Danica meets Daytona

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – There were many things Danica Patrick didn't know on the first day of an ARCA Series test at Daytona International Speedway on Friday.

She didn't know the track actually was 2.5 miles long.

She didn't know she had to completely change the way she dresses before slinking inside the car – from red balaclava to hair tucked in fire suit.

She didn't really know how she would handle a cumbersome stock car on an expansive oval, though she had an inkling she could.

Patrick got answers to many of her questions, although rains delayed, then shortened her first ARCA test with JR Motorsports – the team with which she will attempt her first 13 Nationwide Series races this season – and despite the anxiety, the pressure and very public nature of her on-the-job training, she seemed to like what she learned.

"The car is different. It definitely moves around quite a bit," Patrick said after logging the 12th-fastest lap of the 26 cars on hand for the test. She was 4.5 mph slower than the leader. "I didn't want to have an accident, but I felt all right. It was fun. I trusted the car. I trusted the preparation of it. I trusted the guys. I trust [crew chief] Tony [Eury Jr.] putting a setup on there that isn't going to do anything horrendous, and it didn't. It was fine. But it's definitely a lot more movement than I am used to in the corners. I'll have to get used to that."

That's just the start of it. Patrick arrived at her race car in the garage bay at Daytona to find she had to completely relearn how to prepare to drive. It's impossible to slip inside the cockpit with the helmet on, like in an IndyCar, and once inside the safety harnesses became unwieldy.

"I felt most disoriented with how the heck I am supposed to get my stuff on?" she said. "I can't get in the car with all that stuff and I can't buckle my belts and I can't do it with my helmet on. So I get in the car and I have to tuck my hair down the back of the suit and I can't do it because I am strapped in and I am just awfully confused, so I decided I needed everything on but my helmet and then get in the car. It sounds silly, right? It's logistics, but they're logistics I am not used to."

So, too, was the stress of being the singular object of attention, even for a driver who already is one of the most recognized in sports.

"It was a bit of a circus out there," she said. "I'm not unfamiliar with having people around, although it does seem a little funny when there is not much else going on. I definitely felt very singled out. I'm lucky for that. So it definitely felt like there is a lot of interest. I definitely felt the lenses of cameras all morning."

And not just from media. The ARCA garage this weekend is filled with unusual storylines, from an Indian and a Chinese driver, a record nine female drivers, Sprint Cup prospects and workaday teams that grind on ill-fitting parts with power tools on pit road or tape numbers to their doors with, well, tape. More than once on Friday, Patrick was approached by competitors hoping to snap a quick photograph.

Even NASCAR president Mike Helton stopped by for a peek.

"I think it's good," he said of the anticipation surrounding Patrick's NASCAR exploration. "I know it's good. It's very high profile, and she's got a good deal of experience with a following. … You take someone with the profile that Danica has, the attention that she attracts, that doesn't hurt, either."

Patrick, who recently signed a two-year contract with a mutual third-year option with Andretti Autosport, said her much-scrutinized partial NASCAR schedule for the next two seasons should be sufficient to learn a completely new car and therefore make an informed decision about her future. However, several drivers, such as Juan Pablo Montoya, who have made full-time conversions from open wheel to NASCAR said a full commitment is required.

"It's actually amazing how much I am learning from Tony [Eury] Jr. and Sr. [JR Motorsports competition director]," she said, adding that fellow driver Kelly Bires texted her all morning asking if she needed any help. "I have a tremendous amount of help. … I am taking in a whole bunch of information, so I am learning a lot and I think it's going to pay off. I'm really, really applying myself for sure."

Still, Patrick's first IndyCar owner, Bobby Rahal, was surprised last week that Michael Andretti signed off on allowing his most marketable driver to dabble in stock cars.

"I presume they have invested a lot of money in her, and if she gets hurt in a stock car, what does that do to their IndyCar program?" Rahal asked. "The IndyCar program is so demanding. I don't know how you find the time for all that, to be honest. But we'll find out."

Yet another question to be answered.