Patrick seeks second straight

When her first IndyCar victory finally came, as Danica Patrick always knew it would, everything was in place to take full advantage of the moment.

“You want to make the most of this event for everybody – the team, the sponsors, the league and everybody,” Patrick said Friday at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., where she will try to make it two wins in a row on Sunday.

Patrick appeared relaxed and confident after a whirlwind of publicity following her win in Japan last weekend. The frenetic week included a series of TV appearances, dozens of interviews, attending a movie premiere and an outpouring of adulation from her fans and the general public.

“Yeah, I worked my butt off for a week,” Patrick said. “I feel pretty good, though. I think that everything happens for a reason and, if this would have come three years ago on the heels of Indy or something like that, maybe I wouldn’t have been so calm and prepared.”

NASCAR

Tony Stewart earned his second pole of the Nationwide Series season with a lap of 185.308 mph at Talledega (Ala.) Superspeedway. He’ll start first in today’s Aaron’s 312.

Stewart’s other poll this season came in the season-opening race at Daytona, which he won.

But he has never won a Nationwide race at Talledega.

Formula One

Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari was fastest in both practice sessions for the Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona, Spain.

Raikkonen followed up a Ferrari 1-2 finish in the morning session by clocking a best time of 1 minute, 21.935 seconds. The defending world champion, who won at Barcelona in 2005, was 0.05 seconds faster than Brazilian teammate Felipe Massa in the morning with a time of 1:20.649.