Former Sprint Cup Series driver and Speed analyst has been pulling no punches lately in discussions about IndyCar fan favorite Danica Patrick making a fulltime move to NASCAR next season.
During Sunday's "NASCAR RaceDay" Petty reiterated his opinion Patrick is not ready for a fulltime Nationwide season or a move shortly thereafter to the Cup series.
Here's Petty's exchange with NASCAR RaceDay co-hosts John Roberts and Kenny Wallace on Sunday morning:
On the expected announcement Patrick is coming to NASCAR fulltime in the 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series:
Petty: “I really don’t have much to say on this. So, finally marketing is coming to NASCAR because we know driving isn’t coming to NASCAR. Let’s be serious about this. She ran 12 races last year. She’s made an improvement this year. To run the Nationwide Series, she’s basically going to have to run two full seasons during one. What I mean by that – the IndyCar season is only 15, 17 races. NASCAR Nationwide Series is a tough, freakin’ series. I don’t think she can be competitive. Was she competitive yesterday (Saturday in the Nationwide Series race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal)? Do they give out trophies for 25th? No, I ran 25th my whole life. I never got a trophy for 25th.”
Roberts: They don’t give out trophies for 25th but she was running up near the front when the car broke … in the teens …
Petty: “In the teens! Oh my gosh, Danica’s in the teens (joking). She’s not ready for Cup by any stretch of the imagination. I’ve said this before. I don’t think people realize how good a driver Joe Nemechek, Travis Kvapil, David Gilliland – how tough they really are. She can come up, she can bring marketing, she can sell t-shirts. These people out here (fans) can scream for her and pull for her but she’s going to have to do something on the race track at some point in time and she has yet to do anything on a NASCAR track yet. Give her a chance. I’m all for chances.”
