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Danica Patrick to drive in 2018 Daytona 500, Indianapolis 500, then retire

By Asher Fair

HOMESTEAD, FL - NOVEMBER 17: Danica Patrick, driver of the #10 Aspen Dental Ford, speaks during a press conference announcing her retirement from full-time racing at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 17, 2017 in Homestead, Florida. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)
HOMESTEAD, FL - NOVEMBER 17: Danica Patrick, driver of the #10 Aspen Dental Ford, speaks during a press conference announcing her retirement from full-time racing at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 17, 2017 in Homestead, Florida. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images) /
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Danica Patrick will drive in the 2018 Daytona 500 in the NASCAR Cup Series and the 2018 Indianapolis 500 before retiring from her racing career.

Danica Patrick, 35, announced in September that she would no longer be driving the #10 Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing full-time in the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season following five full seasons driving for the team.

It was since widely speculated that Patrick may perhaps be retiring from her racing career since her chances of finding another full-time ride in the Cup Series were slim. However, Patrick is putting that off until Memorial Day 2018.

While she won’t have a full-time ride in the Cup Series next season, Patrick will still be driving in the Daytona 500 on Sunday, February 18th, 2018, although she did not say the team for which she would be driving. But her racing career will not end following the “Great American Race.”

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While it was also widely believed that Patrick would never drive in IndyCar again following her leaving the sport after the 2011 season, she will be ending her racing career following her run in the 2018 Indianapolis 500, the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing”. Her appearance in the race will be her first in seven years.

Again, however, much like the case is for her Daytona 500 effort, Patrick did not say the team for which she would be driving in the Indianapolis 500. Chip Ganassi Racing is her likely landing spot for that race, as the team is just a two-car full-time team for the first time since 2010, but they have plenty of resources to field a third entry in the Indy 500, especially since they have been a four-car full-time team in six of the last seven seasons.

Patrick has driven in 189 career Cup Series races since her career in the sport began in 2012, and she has a top finish of 6th place at Atlanta in 2014 with six other top 10 finishes and one career pole. Her best finish in the standings is 24th, which she pulled off in both the 2015 and 2016 seasons.

Patrick also drove in 115 career IndyCar races during her full-time career as an IndyCar driver from the 2005 season to the 2011 season. Her lone win came at Motegi in 2008, and she had six other podium finishes and three poles over the course of her career. Her best finish in the standings was 5th, which she pulled off in the 2009 season.

As far as her Daytona 500 history goes, Patrick has driven in the race six times with a top finish of 8th place in 2013. As far as her Indianapolis 500 history goes, she has driven in the race seven times with a top finish of 3rd in 2009 and just one finish outside of the top 10.

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How will Danica Patrick perform in her lone NASCAR Cup Series race next season, the Daytona 500? And how will she do in her final race ever and her first IndyCar race in seven seasons, the Indianapolis 500, just three months later?

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