Danica Patrick and GoDaddy have found their match for the 2018 Daytona 500: Premium Motorsports.
Patrick will drive for the Jay Robinson-owned team in what is currently planned as her final NASCAR start at the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, the team announced Monday, Jan. 22.
Her car number will be No. 7, Patrick’s first number in NASCAR when she joined the XFINITY Series earlier in the decade with JR Motorsports. Her former crew chief, Tony Eury Jr., will also reunite with Patrick for the effort.
“I’ll be back in GoDaddy green, driving the No. 7 Chevrolet with Tony Jr. in my ear again,” Patrick said in a press statement. “It all makes my last NASCAR race just that much sweeter.”
The effort will utilize one of Premium Motorsports’ charters, meaning Patrick will be locked into the Daytona 500 field regardless of her qualifying position and/or result in the qualifying races.
The team will have engineering support from Richard Childress Racing and ECR motors for the event.
Patrick plans to race one more time past the Daytona 500 — the 2018 Indianapolis 500 in the IndyCar Series — before retiring.
Premium Motorsports has not yet announced its full driver lineup for the 2018 season.
About the author
Rutherford is the managing editor of Frontstretch, a position he gained in 2015 after serving on the editing staff for two years. At his day job, he's a journalist covering music and rock charts at Billboard. He lives in New York City, but his heart is in Ohio -- you know, like that Hawthorne Heights song.
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Well at least she’s going to be driving for a “Premium” team since she said wouldn’t drive for a back-marker team. I would have thought that other team, Weewynn Ever Erase, might have offered her a ride. :)
It’d be some sight if she and the driver of the 17 car happened to start the race in the same row and have to ride around in the back of the pickup truck during driver intros.
Good to see that somebody recognized the opportunity. Has she got a chance of winning? No, not with that car, but I doubt that her fans care.
Tossup for Daytona 500 polesitter. Is it her, or Chase Elliott in the resurrected #9? Everyone else is running for 2nd on the grid in a qualifier.
No way they fix it for Danica to be on the pole. Premium Motorsports isn’t a high enough profile team ($$$$) and Go Daddy is only paying for 1 race worth of sponsorship (no extra Official Sponsor Of NASCAR $$$$) to make it worth NASCAR’s while to fix it. Plus, I think only the media is still enamored with Danica. Her fans may still be fans but won’t be buying any NASCAR stuff or going to any races during the rest of the season. There is no momentum to be gained for the larger season by her getting the pole.
Going back the last 3 years for RP poles….
——-2017—–2016—–2015
D1—–24——–24——–24
T1—–17——–24——–24
D2—–88——–16——–88
T2—–88——–78——–24
If I had to bet on it, I think I’d pick an HMS car.
Tony, my guess for the pole does include DANICA….the WOMENS MARCHES (READ ANTI TRUMP MARCHES, AND HATE FOR WOMEN WHO DON”T AGREE WITH THEM) are still fresh in the minds of the sheeple. An empowered FEMALE is back behind the wheel. (IN THEIR SICK MINDS)
My second guess is CLYDE in the NUMBER 9. Nothing says manipulation like son being in fathers number.
And last but not least the double whammy of the BUBBA WALLACE driving for RPM in the newly changed manufacturer…CHEVY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HALF AFRICAN AMERICAN (God do we have to hear that all year, yuppers we do) AND RPM GOING TO CHEVY.
CLYDE, DANICA, “BUBBA” so far my 3 selections for the coveted POLE.
This is great news! So glad to see Danica get sponsorship and a ride for the Daytona 500! All the negative comments, as expected, you just make yourself sound foolish, boorish, and insecure.
Or we may just be calling it like it is. Proof is in the numbers. No wins, no top 5s, 7 top tens, finish in the points mid-20s. Only a blind fan could ignore that.
She’ll prove once again why she shouldn’t be in a stock car.
Well that will make 192 Nascar cup races without a win. And 363 lifetime total races with only one questionable win. And after Indy we won’t have to hear about her racing life again. Yeah!!!!!