Danica Patrick has been in the media for the past few months ever since she announced she would be switching from IndyCar to NASCAR. She has had a wild and exciting transition from open-wheel to stock cars. Here is a look back at Danica's career in IndyCar and NASCAR.
The GoDaddy driver has raced in IndyCar since 2005 starting out at Rahal Letterman Racing. She became the 4th woman to compete in the Indianapolis 500 and was just shy of a pole position. Even though she qualified 4th for the 500 it was the highest starting position for a woman driver. In 2007 she signed with Andretti Green Racing and finished 3rd in the Indy 500, highest finish by a woman driver, behind Helio Castroneves and Dan Wheldon. She won her first IndyCar race in 2008 at Twin Ring Moteg for the Indy Japan 300 becoming the first woman to win an IndyCar race. By 2010 she was continuing to drive for Andretti at the newly named Andretti Motorsports. She also had a limited schedule in the NASCAR Nationwide series at JR Motorsports. Her first NASCAR race was an ARCA race at Daytona International Speedway in 2010. She finished in 6th place. On February 13, 2010 she competed in her first NASCAR Nationwide race at Daytona. She qualified 15th, but finished 35th after she was caught in a 12-car accident. She made history again in 2011 when she finished 4th in the Sam's Town 300 Nationwide Series Race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In 2011 Patrick announced she would be leaving IndyCar to join the NASCAR racing family. On July 7, 2011, Patrick finished 10th in the Subway Jalapeño 250 Nationwide series race at Daytona. She led 13 laps before crashing in a multi-car incident coming to the checkered flag. Danica has showcased amazing talent throughout her racing career in both IndyCar and NASCAR.
Patrick announced at Texas Motor Speedway that she will race a limited Sprint Cup schedule for Stewart-Haas Racing in the #10 car. She will race a full-time Nationwide schedule for JR Motorsports in the #7 car. Both will be sponsored by GoDaddy.com. Greg Zipadelli will be her crew chief for Sprint Cup and Tony Erwin Jr. will crew chief her Nationwide car.
Danica recently announced that she will be in Charlotte come Memorial Day weekend, not Indianapolis. Instead of competing in the Indy 500, a race she has competed in since 2005, she will race the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Business was not able to be worked out for her to compete in the 500. There was no deal to be made for the former IndyCar driver.
"I'm going to do the Coke 600 this year, I'm not doing the Indy 500," Patrick said. "I hope to do it in the future, and maybe it'll be a double. But at this time, after a lot of conversations, it's just going to be the Coke 600."
"As far as the business side of things, it didn't work out," Patrick said. "Again, I'm hopeful to do it again in the future, but for this year, it just didn't happen."
I hope to see Danica race open-wheel again and I think she should definitely race in that series again even if it is only the Indy 500. I also hope to see her succeed in stock cars and I believe she will do well as she starts a new chapter in her life, pursuing her NASCAR career.
Patrick announced at Texas Motor Speedway that she will race a limited Sprint Cup schedule for Stewart-Haas Racing in the #10 car. She will race a full-time Nationwide schedule for JR Motorsports in the #7 car. Both will be sponsored by GoDaddy.com. Greg Zipadelli will be her crew chief for Sprint Cup and Tony Erwin Jr. will crew chief her Nationwide car.
Danica recently announced that she will be in Charlotte come Memorial Day weekend, not Indianapolis. Instead of competing in the Indy 500, a race she has competed in since 2005, she will race the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Business was not able to be worked out for her to compete in the 500. There was no deal to be made for the former IndyCar driver.
"I'm going to do the Coke 600 this year, I'm not doing the Indy 500," Patrick said. "I hope to do it in the future, and maybe it'll be a double. But at this time, after a lot of conversations, it's just going to be the Coke 600."
"As far as the business side of things, it didn't work out," Patrick said. "Again, I'm hopeful to do it again in the future, but for this year, it just didn't happen."
I hope to see Danica race open-wheel again and I think she should definitely race in that series again even if it is only the Indy 500. I also hope to see her succeed in stock cars and I believe she will do well as she starts a new chapter in her life, pursuing her NASCAR career.
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