INDY CAR DRIVER DANICA PATRICK SAID WHAT?

Source: IRL Media Relations
Date: 02/20/2008

She said what...? Listed below are select quotes from today’s teleconference, with the approximate time code from the audio MP3 in parentheses.

Q. With the second season with Andretti Green, do you feel a lot more comfortable with the team now since you've been through it once before? DANICA PATRICK (15:00): “I do. This is the most excited I've been going into a season, most comfortable I've felt. This year I feel like excitement is sort of maybe number one to nervousness. Where normally every other year I was more nervous than anything. So I'm really excited about it.

“I feel confident as a driver. I feel like I've really come into my own and feel like I'm able to really push those limits to where I need to be. And I'm just really excited.”

Q. I was wondering what you think this season's going to look like as far as balance of power? Do you see another Andretti Green versus Ganassi deal with maybe Penske not as strong with Sam gone? DANICA PATRICK (33:30): “Well, I think that it's funny. Somebody asked me a couple days ago how do you know who is going to be good like in other sports like football and basketball they have an idea. But in racing you really you know, there are top teams and within those top teams you just don't know until you get there.

“You don't know who has done the best work in the off season to make a difference, to go faster. Because everybody's working, it's just who has done the most and who has been the most successful.

“So I see the top teams as being the same. I see it still being Penske and Ganassi and us. But you know, I wouldn't be surprised if, Penske felt a little bit of a loss from Sam (Hornish Jr.) leaving. I think that he was a major contributor to that team as far as set ups.

“I think while Helio's good and accomplished a lot, and Ryan (Briscoe) is going to be great on road courses, I believe. He's going to be as fast as he was the first year. Maybe it will be a little bit harder. I think that Sam was a great driver in the IndyCar Series. So I'm sure he'll be missed.”

Q. One sort of topical racing related question, what is your take on these open wheel reunification talks and how it could affect your racing? DANICA PATRICK (11:00): “Well, I would imagine I'm probably speaking for many people when we say it's about time. You know it's been a tough process for everybody. It's been disappointing for a lot of people. I think it's distracted and taken away a lot of good sponsors that were discouraged by the split. So I hope this is like a new birth of sponsorship and interests.

“I've always said that fans need something easy. Fans need something simple that's easy to understand. When you try to explain it which, trust me, I barely understood it initially about the two series and everything it's crap. It makes it difficult. So this is going to make everything so much easier.

“We're going to get great races put together. We're going to have all the best events put into one series, and more drivers, and that always makes for more passing, more excitement, more interest. So it's a win, win, win, win situation.”

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