Patrick Makes Switch to Andretti Team

By Mark Hoerrner

Danica Patrick has finally made up her mind. No jokes about the fickle nature of a woman to change it, either.

She’s staying in Indy racing, but she’ll be driving for Andretti Green this upcoming season, pairing her with the grandson of the Andretti legacy, 19-year-old Marco Andretti. Patrick, the former 2005 Rookie of the Year, has expressed her gratitude to Rahal-Letterman, her current team, but said she feels the move to Andretti is the right one.

"I've had a very good run, a very good relationship with Rahal Letterman and Bobby Rahal," Patrick said during the announcement. "He helped me when no one else stepped up. And I will be forever grateful for that. But at some point in time, there's just time for a change, time for something new. I feel Andretti Green is going to give me the opportunity to win races, and while Rahal Letterman still can, too, I have to go with what I think is best for my future. I feel like that's the place."

Patrick’s been griping about the way her car has been running with Rahal-Letterman team and has the drive and ambition to clear the pole at Indianapolis. Andretti has made it clear they want to give her the shot, but was not clear on where she really fits on the team. She is now the third driver under contract to Andretti Green for 2007, along with Andretti and Tony Kanaan. If one of the drivers will be leaving, its not clear, especially with Kanaan’s win at Milwaukee recently.

Patrick’s team switched cars this season after what could only be called a dismal start. Teammate Paul Dana was killed before the race season really started, bringing a tumultuous set of emotions to the team and then Patrick couldn’t seem to keep pace with the Penske and Ganassi cars, failing to finish higher than sixth for quite a few early-season races.

The team switched midstream to a new chassis, dropping the Panoz chassis they had been using all season and actually showed some improvement, moving up to a fourth-place finish.

"Obviously, I've been frustrated over the past year, but I promise you even Andretti Green has been frustrated," Patrick said in an interview. "Everybody at some point in time has been. I'm excited to go to a team that has a lot of drivers I can learn from and knows how to win. They've been doing a lot of that."