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Former Champion is happy Danica is going back to where she belongs


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Danica Patrick plans to finish her racing career at the Indy 500 in May, and it will be her first race in the IndyCar Series since 2011.

Patrick has spent the past six seasons in NASCAR, so there is some speculation on how well she will do at the Indy 500.

IndyCar driver Sebastien Bourdais thinks the transition will be smooth for Patrick since she has plenty of experience driving in the series.

"I don't think she'll struggle," Bourdais said according to Motorsport. "She's from that background, and a NASCAR is probably harder to drive than an IndyCar in that respect, especially when you've already figured out an IndyCar in the past."

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Related: Cup series driver says Danica Patrick started her career at a disadvantage

Bourdais explained that the stock cars in NASCAR are more difficult to drive because they have such little downforce.

"A NASCAR car has got very little downforce, it's very heavy, and it's not very forgiving," he said. "Once you've turned into a corner and it's too much, it seems pretty tricky to salvage the thing. So I think you see more spins in NASCAR and mistakes because the cars don't allow you to goof around too much and when you get it wrong, you hit something. But things tend to happen at a slow speed so it's a completely different exercise."

Patrick has a ride for the Daytona 500 in February, which will be her final race in the Cup Series. She will have a few months off before the Indy 500 in May.

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Bourdais said Patrick is "great for the sport," so regardless of how she fares at the Indy 500 or Daytona 500, it will be positive for each series that she's participating in the races. Hopefully she can go out with a solid performance.