Danica makes NASCAR move official

IT'S OFFICIAL: Danica Patrick is switching to NASCAR next season.

Patrick will run a full Nationwide Series schedule for JR Motorsports, and a limited Sprint Cup schedule for Stewart-Haas Racing, with intentions of racing a full Cup schedule in 2013.

Patrick, 29, made the expected announcement yesterday at her sponsor's GoDaddy.com headquarters in Phoenix.

"For breaking news that will shock the world . . . I'm excited to finally be able to finally say it," Patrick said.

Commenting on Patrick's decision, Cup driver/co-owner Tony Stewart said: "The thing you see in Danica right away is how determined she is to be good at what she does. She's very dedicated to taking the time and effort to make the transition from IndyCars to stock cars. She has talent, she has the right mindset, and she has the proper drive and determination."

Patrick is hugely popular in the IndyCar series despite winning only one race in 111 starts. She was the first woman to win an IndyCar race when she won at Motegi, Japan, in 2008. Driving for Andretti Autosport this season, Patrick is 12th in the IndyCar points standings.

NASCAR veteran Kyle Petty, now a Speed channel analyst, expressed the opinion of skeptics earlier this month when he said: "She is not ready for Cup. This year [though], she has made tremendous improvement. She has made a huge jump from Year 1 [in Nationwide] to Year 2."

Patrick has three top-10 finishes in 20 Nationwide races over 2 years, including a career-best fourth this year at Las Vegas.

IndyCar officials fined driver Will Power $30,000 and placed him on probation for the remainder of the season for making profane gestures toward control-tower officials during the Aug. 14 Izod IndyCar Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The Australian driver was upset that the race was restarted on a slick racing surface.

Power can work off the fine by making a series of public appearances on behalf of IndyCar throughout this season.