Although admittedly there is no fresher face in a new place than Danica Patrick at JR Motorsports, Ms. Patrick is only part of the larger story when it comes to what's new in 2010 for the Nationwide Series.

Patrick, the marketing dynamo who will run at least 12 Nationwide races and possibly 13, already has exploded onto the series scene even before she's run her first event. She announced earlier this week her tentative schedule -- reiterating again what she first said Dec. 11 when her signing with JR Motorsports became official: She will decide whether or not to run in the season-opener at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 13 only after seeing how it goes for her in a Daytona ARCA Series race on Feb. 6.

Keselowski

If she doesn't participate in the Nationwide race at Daytona, Patrick will make her series debut the following Saturday, Feb. 20, at Auto Club Speedway in California. She is committed to running that race no matter what she ends up doing in Daytona -- and has made it clear again and again that she expects to do well.

"I always have high expectations for myself," said Patrick, who has built her part-time Nationwide plans around the full IndyCar season that she also will run.

Expectations always are high at JR Motorsports, which will have driver Kelly Bires replace Brad Keselowski this year in its full-time car, the No. 88 Chevrolet that Keselowski drove to four wins and third place in the standings a year ago.

Among the other new faces in new places for the series are:

• Keselowski switching from the Chevy he drove the previous two years for JR Motorports to his new ride at Penske Motorports. Along with Roush Fenway Racing's Carl Edwards, Keselowski rates as one of the favorites to challenge for the Nationwide Series title as last year's champion, Kyle Busch, is cutting his schedule to approximately 25 races for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Scott

• The only Cup regular besides Keselowski and Edwards planning to run a full-time Nationwide schedule is Paul Menard, who will drive Fords on the Cup side for Richard Petty Motorports and for Roush Fenway on the Nationwide side. In addition to fielding the full-time entries for Edwards and Menard, Roush Fenway will run two rookie programs -- one for Colin Braun in the No. 16 Ford and one for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in the No. 6.

• Braun Racing has been busy with plans to expand its Nationwide operation to four full-time teams. Jason Leffler, who finished fourth in points last season, will be splitting his 2010 schedule between the No. 38 and the No. 10 Toyotas, planning to run a total of 27 races in the No. 38 and switching to the No. 10 when Cup driver Kasey Kahne takes over the wheel. Cup veterans Brian Vickers and Reed Sorenson will split the season in the No. 32 Toyota, with yet another Cup veteran, David Reutimann, filling in for some races on the No. 10 car, which is not yet fully funded. And Brian Scott, who ran a handful of races last season, will have a full-time ride this season with Billy Wilburn -- who previously has been a Cup crew chief at Penske, Yates Racing and Petty Enterprises -- on top of his pit box for the No. 11 car.

• Rusty Wallace Racing has two new crew chiefs for its full-time Nationwide entries as it switches to its first season running Toyotas after previously fielding Chevys. Crew chief Dale Ferguson will be atop the pit box for the No. 66 driven by Rusty's son, Steve, who finished sixth in points last season; crew chief Bryan Berry will be making the calls for the No. 62 car driven by Brendan Gaughan, who was ninth in points in 2009.

• Cup veteran Scott Riggs will start the season with RAB Racing in the No. 09 Ford, running at least the season opener at Daytona with hopes for finding the funding to run a full schedule.

Townley

• James Buescher, who competed full-time on the Truck Series and finished 14th in points last year, will attempt to run again both in that series and in a full-time Nationwide ride with Phoenix Racing.

• Diamond-Waltrip Racing was formed with the specific idea of putting driver Trevor Bayne in a full-time ride.

• Michael McDowell, a former Michael Waltrip Racing developmental driver, will drive the No. 81 Dodge for MacDonald Motorsports.

• Parker Kligerman, the 19-year-old developmental driver in the Penske Racing fold, will be farmed out to run at least five races in the No. 42 Dodge for Team 42 Racing, owned by Eddie Smith.

• John Wes Townley is moving to Richard Childress Racing and bringing sponsorship dollars with him, which may be needed to keep the No. 21 Chevy running if he continues to smack his car into as many walls as he did a year ago.

But despite all the different faces in different places, the most discerning eyes to fall on the Nationwide Series in 2010 will be during those races in which Danica Patrick runs. Among the most watchful will be Cup driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., who owns JR Motorsports along with his sister Kelley, who runs the family operation along with the Earnhardts' cousin, Tony Eury Jr. Not coincidentally, Eury Jr. will serve as Patrick's Nationwide crew chief.

Patrick and Eury jr.

“

She will have excellent equipment. Tony Jr. is a lot of talent. He'll give her a very comfortable car, so she won't have to doubt her equipment.

”

-- DALE EARNHARDT JR.

"She will have excellent equipment. Tony Jr. is a lot of talent. He'll give her a very comfortable car, so she won't have to doubt her equipment," Dale Jr. said.

Kelley Earnhardt added that she already has been impressed with the way Patrick handles herself on and off the track.

"I can't say I came into this having a particular perception of her," Kelley Earnhardt said. "What I've found her to be is really down to earth. You never know what to expect when you're dealing with someone who is really popular -- you can get the Kyle Busch attitude or the Dale Junior attitude or the Jeff Gordon attitude. You just never know what you're going to get.

"I'm pleased because I think she's a real good fit for JR Motorsports. She fell right in here with our guys, cuttin' up and talking. She's very dedicated to giving it whatever she needs to perform. I think that's all you can ask for, especially with the schedule she's going to keep with the Indy cars and her coming and going with our company and our series. I've been very pleased with that. She's very open to everything."

And Eury Jr. said Patrick already has displayed some serious skills during testing.

"For her to come over here with a car that probably weighs twice as much as what she's got [in the IndyCar Series], and has twice the downforce, it's a challenge," admitted Eury Jr., who a year ago at this time was preparing for the Sprint Cup season as crew chief for Earnhardt's No. 88 Chevy. "That's one of the things we asked her about the difference in acceleration between this car and her Indy car, and she said there really isn't that much difference. But she says in an Indy car, the faster you go, the more comfortable you are; in these cars, the faster you go, the more uncomfortable you are.

"It's going to be a big learning curve for both of us, but we'll have a good time with it."