Danica Patrick and Dale Earnhardt Jr a Marriage Made in Heaven?

Danica Patrick signed a 3 year deal on September 25th with Michael Andretti, son of racing legend Mario. Danica, like Michael's dad Mario, isn't content with just racing the minimal schedule of the IRL. She is close to inking a deal with Dale Earnhardt Jr on a limited NASCAR Nationwide series ride, possible ARCA and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series rides.

The move makes complete sense. Both Junior and Danica are associated with godaddy.com and both are undoubtedly the most popular two race car drivers in the country. Both also carry the same stigma. Why are they so popular? Neither has won a race in quite a while. Junior is struggling to maintain his position in the top 25 in the NASCAR Sprint Series, while driving for the Hendrick racing team, the most dominant racing team in NASCAR. Danica had a lackluster season without a win and finishing fifth in the IRL final standings.

Danica Patrick never shys away from the spotlight. From her provocative photo shoot for Sports Illustrated http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009_swimsuit/models/danica-patrick/ to her racy godaddy.com commercials, Patrick has shown that she can handle the spotlight. Now all she has to do is rise to the next level and become known as a great race car driver. Although Patrick has won an IRL race at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan she has yet to become a regular in the winner circle.

As for Dale Jr. You can't turn on the TV without seeing Dale Jr in a commercial. Junior is bigger for Wrangler Jeans than Brett Favre http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7nrgf_dale-jr-wrangler-commerical-lenny-k_auto . Attend any NASCAR race and it is a sea of green (formerly red) clad 88 fans as far as the eye can see. Be sure of one thing the announcement will most likely come at Phoenix (Danica's favorite track) or Homestead but it will be designed to get the optimum press.

Here is another prediction for you as a bonus. Dale Jr and Rick Hendrick will make a deal with Ganassi /Earnhardt to buy the number 8 and Junior will be a 50-50 partner with Hendrick on the car. Remember where you heard it first. The windfall from this will be huge. The rabid Jr fans will buy all the new Green 8 or godaddy.com black 8 merchandise and it will be worth millions.