Danica Patrick confirmed Thursday that she will not attempt the Indianapolis 500 this season.
Patrick is making her full-time debut in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with Stewart-Haas Racing this season. To attempt the 500, she would need to run both that race and NASCAR's longest, the Coca-Cola 600, on the same afternoon.
Thursday, she joined other Sprint Cup regulars in testing at Daytona as she prepares for the new season in NASCAR’s new car.
She says that she’s opting to focus on the Cup ranks and will, therefore, skip the Indianapolis 500 again this year. Patrick, a former full-time IndyCar driver, has raced in the premier event seven times with a top finish of third in 2009.
“I can confirm to you today that I will not be doing the Indy 500,” she said Thursday. “I am just going to do the Coke 600. The team and I decided to focus on Cup. It’s going to be plenty of work as it is. It’s going to be important for me running for the championship full-time for the first time to really keep myself focused with the Cup car. But if I do the Indy 500 moving forward it will be with GoDaddy.”
She also confirmed that she is trying to run a partial Nationwide Series season and is talking to Turner Scott Motorsports, though nothing has been finalized yet.
“Nationwide, I am not sure if that is completely set,” she said. “I know there have been some reports that have come out about running for Turner (Scott Motorsports). We are definitely talking to them trying to figure it out and we are definitely working on that, but there has been nothing signed yet.
“The exact dates, the races and the sponsor have yet to be confirmed for all that. We are working on it, but I would like to.”
