Tony Stewart on Thursday said that Stewart-Haas Racing has not made a contract offer to Danica Patrick.

"I have not offered her a job," Stewart said on the Dan Patrick Show. "The one thing I have done is spend some time talking to her about what we think would be a good game plan for her if she decides to come to NASCAR.

"She's talked to us a lot, obviously, because we came from the IRL, like she's doing. She wants a game plan of what it would take to make the switch -- what kind of investment, time-wise, and where should she start?

"You just aren't going to start in the Sprint Cup Series," Stewart added. "You need to run Nationwide [and] Truck races. She doesn't have an ego about it. She knows that she wants to do it right, if she makes this change."

Danica Patrick has been talking with several team owners within NASCAR, gauging what it would take to move to stock-car racing. Reportedly she will drive full time in the Indy Racing League next year

For her part, Patrick said earlier this year that "there's no way of knowing you're ready until you try [NASCAR]. I will be exploring all kinds of options for next year and beyond.

"It's a contract year for me, so I don't know. I think we have to evaluate which teams are interested and go backward from there. What do they want? What do I want? The most important thing for me is to drive for a team that's competitive to win. We'll have to see."

Patrick has continued to negotiate with Andretti Green Racing for at least the 2010 season. "I think we're getting close," team owner Michael Andretti told The Associated Press last month. "She wants to be here. We want her to be here. I've been saying that for a while."

So have others, understanding the draw that is Danica Patrick. "She would be a ticket-selling machine, there's no doubt about that," Humpy Wheeler told the New York Times in April. Wheeler is the former president and general manager of Lowe's Motor Speedway and widely regarded as a top-shelf promoter.

"She would rock the turnstiles. As a woman and a cute girl, she would be a special kind of sensation."

Stewart admitted he would like to have Patrick as part of his racing stable -- if the timing was right. "Would I want her on my team? Absolutely. I appreciate who she is as a person and I think she's the first female that really has a legit shot at doing it right.

"It would be cool to be a part of that, giving her the tools to accomplish those goals and do it right. [But] we don't have a Truck Series or Nationwide Series team, so that's one of the main reasons why we don't have anything to offer her right now. We're not interested in trying to build a Nationwide or Truck series team."