Danica to NASCAR a done deal

Danica Patrick may not have formally announced her plans for the 2012 NASCAR season yet, but SPEED open wheel reporter Robin Miller had it all mapped out months ago.

Miller, a longtime IndyCar Series journalist and SPEED.com reporter, predicted as early as Feb. 27 on Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain that Danica Patrick would run the full NASCAR Nationwide Series in 2012 for JR Motorsports. For this video, please visit http://bcove.me/aw72zp94

In the following weeks, Miller stuck to his guns and reiterated his expectation in his weekly Miller’s Mailbag on SPEED.com on July 13, adding that Patrick would run six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races for Stewart Haas Racing in 2012, and possibly the 2012 Indianapolis 500 for Tony Stewart. For this Mailbag, please visit: http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/indycar-millers-mailbag-7131/ (transcription below).

While everyone awaits a formal announcement from Patrick’s camp, Miller’s sources tell him it’s a done deal.

“Danica's people do a good job of closing ranks and keeping secrets, but this isn't a new story, nor is it unexpected," Miller said. “I did a radio show with Stewart a few weeks ago and predicted he'd be running Danica since he'd been so nice to her on track at Daytona and too complimentary. He laughed and said I was usually right about a lot of things but nothing was done. He was after her like a lot of other teams. But this has been inevitable since IMG took over her career. She can make four times the money in NASCAR … I expect Stewart to field an IndyCar team someday, but with GM back in competition, it's a natural for them to run Danica next May and they seem to have GO DADDY's blessings."