Last year, Danica Patrick and Milka Duno were throwing towels and hurling insults at each other at the Mid-Ohio IndyCar race.  The battle between these two most recognizable female open wheel racers will now spill over into stock car racing, with both set to participate in the upcoming ARCA test next week.

In a long-awaited announcement, Patrick finally confirmed that she will be racing stock cars under the banner of JR Motorsports, co-owned by Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Kelly Earnhardt Elledge, and Tony Eury, Jr.  Patrick is set to drive a limited schedule in NASCAR’s Nationwide Series, before and after her IndyCar racing schedule.

In addition to her new NASCAR responsibilities, Patrick recently signed a contract extension with Andretti Autosport in the IndyCar Series.  She has just one win in 81 IndyCar starts, taking the checkered flag in a fuel mileage race in Motegi, Japan.

In making her announcement to drive her GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, Patrick confirmed that she would be getting ready for her NASCAR debut by participating in the ARCA test next week.  “Our plans are to be at Daytona for the ARCA test,” Patrick confirmed.  “I’m very excited.  We’ve all been working so hard to make this all come together.  It’s time to get down to business and learn these cars.”

In stark contrast to Patrick’s public relations frenzy, Milka Duno announced with little fanfare that she too will make her stock car debut at the ARCA test behind the wheel of Braun Racing’s No. 90 Toyota.  This will be Duno’s first attempt at racing around the Daytona International Speedway in a stock car.

Duno has raced at Daytona before, competing in the 24 Hours of Daytona.  She holds the record for the best finish by a female driver, coming in second place in the 2007 race.

Duno acknowledges that racing in a stock car at Daytona will be very different from her other experiences behind the wheel at that track.  “This will be a new challenge for me and one that I’ve been looking forward to,” Duno said.  “I know it won’t be easy – it will be hard work – but work that I’m ready to take on.”

“My goal was to reach open-wheel racing in the United States and the Indy 500,” Duno continued.  “I just completed my third season in IndyCar and this year I decided not to once again pass on an opportunity to get behind the wheel of a stock car.”

Todd Braun, team owner of Braun Racing, advised Duno that if she wanted to try NASCAR, the first step would be an ARCA test.  “Milka and I met and expressed an interest in her testing for NASCAR and we were more than happy to make that a reality,” Braun said.  “She is a very talented driver and has experienced success in both sports car and open-wheel racing – the natural progression would be for her to drive a stock car.”

These two drivers who are now set to take the track together in stock cars instead of IndyCars have quite a history, primarily of intense dislike for one another.  Their most recent spat came last year at the Mid-Ohio IndyCar race.

Patrick accused Duno of repeatedly blocking her at the race, going to her pits after the race to express her displeasure.  The two got into a shouting match, with Duno twice throwing her towels at Patrick.

In the altercation, Patrick yelled at Duno, “What the hell?  You caused it.  You’re slow.”  In an interview after the incident, Patrick admitted that she really couldn’t even understand Duno.

“She just kind of kept yelling and I just wanted to say, ‘Look, I just want to know if you saw me.’ And that’s it,” Patrick said.  “That’s all I wanted to know.”

Given their past history, the ARCA test featuring these two female drivers will no doubt be interesting and attract a great deal of attention.   One NASCAR driver in particular is looking forward to the two rivals being on the same track together.

“I think it will be good,” 2009 NASCAR Nationwide champion Kyle Busch said.  “It’s definitely a positive thing for the sport of NASCAR.”