Danica Patrick's Indianapolis 500 swansong already had the green light, but the identity of who she would be driving for remained a closely guarded secret. However on Thursday Patrick confirmed she would be teaming up with Ed Carpenter Racing.
Patrick had long ago unveiled plans to race at this year's Daytona and Indy 500 as part of a "Danica Double", marking her retirement from the sport.
Last week the one-time IndyCar race winner confirmed a deal to race at the 102nd Indianapolis 500 had been given the go-ahead and it has now been revealed that she will compete with Ed Carpenter Racing for what will be her last competitive outing.
"I’m super excited to run for Ed," the 35-year-old told WRTV. "He’s obviously been a great competitor over the years. We’ve raced with each other a ton.
"Part of that relationship also came from Matt Barnes, who works for him, his head of engineering. He was my engineer back in 2009 (with Andretti Autosport). We finished fifth in the championship.
"Matt and I are very like-minded to kind of go for things. I’ve kept in touch with him since I left INDYCAR. Between Ed and having a great team and always being competitive, qualifying really well, having fast cars and Matt being involved, it seemed like the perfect option."
In 2005 Patrick became the first woman to lead laps in the Indy 500 when she drove for Rahal Letterman Racing. She was out front for 19 laps and finished fourth to capture Rookie of the Year honors.
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