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IndyCar: Danica Patrick to drive for Ed Carpenter Racing in Indianapolis 500

By Asher Fair

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MAY 22: Danica Patrick, driver of the #7 Team GoDaddy Dallara Honda, gives two thumbs up after qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 on May 22, 2011 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MAY 22: Danica Patrick, driver of the #7 Team GoDaddy Dallara Honda, gives two thumbs up after qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 on May 22, 2011 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /
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Danica Patrick is set to make the final IndyCar start of her career in the 2018 Indianapolis 500 as a driver for Ed Carpenter Racing.

Nearly three months after making the announcement that she intended to retire from her professional racing career after racing in the Daytona 500 in the NASCAR Cup Series and the Indianapolis 500 in IndyCar one more time in 2018, 35-year-old Danica Patrick finally has rides lined up for both races of the “Danica Double”.

Last month, Patrick was confirmed as the driver of the #7 Chevrolet for Premium Motorsports in the 60th annual Daytona 500 this year. She has driven in the race in each of the last six seasons, and she has done so in each of the last five seasons in her five seasons as a full-time Cup Series driver for Stewart-Haas Racing.

Earlier this week, she confirmed that she had finalized a deal with an IndyCar team for the 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500 this year, but she did not confirm the specific team. She has not driven in the Indianapolis 500 or in any IndyCar race since the 2011 season. She spent seven full seasons in the sport from the 2005 season to the 2011 season.

According to Patrick, making her team for the race publicly known was not a priority and she wanted there to be a formal unveiling for it. However, she left it slip on Wednesday and was annoyed with herself for it, so it is no longer a secret. Here is what she had to say, according to Motorsport.com.

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"“Actually I didn’t have time to meet up with Ed [Carpenter] and the people that…Oh, did I say that out loud? I’ve never done that in my career.”"

Patrick is set to drive a Chevrolet-powered car for Ed Carpenter Racing in the 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500. Her teammates in the race are set to be team owner Ed Carpenter, who is set to drive the #20 Chevrolet,  and Spencer Pigot, the team’s lone full-time driver who is set to drive the #21 Chevrolet. There is no word on whether the team will run a fourth car in the race to field J.R.Hildebrand for the fifth consecutive season.

The other teams that were seriously in the mix for Patrick to drive for in the Indianapolis 500 were Dreyer & Reinbold Racing and Harding Racing.

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Be sure to tune in to this weekend’s 60th annual Daytona 500 on Sunday, February 18th to catch the first of two races in the “Danica Double”. The race is set to be broadcast live on FOX starting at 2:00 pm ET. A few months from now, be sure not to miss Danica Patrick’s final career race, the 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500, on Sunday, May 27th. That race is set to be broadcast live on ABC starting at 11:00 am ET.