Danica Announces Stock-Car Deal

PHOENIX — Long rumored to be headed to at least a part-time job driving stock cars, IndyCar star Danica Patrick finally confirmed Tuesday that she will team with NASCAR favorite Dale Earnhardt, Jr., for a limited schedule of races in 2010.

Patrick recently confirmed a three-year contract extension to race in the IRL IndyCar Series with the team of former star driver Michael Andretti. It was revealed Tuesday that she will also drive a No. 7 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports in an unspecified number of races in NASCAR's second-tier Nationwide Series and in one ARCA RE/MAX Series race in 2010, the start of a two-year agreement.

Web site hosting service GoDaddy.com will sponsor both her IndyCar ride — which also carries No. 7 — and her stock car.

"It's been a long time coming, but the stars finally aligned for me with GoDaddy and JRM," Patrick said.

Patrick exploded onto the racing scene in 2005, becoming the fourth woman to compete in the Indianapolis 500 and the first to lead the famous race. She finished 4th.

She won her first — and so far, only — IndyCar victory at Motegi, Japan, in 2008, in her second season driving for the Andretti team.

Patrick is scheduled to take part in an ARCA practice session next week at Daytona International Speedway. ARCA stock cars are very similar to NASCAR machines, and the Toledo, Ohio-based series opens each season with a 200-mile race that is part of Speedweeks activities leading up to the Daytona 500.

Inside Line says: There's no questioning the star status of Patrick, but there are plenty of skeptics about her chances of succeeding in NASCAR, where open-wheel stars such as Sam Hornish, Jr., and Dario Franchitti have struggled. — David Green, Correspondent