CHANGES are around the corner
New namplate and drivers could shake up series in '07
By RICK MINTER

Atlanta The changes NASCAR has made during the past few seasons - a new

way of determining the champion, moving races away from Southern tracks, a new TV package, a glitzier image - have been dramatic, even to the point of alienating some longtime fans.

But even bigger changes are just around the corner. The NASCAR of 2007 will see a foreign nameplate, Toyota, become a major player in the Nextel Cup Series. A Colombian driver, former Formula One driver Juan Pablo Montoya, will join the circuit and drive the No. 42 Dodge for Chip Ganassi, one of his former open-wheel car owners. Racing's most famous female, IRL driver Danica Patrick, could join him. Also, the radically different Car of Tomorrow will be phased in, replacing the cars that have been used in recent seasons.

The changes are on the minds of many as NASCAR's Nextel Cup circuit heads into this weekend's mid-season break.

Three-time Cup champion and Fox analyst Darrell Waltrip sized up Patrick's NASCAR potential during a teleconference last week. He said her diminutive size might be a detriment when driving a 3,500-pound NASCAR race car.

"I'm not saying Indy cars are easy to drive, but I don't think they are as physically demanding as a stock car,"Waltrip said. "That would be a concern if I were her."

He speculated that Patrick might be more interested in getting a raise from her current Rahal Letterman Racing team than in moving to a new circuit.

"She's had a huge impact on the IRL," Waltrip said. "She probably thinks she's a little underpaid. ... She didn't know how popular and how big she was going to be. Now, she's trying to leverage that popularity."

He said from a competitive standpoint, Patrick probably should stay in the IRL.

"She can realistically win an Indy car race," he said. "She could not realistically win a stock-car race anytime soon."

He said it will be a difficult transition for Patrick or Montoya to move to the sometimes rowdy world of NASCAR.

"There's a huge amount of intimidation these [NASCAR] drivers use, like putting the bumper to you to knock and push you around,"Waltrip said. "That takes some getting used to. The first time somebody puts a bumper to you going off into the corner at 180 mph, it is quite an experience; one that you've probably never had before and you're probably not going to want to do again for a while.

"I just don't know how you can jump out of an Indy car or a Formula One car and get in one of our machines, which is the hardest car to drive in the world."

Waltrip said it's not hard to understand why drivers from other circuits are wanting to switch to NASCAR. He attributes the increased interest to NASCAR's diversity program and to Toyota's growing participation in NASCAR (they've been in the Craftsman Truck Series for three seasons while planning a move to the Cup level).

"I think it's a great effort on everybody's part to grow the sport in every direction that we can," said Waltrip, who owns a Toyota truck team. "I've got to give Toyota some credit for attracting the drivers from other series.

"Toyota has relationships with drivers from other series. ... Toyota is going to be there, and that's a new manufacturer. They are going to need drivers and there is opportunity there.

"I think that appeals to the other drivers."