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Danica Patrick emotionally announces last NASCAR season

Michelle R. Martinelli

HOMESTEAD, Fla. - In a matter of seconds after Danica Patrick sat down to address the media at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Friday, the tears began to flow.

After eight seasons in NASCAR, Patrick announced she will no longer race full-time in the sport, and, through frequent pauses to wipe her tears, it was clear the news hadn't sunk in for the No. 10 Ford driver. Sunday's Ford Ecoboost 400 will be her last race as a full-time driver.

But she's not totally finished with racing. Patrick also announced that she'll run both the Daytona 500 and Indy 500 next season, although she has yet to make her plans official with a team.

She said while crying:

"My sister told me I was supposed to get emotional. I said I wouldn't. But I'm grateful for all the opportunities. I'm thankful for Dale (Earnhardt Jr.) and Kelley (Earnhardt Miller) and Bob Parsons from GoDaddy for getting me into NASCAR. …

"I don't feel like I was necessarily pushed into this. 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 went on to thank members of her team and her family, as well as boyfriend and fellow NASCAR driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

She said this isn't the first time she's considered doing the Daytona 500 and Indy 500 as one-off races, assuming she didn't secure a full-time job for the 2018 season. She said she's "down the line" in figuring out what teams she will drive for, although "nothing's final yet, but hopefully it will be soon."

Despite her seven seasons in the IndyCar Series before switching to NASCAR, Patrick added that she never thought she'd return to the series.

She continued:

"I never thought I would do (the Indy 500 again) - I really didn't. I always thought in my head, 'Never,' but I never said never because I know better. And thank god, right? Because here I am."

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