Danica Patrick to Run Daytona 500 with Premium Motorsports

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor

One piece of the “Danica Double” has now fallen into place as Patrick announced on Monday that she would be running the Daytona 500 with Premium Motorsports.

Patrick first entered NASCAR driving a No. 7 GoDaddy sponsored Chevrolet back in 2010 and that’s exactly how she’ll finish out her NASCAR career, by piloting the same car number, make, and sponsor as her early days in the sport. Tony Eury, Jr., who served as her crew chief in the NASCAR Xfinity Series from 2010 to 2012 will also return to the pit box for Patrick’s final start.

“I keep saying, I couldn’t have written a better story about how this would all fall into place – going with the flow is working out beautifully,” said Patrick. “I’ll be back in GoDaddy green, driving the No. 7 Chevrolet with Tony Jr. in my ear again. It all makes my last NASCAR race just that much sweeter.”

“It wouldn’t be just any opportunity that could coax me back to the pit box, working with Danica and GoDaddy again at Daytona is going to be fun,” Eury added. “When you can do what you love and be in your element … well, I can tell you, it doesn’t get any better. Danica and I have shared success before in Daytona, and she has a lot more experience under her belt now, so I look forward to seeing what we can achieve during Speedweeks.”

Her ride for the Great American Race will have a guaranteed entry as Premium Motorsports recently acquired the assets from Tommy Baldwin Racing and with it the team’s charter. She will also have an engine from ECR Engines under the hood and will receive engineering support from Richard Childress Racing.

In 11 starts at Daytona, Patrick has two top-10 finishes, which came in 2013 and 2014, along with her lone Cup Series pole in 2013. The 2013 Daytona 500 was also the race that saw Patrick be the first woman in NASCAR to lead a lap under green flag conditions.

“Positive vibes definitely play into on-track performance, and I’m feeling good energy with the sponsor and team we’ve put together for Daytona,” said Patrick. “My Cup career started out with Tommy (Baldwin, through partnership with Stewart-Haas Racing) and to end it working with him, GoDaddy and the team at Premium (Motorsports), it’s crazy to see how things really have come full circle. It just feels right to be back in the No. 7 GoDaddy Chevrolet again. It’ll be a great combination to close out this chapter for me.”