MONTREAL -- Danica Patrick has kept the motor racing world waiting for the expected announcement that she will move full-time to NASCAR and she wasnt going to let it slip out at a Nationwide race in Montreal. When asked about an ESPN report Thursday that a long-term NASCAR contract was done, Patrick simply said: "Sorry to bore you, but theres nothing new to report." Patrick, who will take part in her first road course race in the NASCAR Nationwide series beginning Friday at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, has been a fixture in IndyCar racing for the last seven years, mixing in stock car action on the side. But there have been strong suggestions for the last two years that she was ready for a permanent move to NASCAR. The report said the 29-year-old will sign a long-term deal that will see her learn the ropes for a year in the Nationwide series with JR Motorsports in 2012 and then jump to NASCARs top-level Sprint Cup with Stewart-Haas in 2013. It said it will be announced next week in Phoenix. It was not known if she would continue to make an annual open wheel appearance at the Indianapolis 500, where she made her breakthrough with a fourth-place finish in 2005. "All I can say is that Ive enjoyed everything in NASCAR -- the discipline, the difference in how you have to race the car -- but there really is nothing like the feel of an open wheel car," she said. "They do such amazing things that just believing theyll do it is half the battle. "And I love the Indy 500, so it is a difficult choice. Ive dedicated seven years to IndyCar." Patrick has been the poster girl for IndyCar, but she would likely do better financially and perhaps on the track amid the much higher visibility and larger fan base in stock car racing. "I think everyone will be relieved once this is over, whenever that is, and we can all move on," she added. Patrick will be a teammate of veteran road racer Ron Fellows of Toronto with JR Motorsports for the fifth running of the Nationwide event on the track known better as the home of the Canadian Grand Prix Formula One race. She was mostly overlooked in her three previous visits to the track early in her career -- once in the Barber-Dodge series and twice in Formula Atlantic. This time, a news conference was prepared at a downtown hotel where she shared the spotlight with 1997 F1 champion Jacques Villeneuve, who will drive the No. 22 Penske Dodge that Kurt Busch won in last week at Watkins Glen, N.Y. Busch will be busy at a Sprint Cup event at Michigan this weekend. It was her first meeting with Villeneuve, who was IndyCar and Indy 500 champ before joining the Williams F1 team in 1996. He left F1 in 2006, and now races sporadically in stock cars, usually for road races. "He was probably the only driver I really wanted to be like," Patrick admitted. "I usually give the answer that I have no heroes or role models and I just want to be the first me, but Jacques was the only one I looked up to and thought man, if I could only do something like that, because of how well he did at Indy, and then won in F1. "I thought it was amazing for a driver to do all that so quickly. This is a cool opportunity for me to race against him." Patrick has only one race victory in IndyCar, in Japan in 2008, and wont be among the favourites on the 2.7-mile Montreal track because she tends to do better on fast ovals than on road courses. But her green Go Daddy No. 7 car is sure to draw a lot of attention from the grandstands. "Shes achieved a lot," said Villeneuve. "Its tough to get into racing as a female. "Its getting better. When I started racing, it was for men and any time a woman tried to come in they got treated badly. Shes a fierce competitor and a fighter, so it was probably good training mentally to have it hard going in. The racing Ive seen, you dont want to mess with her." Forty-nine cars will try to qualify on Friday for the 43 spots open for the race on Saturday. The other IndyCar regular on the track will be Alex Tagliani of Lachenaie, Que., and he will be Villeneuves Penske teammate for the weekend. "I couldnt have organized this if I wanted to," Tagliani said. "Im definitely looking forward to (working with Villeneuve). Its really unique. It will be nice to have him around." The grid also has Australian Marcos Ambrose, who is coming off his first Sprint Cup win on a road track last week at Watkins Glen, N.Y., as well as Carl Edwards, Robbie Gordon and three Wallaces -- Kenny, Mike and Steve. Patrick Carpentier of Joliette, Que., another former open wheel stalwart, will appear in what he says will be his last race before retirement. Defending champion Boris Said is back. Tagliani wishes Patrick well if she decides to leave IndyCar. "I would say that she has been attracted to NASCAR for a while now," he said. "Shes been doing double duty and its a lot of work. "I think if youre going to be successful in NASCAR you have to dedicate yourself to it only. She has a great future in that series, so hopefully shell get what she wants." Asked if losing one of its most recognizable drivers will hurt IndyCar, Tagliani said: "Yeah, but over the last two years Randy Bernard has been working hard not to promote the series with only one name and thats really important. You dont want all your eggs in one basket." wholesale jerseys . Making the Newcastle fans pay for their constant chants of "Luis Suarez -- he bites who he wants," Liverpool produced a ruthless display to win 6-0 at St. James Park as the hosts finished with 10 men. nfl jerseys china . Gasol confirmed his availability for the defending champion on Wednesday after missing last years World Championship in Turkey, where Spain finished sixth. http://www.cheapnfljerseyschinapla... . The star shortstop left Saturdays game against the Yankees after two innings with tightness in his left hamstring. He went for an MRI on Sunday morning before arriving at Citi Field. [url=http://www.cheapnfljerseyschinaplay.com/]jerseys from china . PETERSBURG, Fla. cheap jerseys from china . New York City police say a woman has filed a complaint alleging Marshall punched her in the face at a nightclub over the weekend. Marshall has not been charged in the incident, which the woman says occurred at 3:50 a. EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- While three straight blowout losses have turned up the heat on Minnesota Vikings coach Leslie Frazier and his staff, general manager Rick Spielman says the organization stands firmly behind its head coach and is optimistic things will turn around this season. "Leslie Frazier is not going anywhere," Spielman said Friday. "I am telling you that we are very committed to Leslie Frazier and this coaching staff. And were committed to our players, and everybody is working extremely hard to get this thing turned around." The Vikings have opened the season with six losses in their first seven games, and the defeats have grown progressively more one-sided as the season has worn on. The Vikings came out of their bye week with losses to Carolina, the Giants and Green Bay over the last three weeks and have started a different quarterback in each of those games. Frazier announced Friday that Christian Ponder will start his second straight game when the Vikings play at Dallas on Sunday, a somewhat surprising decision over Josh Freeman, who was brought in three weeks ago to get a shot to become the long-term solution at the position. Frazier said he was "trying to pick the guy you feel like would give you the best chance to be successful on Sunday, and we think thats Christian." Ponder went 0-3 to start the season, sat out the teams only victory with injured ribs, and was benched for two more games while veteran Matt Cassel and Freeman got chances to bring some dynamic play to the offence. All three have tried, and all three have failed, calling into question Spielmans ability to evaluate players at the games most important position. Spielman said he leaves the decision on who plays totally up to Frazier, but did say they continue to evaluate the future of all three players, both in games and at practice. "I know by the end of the year we should definitely have idea on what direction if we have a franchise quarterback on this roster right now, or do we have to go into the draft potentially and look for a franchise quarterback, or where do we go at the end of the season," Spielman said. "But if you dont have them in your building to get a fair assessment and true evaluation, this will give you a clearer picture of the direction you have to go at the end of the year.dddddddddddd" That they still dont know is one of the biggest reasons theyre in last place in the NFC North this season. Spielman has long been one of Ponders biggest backers in the organization, and he spoke confidently before the year began that the former 12th overall draft pick would break out in his third season. That hasnt happened. Ponder is completing just over 60 per cent of his passes with just two touchdowns and five interceptions on the season. He has looked skittish in the pocket and had difficulty making plays on third down to keep drives alive. "I understand outside the building theres not as much patience as there is inside the building because you know the development," Spielman said. "But the biggest thing we talked about was where Christian was more consistent toward the end of (last) season, we probably havent seen that same consistency through the first part of the season. "Now if he ends up being our starting quarterback and playing the rest of the games and you see him come on and see that he is playing consistently, then maybe he is the guy were going to go into the future with. " Freeman had a rough debut against the Giants, completing 37 per cent of his passes and looking completely unprepared to play. He missed last week with a concussion and Spielman said the team could still evaluate him at practice if hes not playing in games. "If Christian Ponder is playing the rest of the year and were winning games, Im totally fine with that," Spielman said. "Our goal is to win ball games and whatever we have to do to get this turned around to win games, were going to do." As patient as the organization appears to be with the coaching staff right now, Spielman did say the only way they will measure success going forward is by victories. He complimented Fraziers leadership and ability to keep the players focused during such a tough start. But in the end, wins and losses will likely make the decision. "Were not in this business not to win," Spielman said. "Its just expected. You expect to go out and win and you expect to go out and win every week and thats what this business is about, is getting wins." cheap jerseys cheap jerseys ' ' '