Danica Patrick would presumably love to join Helio Castroneves in the Indianapolis 500 winner’s circle, however the female IndyCar racer apparently has no plans to join the Dancing with the Stars fifth-season celebrity champ as a mirror ball trophy recipient.

“No way,” Patrick told The Indianapolis Star about the possibility of participating in ABC’s Dancing with the Stars. “I’m telling you, no way.”

Castroneves had recommended Patrick as a possible Dancing with the Stars participant to the show’s producers, as well as ABC broadcaster Jamie Little and Detroit Tigers catcher Ivan Rodriguez, according to The Star.

Castroneves — a two-time, back-to-back Indianapolis 500 champion who won the IndyCar race in 2001 and 2002 — was crowned the most recent Dancing with the Stars champ with professional partner Julianne Hough during the show’s Fall 2007 fifth-season finale broadcast.

“His personality is so infectious,” Patrick told The Star as to why Castroneves did so well. “He smiles all the time, he plays to the camera, and he loves [the attention]. I’m a little too serious. People at home would be going, ‘What’s wrong [with her]?’”

Since Patrick — who joined the IndyCar Series in 2005 — has yet to nab her first win behind the wheel, she said the expectations Castroneves created on the dance floor would also be too much to overcome.

“It won’t be enough to do [Dancing with the Stars] now; you’ll have to win it,” she told The Star.

While Castroneves is currently participating with Hough on Dancing with the Stars – The Tour — he’s also preparing for the upcoming IndyCar season, which is when he’ll presumably have to hang-up his dancing shoes.

“I would have never thought I’d say this, but I miss dancing,” he told The Star.

[Source: realitytvworld.com]