Patrick 'nervous' about return

The IndyCar star last competed in the series at Las Vegas in April, where on her third NASCAR outing she crashed out of the event following contact with a backmarker, despite showing progress relative to her previous two outings.

Back then she was only competing in stock cars, while this time she is set to switch back and forth between her JR Motorsports Chevy Monte Carlo and the nimble Andretti-Autosport Dallara-Honda for the coming weeks.

Following her race at Loudon on Saturday she will return to the IndyCar Series next week for round nine at Watkins Glen. After that, she is scheduled to race in the Nationwide series at Chicagoland, then returning to IndyCar for the Canadian rounds in Toronto and Edmonton.

Despite doing some NASCAR testing recently at Milwaukee in preparation for her race return, she admits to being uncertain as to what to expect from switching between such different cars over the next few weeks.

"It's really hard to answer how the transition will be, because it's going to be what it is. And it's kind of unknown," said Patrick. "And I've started doing more stock cars, and then went to Indycars. There wasn't much overlap, necessarily. But there was some testing in amongst. But I've gone back and forth, I guess you could say, between the two.

"And they're just so different that you don't get confused, you know? So I'm just looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to getting back to the team, to the fans, to the paddock and everybody in it.

"Everybody was so nice when I first came into the series at the beginning of the year. So I'm just really looking forward to seeing everybody again."

Patrick admits to being nervous about this weekend's event at Loudon, due to the number of unknown elements she faces in what will be just her fourth stock car outing ever, the first at this kind of track.

"I'm nervous because it's new and there's so much to learn about the way a race goes, how the race kind of plays out normally, and the yellow flags and the pitstops and how the car changes over a fuel run and how the tires change," said Patrick. "And there's just so much that I'm unfamiliar with.

"And so that makes me nervous because I care and I want to do well. And I'm not going to know it all the first time I go there, but I hope to do a good job. So I know that people are watching and I want to put on a good show for the fans. I want to give them a reason to cheer for me.

"So I just want to do well. So I'm just nervous for that, as it's all very unfamiliar."

Following a string of good results in her last three IndyCar races, scoring top 10 finishes at Indy, Texas and Iowa, Patrick is targeting a top 20 finish on her NASCAR return, something she hopes to be able to build on in future outings.

"I think it's probably better for me to say like, you know, I hope this weekend I finish in the top 20 or the top 15, and kind of build myself up," said Patrick.

"I didn't really set any expectation levels in the first few races that I did. And I think it would have paid off to do that, even in qualifying, set some expectation levels. Like I've had a tough time because qualifying is so different in those cars, you never experience the amount of grip or the kind of car that you get in qualifying until you're really in qualifying.

"So that takes some learning. So to say, hey, look, qualifying in the top 20 and maybe finishing in the top 15, that would be great. And build myself up from there and then hopefully one day they'll be the same expectation levels that I have in IndyCar."

Patrick crashed on her Nationwide series outings at Daytona and Las Vegas, while she struggled to a 31st place finish at Fontana on her second outing.