[h=1]Danica Patrick: Finding rides for Daytona, Indy 500 ‘taking longer than I’d like’[/h] Daniel McFadin,NBC Sports 8 hours ago
Danica Patrick says the search for rides in the Feb. 18 Daytona 500 and May 28 Indianapolis 500 is “taking longer than I’d like it to take.”
Patrick, the former Stewart-Haas Racing driver,
announced in November prior to the Cup Series finale in Miami that she would retire from auto racing after competing in the two races. Patrick spent the last five years driving for SHR in NASCAR.
In
an interview Thursday with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s “The Morning Drive”
promoting her new book, “Pretty Intense,” Patrick discussed the struggle to find teams to partner with for the two races this year.
“It’s taking longer than I’d like it to take, I’ll be really honest with you,” Patrick said. “I thought it was going to be a quicker process. You can’t rush things. I’m a big believer, more and more all the time of letting things flow and letting things take shape in the way that they would. That’s kind of why I ended where I ended with finishing up (my) full-time career last year and doing the Daytona 500 and Indy 500 for this year.
“I didn’t push anything and I let things flow and it turned out to be just perfect. Honestly, I’m excited and just so grateful.”
Patrick, 35, has made six starts in the Daytona 500 and won the pole for the 2013 race, the first woman to do so. She competed in IndyCar from 2005-2011. In seven starts in the Indianapolis 500, her best result was third in 2009.
“Everything I do outside of racing is because of racing,” Patrick said. “I’m well aware of that and I’m so fortunate that I get to go into these other ventures and have a platform to do it. But I am excited about them. I’m so glad with the way it all ended up working out.
“Similarly with the teams I’m going to race for, or the team, in NASCAR and in IndyCar. I’m pushing politely but you can’t make things happen before they’re ready to happen. I kind of thought it would get more simple. There’s less people involved, less sponsors, less things. Well, it’s still complicated. It’s just taking a little bit of time. Hopefully we’ll have something to announce soon enough.”