Patrick stays in IRL

CHICAGO -- New team. Same circuit.\nDanica Patrick is making a move, but she's staying with the Indy Racing League, for now. A switch to NASCAR will have to wait.\nThough she isn't ready to give up the speed of open-wheel racers for the popularity of stock cars, Patrick wants a change.\nOne of the IRL's most popular drivers in years signed Tuesday with Andretti Green Racing, which has produced two straight series champions and last year's Indy 500 winner.\n"They're a very good team," Patrick said. "They have won races and championships the last couple of years. As a driver, that's something that sticks out and is something I want to be a part of."\nHer current contract with Rahal Letterman Racing expires at the end of the season, and she toyed with the idea of joining NASCAR, a possibility she left open for the future.\n"NASCAR is not out for good," she said. "It's out for right now."\nPatrick said at a news conference her "heart and soul" are with the IRL, so she's staying. She will start driving for the team led by Michael Andretti in 2007.\nPatrick burst on the scene in 2005 when she nearly won the pole at the Indianapolis 500 as a rookie, then went on to become the first woman to lead laps at the Brickyard and finished fourth. She was also named IndyCar rookie of the year.\n"She has made it very clear that one of her goals as a driver is to win the Indianapolis 500," Andretti said, "and we are looking forward to giving her a great opportunity to do that."\nPatrick is the third driver under contract to Andretti Green racing for 2007, joining Tony Kanaan and 19-year-old Marco Andretti, Michael Andretti's son and the sport's other budding young star.\nPatrick has finished fourth in back-to-back races and is currently ninth in the IndyCar standings, but her Rahal team had problems this season before switching to a more competitive chassis.\n"I've had a very good run, a very good relationship with Rahal Letterman and Bobby Rahal," Patrick said. "He helped me when no one else stepped up. And I will be forever grateful for that.\n"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."\nPatrick and AGR officials didn't release the length or terms of the deal.\nBrent Maurer, Rahal Letterman's director of public relations, said: "She told us she's leaving and we wish her well in her future endeavors."\nPatrick's father, T.J., caused a stir earlier this month when he showed up at a Nextel Cup race at Chicagoland Speedway and told a Chicago Tribune reporter that Patrick was interested in switching to NASCAR.\nBut for now, the IRL is keeping one of its most popular drivers.\n"She's been an important part of our growth and general awareness," IRL president Brian Barnhart said. "We're excited that's going to continue in the future."\nPatrick's year got off to an awful start, as teammate Paul Dana died in a warmup session for the season-opening race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. IRL ran the race, but the Rahal-Letterman team withdrew.\nIt didn't get much better after that, as the Rahal-Letterman cars weren't able to keep pace with the dominant Penske and Ganassi teams. Through the first eight races, her best finish was sixth.\nBut the team began to turn things around after switching from the Panoz chassis to the more competitive Dallara. After the Milwaukee race Sunday, she credited her team for working hard to make the midseason switch.\n"We've struggled a bit with the transition of cars, but we're getting the hang of it," Patrick said. "It's just time for a change."\nAndretti Green also has had a difficult time keeping up with Penske and Ganassi this year. When AGR driver Tony Kanaan won at Milwaukee on Sunday, it was the first non-Penske or Ganassi car to win this year.\nThe Andretti father-and-son combo had a surprising run at Indy, with Michael leading the race late and Marco nearly winning it before Penske's Sam Hornish passed him in the final stretch.