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Ganassi not very interested in helping Patrick make move to NASCAR

Danica Patrick describes her car's performance following practice Friday in Edmonton, Alberta, for Sunday's Rexall Edmonton Indy.

Published: Saturday, July 25, 2009 9:04 AM CDT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Chip Ganassi said Friday he doesn't believe he's the right car owner to help Danica Patrick

move to NASCAR, and he advised the driver to accomplish her goals in IndyCar before switching formulas.

Ganassi, who owns race teams in IndyCar, NASCAR and Grand-Am, was one of the few car owners with the ability to

offer Patrick a slow transition into stock cars that also allowed her to stay in openwheel racing. But speaking

before NASCAR practice at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he said he's not the right car owner for her potential move.

"My counsel to her was she's pretty close to making that last step in IndyCar racing, and she could easily do

that in the next three or four years and still do (NASCAR)," Ganassi said. "She's one of those athletes that she can

make a lot of turns in her career today and will still be able to make other turns in the future. It's up to her."

Patrick is in the final year of her three-year IndyCar contract with Andretti-Green Racing, and has said she'll

wait until the end of the season to solidify her next move. But she hasn't ruled out a move to NASCAR, a series that

would give the glamour girl tremendous earning potential in both salary, sponsorship and marketing opportunities.

She's currently fifth in the IndyCar standings, while Ganassi drivers Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon are first

and second. Ganassi said he's only "maybe" interested in adding her to his IndyCar lineup, but isn't tremendously

interested in expanding to three cars because of the potential disruption to an operation that's currently clicking.

Patrick initially said her NASCAR interest was primarily in moving directly to a premier Sprint Cup Series team.

She's since wavered and said she'd explore transitioning in through a lower series. She visited several NASCAR shops

in North Carolina last week, including current points leader Tony Stewart's new team.

Because Ganassi successfully eased former Formula One driver Juan Pablo Montoya into NASCAR - in his third

season, he's currently in contention for a berth in the Chase for the championship - he potentially could help

Patrick. But he's comfortable with his five current drivers and isn't looking to make a new hire.

"If she wanted to do NASCAR on a full-time basis, I would tell her there are better places to go and do it,"

Ganassi said. "I don't think our team is in a position to do it. It's a real nice thing having a team of drivers

that are veterans in their specific categories. That's nothing against Danica. In these economic times, you need

less variables. I don't need more variables."


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