Ed Carpenter Racing Confirms Danica Patrick for Indy 500 Run

By Aaron Bearden, Contributing Writer

The details for the final leg of the Danica Double have been revealed.

Ed Carpenter Racing announced on Wednesday that Danica Patrick will compete for the organization in May’s 102nd Running of the Indianapolis 500, confirming the news Patrick herself let slip during February’s Daytona 500 Media Tour. Patrick will pilot the No. 13 Chevrolet, running with the familiar green livery of longtime sponsor GoDaddy.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity – to be the team to power Danica in her final race, and to do it together here in Indianapolis is especially significant for ECR,” Team Owner Ed Carpenter said in a team release. “When you consider the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is where Danica first made her mark in racing, it’s easy to see why this is the perfect way for her to end her career.”

Patrick’s run in ‘The Greatest Spectacle in Racing’ is planned to be her final race. The 35-year-old is competing in the event as part of the Danica Double, her attempt to end her career in the biggest races of the two premier series she competed in – the Daytona 500 for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, where she made 191 starts with seven top 10s; and the Indy 500 for the Verizon IndyCar Series, where Patrick made 115 starts from 2005-2011, earning seven podiums and a groundbreaking victory at Twin Ring Motegi in 2008. She’s already completed the first leg of the feat, having finished 35th in February’s Daytona 500 after being caught up in an early crash.

“I love how everything is coming full-circle. I am going to close out my racing career at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the place where so many amazing things have happened for me,” Patrick said. “I’m back in GoDaddy green and joining a great team. Ed Carpenter Racing is consistently competitive at Indy. I can’t think of a better way to finish out my racing career than at the Indianapolis 500 with this team and GoDaddy.”

Patrick has enjoyed a memorable career in Indy cars at the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway. She became the first woman to lead the Indy 500 in 2005 en-route to Rookie of the Year honors. She has six top 10s in seven starts in the famed race, with a best finish of third in 2009.

After a seven-year hiatus, Patrick will make her return to Indy cars for the first time on March 29, when she participates in a Chevrolet manufacturer test at IMS. She’ll then return on May 15 to participate in the traditional Month of May, culminating in the Indy 500 on may 27.

The Roscoe, Illinois native will be joined by regulars Carpenter and Spencer Pigot to complete ECR’s lineup for the Month of May.