IndyCar ready to stop driver exodus to NASCAR

The key is keeping budding standout Danica Patrick.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — When the subject turned to NASCAR, Graham Rahal sounded just short of disrespectful.

The youngest driver to win an IndyCar race apparently didn’t receive the memo that every open-wheel racer is just biding his time until he — or she (we’re talking about you, Danica Patrick) — gets a chance to cash in on America’s most popular form of motor sports.

“This series has more potential than NASCAR,” the 19-year-old Rahal said with a bit of disdain. “I think NASCAR has peaked. It’s not going to get more popular than it already is. Besides, I think the racing over here is more exciting.”

Could it be? Is IndyCar becoming a destination rather than a steppingstone?

No one disputes the outlook for American open-wheel racing is brighter than it has been in more than a decade. But the series still faces a huge challenge: keeping its stars, especially with that cash machine known as NASCAR ready to scoop up the best talent.

When the green flag waves Sunday for the Indianapolis 500, the 2006 winner of the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” will be getting ready to crank up his Dodge in North Carolina. Sam Hornish Jr. left for NASCAR after last season, deciding the money was just too good to pass up.

Defending Indy 500 winner and series champion Dario Franchitti also jumped to Sprint Cup and one quick look at the 43-car lineup for Sunday’s NASCAR race reveals plenty of guys who parked their open-wheel careers in favor of cars with fenders and bumpers. Tony Stewart. Juan Pablo Montoya. Casey Mears. AJ Allmendinger. Robby Gordon. Patrick Carpentier. J.J. Yeley.

And that doesn’t even include those who likely would have gravitated toward Indy in another era, native sons such as Ryan Newman (born in South Bend) and four-time Sprint Cup champion Jeff Gordon, who was raised in the Hoosier state.

Just this week, Helio Castroneves, a two-time Indy 500 winner whose contract with Penske Racing is up at the end of the year, was grilled about his reported interest in NASCAR. While denying he’s ready to jump, he conceded he’s at least looking at his options.

But the one driver IndyCar can’t afford to lose is Patrick. Three years ago, she sent people running to their televisions with a stirring run as an Indy 500 rookie. She’s back as one of the favorites this year, bolstered by her first career win.

Although Patrick is the series’ most popular — and, in all likelihood, highest-paid driver — she certainly will test the NASCAR waters when she’s ready to negotiate her next contract. But Patrick, who was born in Wisconsin and raised in Illinois, the heart of IndyCar’s fan base, insists open-wheel cars are her first love.