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Daytona ready for Patrick, but is she ready for it?

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By Greg Billing, Staff Writer 11:26 PM Monday, February 8, 2010

From her on-track exploits to her television commercial ... well, uhm ... exposure, I find Danica Patrick entertaining.

But I also take the Indy Racing League star turned NASCAR stock car driver with a little bit of skepticism.

Her announcement on Monday, Feb. 8, is no different.

The entertaining: Patrick will make her NASCAR Nationwide Series debut this Saturday.

The skepticism: With just one stock car race on her resume, I’m not convinced Daytona International Speedway is the best place to do it.

By most accounts, Patrick handled herself well by finishing sixth in the ARCA race at Daytona last Saturday. But jumping from ARCA’s competition to the Nationwide Series — especially with some of the Sprint Cup regulars competing to get additional track time before the Daytona 500 — is quite the leap.

Throw in the 2.5-mile superspeedway, where the Big One is always one tap away, and it should prove a challenging task.

Tony Eury Jr., Patrick’s crew chief, and team co-owner Kelley Earnhardt both think Patrick is ready to challenge the good ol’ boys.

I hope so. I’ll be rooting for Patrick to do well. It would be a boost to up-and-coming female drivers trying for their big break in stock car racing. And it would likely mean she avoided the Big One.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2400, ext. 6991, or gbilling@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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