Juan Pablo Montoya predicted if Danica Patrick had made the switch to NASCAR, she would likely have had a difficult transition from Indy car racing.

At New Hampshire International Speedway, where he will start second in tomorrow's Sprint Cup race, Montoya told the Boston Globe, "You can't race people like you [do in] open wheel," Montoya, a former Formula 1 driver and 2000 Indianapolis 500 winner who took three years to make the transition to NASCAR, predicted Patrick would get "dumped"' if she ran somebody hard in NASCAR, where the on-track respect of your competitors is a key to success.

"I got dumped a lot of times," said Montoya. "You've got to understand: When you come from open wheel, you have a wing. So, you stick that nose in and somebody turns and you get out of the gas because of the wing. You've got a bumper here..."

Although there has been no official announcement, the Indianapolis Star reported yesterday that Patrick had signed a three-year deal to remain in IndyCars with Andretti Green Racing.