Danica Patrick: Will Next Win Come in NASCAR or IndyCar?

It really doesn't matter when Danica Patrick's next win comes, because she continues to be a flawless marketing machine, and her move to NASCAR will only solidify that fact.

Patrick has three more races to run in the IndyCar series this year. Two are ovals and one is the road course at Motegi.

Let's just say right-out that she isn't going to win a race in that series this year, but a top-five on one of the ovals is not out of the question.

The GoDaddy.com girl will run five more NASCAR Nationwide races this year before embarking on a full schedule next year in that series plus eight-to-10 NASCAR Sprint Cup races for Stewart-Haas Racing.

The remaining races Patrick will run in NASCAR this year include Richmond, Kansas Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway, Phoenix International Raceway and Homestead-Miami Speedway.

The race at Richmond's 3/4-mile oval will be a little too chaotic for Patrick, as she continues to hone her skills on shorter tracks. She will be lucky to get a top-15 finish there.

Patrick should run better on the intermediate tracks and may get at least two top-10 finishes with the race at Texas being one of them.

As the season plays out, the driver of the No. 7 Chevy for JR Motorsports will become the focus of even more media attention as speculation about her performance runs rampant.

The 2012 season will find Patrick being possibly the most scrutinized driver in NASCAR other than the owner of her Nationwide car, Dale Earnhardt Jr.

The naysayers don't seem to bother Patrick, and she has faced some harsh, somewhat unfair criticism because of her strong sponsorship from GoDaddy.com regardless of her performance.

Patrick has one win in 113 races in the IndyCar series. She has not won in NASCAR, but her fourth place finish at Las Vegas earlier this season was the highest finish ever for a female in the sport.

There is little doubt that the petite brunette can be a bit scrappy, and she is feeling more confident behind the wheel of a stock car with every race.

Patrick is ready to take on the boys of the NASCAR Nationwide series, and the 2012 season should find her a contender for top-five finishes and even a win.

The move to NASCAR's premier series for the eight or 10 races should be challenging for her as she just tries to get seat-time in the different type of car and gain some trust from her fellow drivers.

Patrick worked well with Tony Stewart at the July Nationwide race in Daytona in the two-car tandem draft. At the time we didn't know how much of a glimpse into the future we were getting.

It would not be a stretch to see her get a win on the high banks of Daytona or Talladega with a little help from a friend.

What could be a better scenario than to see Dale Earnhardt Jr. push his driver to a win at the July Nationwide race on the Daytona tri-oval. It would be the ultimate crowd-pleaser for NASCAR.

Patrick will likely run her first Sprint Cup race at the 2012 Daytona 500 because of the media attention it will attract. However, the pressure of that first Cup race may detract from her Nationwide performance prior to the big race in February.

Make no mistake that this woman is committed to becoming a serious racer in NASCAR who will silence many critics.

For one thing, she really has fun driving stock cars and loves the environment, from the owners to the drivers, fans and variety of tracks.

Patrick has proven that she adapts quickly, and her ability to learn a whole new lingo, deal with the heavy stock cars and learn to give feedback to her team has evolved faster than many expected given her limited seat time.

Patrick will not win in IndyCar this year, and even if she makes an attempt to run the Indy 500 in 2012, it won't bring her a win and will be a difficult task given her Nationwide schedule.

GoDaddy.com is remaining a sponsor with Andretti Autosport, which leads one to think they want Patrick to make another one or two attempts at the Indy 500, so time will tell.

Odds are good that the No. 7 Chevy will land in Victory Lane with a Nationwide win for Patrick either at a superspeedway or one of the intermediate tracks.

Given the strong cars Tony Eury Jr., Patrick's Nationwide crew chief provides, he may just get her a win with fuel and tire strategy.

Just because Patrick may be better-known for her commercial value than her racing achievements doesn't mean she should not be taken seriously when she heads to NASCAR permanently.

Patrick will win a race in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, and it will likely come sometime between the July race at Daytona and the end of the 2012 season.

The attention she brings to NASCAR is icing on the cake.