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Driver: Patrick can succeed in NASCAR

(AP)
Updated: 2006-07-13 10:36
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A fellow IRL driver says Danica Patrick has what it takes to succeed if she switches to the paint-swapping world of NASCAR and she's plenty aggressive in open-wheel racing when it's "the right time of the month."

Ed Carpenter, who trails Patrick by four slots in the IRL IndyCar Series' points race, made the comment when asked how Patrick might handle NASCAR racing during a radio appearance to promote Saturday night's Firestone Indy 200.

"I think Danica's pretty aggressive in our cars," Carpenter said Wednesday on WGFX-FM in Nashville.

"I mean, you know especially if you catch her at the right time of the month, she might be trading plenty of paint out there," he said. "But I think she'll hold her own. Who's she's going to drive for is hard to say. I don't think she's leaving, so we'll see."

Carpenter later told The Associated Press he didn't mean to be disrespectful of Patrick by using a female stereotype.

He said he was trying to make the point that Patrick is competitive and already proven as a capable driver. He predicts she'll stay in the IndyCar Series.

"It's obvious when you're around her, she's very competitive," he said in a telephone interview afterward. "I think she has goals that she hasn't accomplished yet in the IRL Indy cars. That's going to want to make her stay."

Patrick, who was a presenter Wednesday night at ESPN's annual ESPYs awards show in Los Angeles, was not immediately available for comment. Brent Maurer, a spokesman for Rahal-Letterman Racing, for whom she drives, declined comment.

There has been wide speculation that Patrick will switch leagues after her IRL contract ends this season. Her father was a guest of Roush Racing at Chicagoland Speedway for the Nextel Cup race last weekend.

Carpenter, who is married, drives for a team owned by his mother and her husband, Tony George — chief executive officer of the Indy Racing League.

Patrick, who won three poles and was rookie of the year in 2005, ranks 12th in points this year, best on the Rahal-Letterman team.

"She's kind of leading the way for her team and putting up the best results for her team. She's going to get shoved around over there just because she's a girl, but I think she's going to be able to hold her own — if she even goes over there," Carpenter said.