Danica Patrick announced her retirement from full-time racing in an emotional press conference in November, saying she plans to race in the 2018 Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500 as part of the “Danica Double” to end her career.
Patrick finally secured a sponsor for the 2018 Daytona 500, as she will drive the No. 7 GoDaddy Chevrolet for Premium Motorsports on Feb.18, but her ride for the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” is a “bit of a bigger deal,” Patrick told IndyCar.com when discussing her ride for the 102nd running of the Indy 500.
“Obviously, the start of this (NASCAR) season didn’t happen any different than last season did, where I showed up and I hadn’t been in the car since Homestead (the 2017 season finale). It’s no different than that,” Patrick said.
“But Indy is obviously totally different. We’ll do something a little more substantial for the announcement and the unveil.”
Patrick would not tell IndyCar.com which team will field her entrance into the race, saying she wanted to make sure it was a done deal before announcing.
While the 35-year-old star is excited about her final races, it’s no question which one she would rather win.
“Yeah, it would be Indy,” she said. “There’s nothing against Daytona, but just from being a young little girl, I had always wanted to win the Indy 500. It’s not to say that Daytona is not an enormous deal.
“But I have to go with what feels like the most important in my heart and I came from open-wheel racing, I wanted to win the Indy 500 from being a go-kart driver when I was a kid and came close a few times. It’s kind of what started it all for me, so there’s just a lot more history there.”
