Danica Patrick couldn't have imagined tackling a nearly year-round racing schedule such as NASCAR's before this point in her life. But she's 27, established in Indy cars and eager to expand her career.

"I'm finally ready," she said Tuesday in confirming a part-time ride with JR Motorsports, a race-winning stock car team owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Rick Hendrick.

"The schedule doesn't intimidate me as much as it used to." Patrick will get busy in a hurry. After next week's initial stock car test at Daytona International Speedway -- Dec.

18-20 with the ARCA/ReMax Series -- Patrick will prepare for a 2010 season that could swell to as many as 30 events.

There will be the 17 races in the Izod IndyCar Series, including the Indianapolis 500, for Andretti Autosport and a yet-to-be-determined number of Nationwide (NASCAR's second-tier league) and ARCA (an independent series that uses older stock cars) events.

Her first non-IndyCar race will be the season-opening ARCA race Feb. 6 at Daytona. She is not expected to compete in a Sprint Cup race in 2010.

In each series, Patrick will drive a green-and-orange No. 7 car sponsored by GoDaddy.com. Her stock cars will be powered by Chevrolet, with Earnhardt's cousin, Tony Eury Jr., as the crew chief. All IndyCar teams use Honda engines. Patrick said her stock car schedule has not been finalized, but the bulk of the events will be "before and after" the IndyCar season, which spans mid-March to early October.

Patrick's IndyCar team owner, Michael Andretti, said Tuesday she will have no stock car races in May as she concentrates on the 500, and there will only be "two or three" during the IndyCar season. IndyCar is the primary focus," said Patrick, who finished fifth in this year's IndyCar standings. Patrick, the only woman to win an IndyCar race, will have time to decide how to proceed with her career. She is committed to Andretti's team for the next two seasons; the third year of the contract is an option for both parties.

NASCAR figures to be challenging. Stock cars, which are more than twice as heavy as Indy cars, react slower to mechanical changes. Rear-engine Indy cars depend more on aerodynamics. IndyCar is the primary focus," said Patrick, who finished fifth in this year's IndyCar standings.

Patrick, the only woman to win an IndyCar race, will have time to decide how to proceed with her career. She is committed to Andretti's team for the next two seasons; the third year of the contract is an option for both parties.

NASCAR figures to be challenging. Stock cars, which are more than twice as heavy as Indy cars, react slower to mechanical changes. Rear-engine Indy cars depend more on aerodynamics. Because JR Motorsports has proven successful over the years, Patrick said she is "starting to get a little bit nervous that it's time to do my part of the deal and get out in these cars and perform."

Many open-wheel drivers have struggled to achieve the same level of success in stock cars. Aside from Tony Stewart, the IndyCar champion who raced both types of cars in 1997 and '98, only Juan Pablo Montoya has won a Sprint Cup race in the recent era. This was his third season.

While Earnhardt's Nationwide team has won nine races since its founding in 2005, the greatest asset to Patrick will be the support of Hendrick, whose massive organization has won nine Sprint Cup championships with drivers Terry Labonte, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. Hendrick has already become a mentor to Patrick.

Patrick said she also needs all of Hendrick's help, including tips from his extended family of drivers, to ease her transition. Her only stock car experience came during a day of testing "seven or eight years ago" at South Carolina's Greenville-Pickens Speedway. She said she barely remembers what it was like.