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Recent reports have indicated that Danica Patrick is going to sign a contract to race for JR Motorsports.  Neither Danica Patrick nor JR Motorsports is talking about the rumored deal, but all reports indicate that Danica will run the ARCA Re/Max series as well as part of the Nascar Nationwide Series.  (Her Nascar scheduled might have to coincide with her IndyCar schedule with Andretti Racing.)

There is much controversy over Danica racing in Nascar, but it is my opinion that bringing her to Nascar would boost Nascar’s sliding television and attendance ratings -  almost overnight.  Combine her popularity (in and out of racing) along with the popularity of Dale Earnhardt Jr. (co-owner of JR Motorsports), and you have a one-two punch of Nascar hype that will rival any other in recent years.

To top it all off, Danica and Earnhardt Jr. are both spokespersons for Go Daddy, which is the primary sponsor of the JR Motorsports #88 Nascar Nationwide series car, which brings Go Daddy into the deal.  This would keep a high profile sponsor on a high profile team with the ultimate high profile driver.  Big money.  Big.

I doubt that any announcement, whether a deal is signed or not, will come out in the media before the end of the 2009 season.  But then Nascar could use the publicity as soon as possible. (With Jimmy Johnson and the #48 team taking a commanding lead in the chase this year, the excitement isn’t nearly as thick as it would be if a challenger was rivaling Johnson’s points.) Reports from Texas this week are indicating that “Danicamania” has already taken over the garage area.

All in all, I’m betting that Nascar is on top of this contract signing and almost literally begging her to drive.