Danica Patrick Unveils GoDaddy IndyCar for the 2018 Indy 500 Race

Patrick will pilot the bright-green IndyCar for what will be the final race of her life-long racing career.

byJerry Perez|
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Danica Patrick and Ed Carpenter Racing took to the yard of bricks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to unveil their 2018 Indy 500 contender, an eye-searing liveried racer that bears the bright-green sponsorship of GoDaddy.

Back in November of last year, Patrick claimed that she looked forward to completing the "Danica Double," which consisted of NASCAR's Daytona 500 and IndyCar's Indianapolis 500. With the Daytona stock-car race already in the books, it's Patrick's turn to complete the second, open-wheel portion, of her retirement party.

Patrick stopped racing in IndyCar back in 2011, and to say that things have changed since then is a gargantuan understatement. For starters, the cars are completely different. As a result, the popular racing driver didn't waste any time bringing up the new 2018 IndyCar aero kit.

“It’s pretty damn real, it’s completely real,” said Patrick, who turned 36 on March 25. “Yeah, I’m excited. It scares me a little bit to look at how small that rear wing is, but hey, I’m sure there’s (downforce) grip somewhere—more grip than I’m used to.”

Another thing that'll be different for Patrick come the month of May is her racing team. Having previously raced with IndyCar's powerhouse Andretti Autosport, it'll take some time to adjust to a smaller, less sponsor-clad team like Ed Carpenter Racing. But so far, the 116-race IndyCar veteran says she is coming to terms with her new team.

“Everybody’s been great,” said Patrick. “Everybody’s been good to work with and fun and easy and working hard and getting the right people involved. Giving us a shot to finish the way I started,” she added.

To this day, Patrick is the only woman to win a major open-wheel race, with her 2008 victory in Japan, as well as the only woman to lead the Indy 500 for a full lap. The latter she will attempt to repeat and hopefully improve during the 102nd running of the Indy 500 on May 27.

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