Danica delays NASCAR debut

You only get one grand opening, so I've heard. We want it to be the right opportunity.

IndyCar racer Danica Patrick will make her NASCAR debut at a race here on February 20 rather than at famed Daytona International Speedway, she announced Thursday.

Patrick will skip the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) second-tier Nationwide series opener at Daytona to launch what she hopes will be a 13-race stock car campaign wedged around the IndyCar season.

JR Motorsports also expects to enter a car for Patrick the following weekend in a race at Las Vegas.

Patrick's first stock car race will remain February 6 in an ARCA Series event on the eve of her starring in Super Bowl commercials by her car sponsor.

The Nationwide event Patrick will miss features most of the top racers from the elite series who are already at Daytona and preparing to race in the elite-series opener, the Daytona 500.

- The race is basically a Cup race... so is that the right time for me to start or not? - Patrick said. - You only get one grand opening, so I've heard. We want it to be the right opportunity. -