Danica Patrick kicks off busy month in Iowa

NEWTON - Danica Patrick spent last weekend checking off one of the most important things on any maid of honor's to-do list.

The bachelorette party.

One of Patrick's best friends is getting married in September, so Patrick used the IRL's off week between Texas and Iowa to celebrate. While that might seem a tad early to round up the bridesmaids for a bash, the auto racing superstar had a valid excuse.

"I don't have a weekend off until then," Patrick said. "That shows how busy I am."

Patrick's ambitious IRL/NASCAR Nationwide summer slate kicks off on Sunday with the IRL's Iowa 250. Then it's off to the Nationwide race in New Hampshire on June 26, the open-wheel road course event at Watkins Glen on July 4 and the Nationwide race in Chicago on July 9.

The next month will mark the first time Patrick is juggling open-wheel and stock car racing simultaneously. She made her much-hyped debut in the Nationwide series before the IndyCar season started, but she put aside stock car racing to focus on the IRL in March.

Patrick's IndyCar performance has been somewhat shaky so far. Despite a promising second-place finish in Texas two weeks ago, Patrick sits 11th in the points standings through seven races after finishing a career-best fifth in 2009.

But Patrick believes that spending more time in race cars can only help her navigate the difficult schedule ahead.

"I find myself in a car all the time now. I find myself out there on race weekends every weekend, and then testing during the week. I'm doing so much more driving than anything else, which is a definite shift in the schedule, so it's fun," Patrick said.

"It's hard though. You're always on the spot, you're always trying to be faster and faster and up against the clock. But it makes you a better driver. It's helping me to be able to adapt in more situations."

The extra work appears to be finally paying off. After finishing sixth in the Indy 500, Patrick ran perhaps the best race of her IRL career in Texas.

Patrick rode near the front for the entire race, even grabbing the lead 36 laps from the finish before Ryan Briscoe zipped past her for the eventual win.

That performance was arguably better than Patrick's lone IRL win, which came in Japan two years ago. Patrick is hoping what worked in Texas will work well enough in Iowa to pick up her first checkered flag on U.S. soil.

"Texas was definitely, top to bottom, probably my best race. Just driving up to the front, staying up there and being right in at the end," Patrick said.

The buzz over Patrick's burgeoning NASCAR career will kick back up in earnest after Sunday's IRL race.

Once up in Loudon, N.H., Patrick will have to deal with the extra attention while adjusting to stock car racing, a process she acknowledged Saturday can still be overwhelming.

For now, Patrick is trying to focus on Iowa, a track where she's had mixed results. Patrick finished 13th after a mid-race accident in 2007, started and finished sixth in 2008 and wound up in ninth place last year after leading for 24 laps.

"I really just take it one day or one weekend at a time, and I'm not thinking about Loudon at all," Patrick said. "I'm really just thinking of it as another race weekend."

- LUKE MEREDITH,AP Sports Writer