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Danica Patrick is said to be looking for a high six-figure fee for every NASCAR race she decides to drive in.
Meanwhile the “will she won't she” debate over her switch to NASCAR continues.
The Raleigh News and Observer newspaper says there are reports circulating that the Irish-American driver is intent on getting a high price for her participation.
"We've talked to her and we're trying to make all the pieces fit to see if there's something we could do together,” said Rick Hendrick, who is part owner of JR Motorsports, where Patrick would likely end up.
“But her IRL schedule comes first and we have to see if it would all work.”
“From my limited involvement, money has not been a big issue,” Hendrick said recently. “I see her as wanting to make the right move, not being in a hurry, not saying she can come out here and run a Cup car and whip these guys.
“She's doing it in a very methodical way and I have not seen her make any mistakes yet. We're all just looking at how it could be good for everybody if this is the place and JR Motorsports is where she ends up.
NASCAR president Brian France said: “Danica has obviously taken a very hard look at this sport. I think she's thinking about it. I don't know what she'll do.
“She has a lot of talent. She will be good for NASCAR. How well will she perform is like any other driver than comes through the front door and sits in the car: you never know until they do it. She probably doesn't know.”
Patrick was the first woman to win an Indy Racing League event and she led for a lap in the Indianapolis 500, but she has stern critics who do not believe she can make the transition from open wheel racing to stock cars.
“For an Indy car driver, stepping into these beasts is something else,” H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler, former president of Speedway Motorsports, told the Raleigh newspaper .
“It's like getting out of a high-speed, twitchy jet that you've been landing on an aircraft carrier and stepping into a bulldozer. A bulldozer can hurt you. You have to learn how to stop that weight.”
If Patrick succeeds, however, there are exciting times ahead.
“She'd be the biggest thing since Dale Earnhardt and Dale Jr.,” former Sprint Cup champion Dale Jarrett said.
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