Patrick can finally get to work

She doesn't have to dodge questions about her racing future now.
BROOKLYN, Mich. (AP) -- For the first time in weeks, Danica Patrick can race without dodging questions about her future.
"I had to lie," she said. "It wasn't anything hurtful, I just couldn't answer."
Patrick will be driving for Rahal Letterman Racing in the Firestone Indy 400 on Sunday, the first race since her plans for next year were announced.
She chose to stay in the Indy Racing League by accepting an offer to join Andretti Green Racing next season after flirting with going to NASCAR.
The only woman in the IndyCar series and its one mainstream star created a buzz earlier this month when her father and agent were guests of Roush Racing at a Nextel Cup event in Illinois.
Patrick insisted her possible move to NASCAR was not just hype.
"I'm not lying when I say we had offers," she said, declining to give specifics. "And, I'm not lying when I said I was interested."
Would like to try NASCAR
"I'm not going to write that off for my future. I think it would be fun, eventually, but my heart is in IndyCar right now. I'm not done here."
Patrick is coming off consecutive fourth-place finishes -- her best of the season in which her average finish has been ninth.
She was the first to qualify Saturday, turning a lap of 213.357 mph that was quickly surpassed by Marlboro Team Penske teammates Helio Castroneves and Sam Hornish Jr.
"I had my best qualifying lap of the day, then the Penske cars go and crush it by 3 mph and make me look silly," said Patrick, who will start 11th in the 19-car field.
Castroneves has the pole for a series-high fifth time this season, posting a lap of 216.777 mph -- 2 mph faster than AGR's Tony Kanaan, who sill start third. Ed Carpenter of Vision Racing qualified a career-best fourth.
Up front
Castroneves, the Brazilian known for climbing fences after victories, will be in the front row with Hornish, Penske's fourth 1-2 start this season, and wouldn't mind if the teammates turned out to be just as dominant when it counts.
"I hope it's a boring race," Castroneves said. "But IndyCar racing is never like that."
That's especially true at Michigan International Speedway, where the IndyCar series has its longest race other than the Indianapolis 500.
The past four IRL events at MIS have featured an average of 18.5 lead changes -- more than any current track on the circuit since 2002 -- with thrilling, three- and four-wide racing on the high-banked, 2-mile oval.
Castroneves likes the way his car is handling, a key factor when all cars have the same Honda engine, but knows he can't get cocky at a track where he finished 21st, 10th and 17th the past three years.
"A lot can go wrong with your car when it takes 400 miles and almost three hours to finish a race," Castroneves said. "The only time you can relax a little is if you have a big lead. Otherwise, you are intensely concentrating because of the side-by-side racing with cars in front and behind you, too."
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