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Danica Patrick

Danica Patrick to race the Daytona 500, Indianapolis 500

A.J. Perez
USA TODAY

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Danica Patrick announced while her full-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will come to a close with Sunday's race, she's not completely done with racing. 

Patrick, who had to stop multiple times during Friday's news conference at Homestead-Miami Speedway to compose herself, said she will run two final races next year: February’s Daytona 500 and May’s Indianapolis 500. 

"I am really excited about," Patrick said. "I think it's going to be a really great way to cap it off."

Danica Patrick could be doing double duty next season as a driver and analyst

Patrick's contract with Stewart-Haas Racing concludes after Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race. Patrick announced in September that she would not be back with Stewart-Haas Racing. Aric Almirola will replace Patrick in the No. 10 Ford. 

“I don’t feel like I was necessarily pushed into this," Patrick said. "I feel like I should be doing this. I feel like this is where my life should be headed, and sometimes we just get kind of nudged there. Sometimes it’s big nudges and sometimes it’s little. But I definitely was faced with situations at the beginning of the year that I had never faced before. I’ve never had sponsor issues. But it made me think about things, and so I’m excited about the next phase, trust me.”

Patrick said she hopes to announce sponsorships and teams -- possibly one organization that has both NASCAR and IndyCar teams -- in the coming weeks. 

Representatives for Patrick and NBC have also discussed the of Patrick joining the network in some role, two people familiar with the discussions who are not authorized to talk publicly about the conversations told USA TODAY Sports.

Patrick said that she had no immediate plans for a broadcast career. 

"I think we heard I could TV, but right now, no," Patrick said. "Never say 'never.'"

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NBC Sports declined to comment. 

Patrick, 35, is hardly a novice in front of the camera. She appeared in several TV spots for Go Daddy earlier in her career and has been one of the most interviewed drivers going back to her open-wheel days in the IndyCar Series. 

She served as a pit reporter for Fox Sports 1 during an Xfinity Series race broadcast in June, one of several current NASCAR drivers to be part of the broadcast. 

 

 

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