d have to get comfortable with it and the people around her would have to get comfortable with it.”
Likewise, Sprint Cup points leader Jeff Burton talks about the potential challenges for any such move, regardless of gender. He has little doubt that a woman can succeed in NASCAR and was “really impressed” with Patrick’s win.
“I think it’s a harder transition to go from an open-wheel type car to this than people think,” Burton said. “I don’t know if she can do it or not. Ask (Juan Pablo) Montoya how hard this is. I’m not saying we’re better drivers. What I’m saying is it takes different stuff, a different driving style, to run well in these cars.”
Kevin Harvick had a similar sentiment.
“It’d be interesting to see how she’d do here,” he said. “I think this is a much more competitive garage than what they have over there. I think it would be a little tougher road to hoe than what she has there.”
STILL UNDECIDED: Kyle Busch will go for his fourth consecutive win in the Nationwide Series race Saturday, but the hottest driver in NASCAR is still not certain he’ll run for that series title.
Busch, who won in Texas, Phoenix and on the road course last weekend in Mexico City, came into Talladega Superspeedway ranked third in the Nationwide standings. He’s not scheduled to run the entire season, but his hot start this year has many wondering if he’ll fill the calendar in an effort to race for the title.
He said Friday he still hasn’t made up his mind.
“It’s undecided and we’re not running for it right now,” Busch said. “We’ll see how it goes. We’ve got some things that we’re working on to try to fill in some races. We don’t have all the sponsorships sold, so we’ll see.”
Busch, who is ranked second in the Sprint Cup standings, also seemed nonplussed about his string of wins in the Nationwide Series.
“You just try to come out and win as many races as you can and thankfully we’ve been capable of winning three in a row so far,” he said. “So hopefully we can get eight, 10 in a row, however many, it don’t matter. It’s very cool that we’ve got three, and we’ll just keep going.”
KEEPING IT CLEAN: Kevin Harvick Inc. has implemented a different type of testing the past couple of weeks.
The racing team has started a random drug testing program since recent revelations that former Nationwide and Craftsman Trucks driver Aaron Fike had taken heroin on some race days.
“The whole company will be tested within the next week,” Harvick said. “We’ve got most of them done. We haven’t had any failures yet, so that’s a good thing.”
An outside company was hired to administer the tests, and he said all the drivers and crew chiefs volunteered to go to the drug-testing facility. Harvick is hoping NASCAR will adopt a similar policy to help keep the sport clean. He initially approached officials pushing that idea last season.
“If you wreck or something and you have to go through the infield care center, it should be just standard procedure to take a drug test even if you’ve been through there 10 times in 10 weeks,” Harvick said. “I think that would fix a lot of the questions that we have and be a pretty simple solution.”
NASCAR’s substance abuse policy is based on “reasonable suspicion” and allows drug tests anytime. Fike and his fiancee were arrested in the Kings Island parking lot outside Cincinnati in July.
DALE’S BOOTCAMP: Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the U.S. Navy are teaming up in a national recruiting effort. They have announced the formation of the Dale Jr. Division, an 88-person boot camp division at Recruit Training Command.
Earnhardt will drive his No. 83 Chevrolet sponsored by Navy in the Nationwide Series race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on May 24. That’s when potential sailors will be able to start signing up for the division at their local recruiting station.
“I’m honored to be a part of the Navy’s first-ever national recruiting campaign, and I look forward to going up to Great Lakes to commission them once all 88 recruits are in place,” Earnhardt said in a statement.
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