Loose lips supposedly sink ships – but they also may have inadvertently revealed which IndyCar team Danica Patrick will race for in May’s Indianapolis 500.
Patrick was at NASCAR Media Day Wednesday at Daytona International Speedway when she was asked about how she’ll transition from racing in The Great American Race this Sunday to the 102d running of The Greatest Spectacle In Racing at Indy on May 27, slated to be the final race in Patrick’s long and varied motorsports career.
Apparently she’s put all her energy thus far into her last NASCAR race because she followed with a slip of the tongue.
“I didn’t have time to meet up with Ed and the people … did I say that? Whoops. I’ve never done that in my career.”
#IndyCar ... Slip of the tongue by Danica Patrick on plans to drive for Ed Carpenter Racing in the Indy 500. Asked about transition to IndyCar, she said:
— Dustin Long (@dustinlong) February 14, 2018
"I didn't have time to meet up with Ed and the people ... did I say that? Whoops. I've never done that in my career.''
If you think about it, Carpenter is the only “Ed” among major IndyCar owners. What other conclusion can be drawn?
Patrick announced Monday that her Indy 500 plans are complete, but she left out the biggest detail – which team and team owner she’d race for.
Carpenter told the Indianapolis Star late last week during the open IndyCar test in Phoenix that while no deal had been struck yet with Patrick, he did confirm he has been talking to her and her representatives about a possible partnership.
“Yeah, there’s conversations that have taken place and are taking place,” Carpenter told the Indy Star. It’s just, timing is always the hardest thing.
“We’ll see what happens. I know Daytona is coming up and I’m sure that’s her focus is there right now. … We’ll see how it plays out.”
Carpenter does not appear to be concerned at the potential media circus that would surround her racing for him in the 500, much like last year’s juggernaut around F1 driver Fernando Alonso.
If anything, Patrick racing for ECR would be a huge boost for Carpenter’s own operation not only on-track, but also off-track with souvenirs and the like.
“There are a lot of positives that I see in having a program that would involve Danica and being a part of her final race,” Carpenter told The Star. “(The month of) May in general is pretty crazy. There‘s so much going on.
“Managing your time and focus is always key, so I think those challenges would be the same, maybe just under a bigger microscope. But that challenge of maintaining our focus and sticking to the gameplan is the same every year.”