Danica Patrick will drive the No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet in the first four NASCAR Nationwide Series events of 2011 at Daytona, Phoenix, Las Vegas and Bristol, the JR Motorsports team confirmed Friday at a press conference at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Her NASCAR schedule beyond that has not been determined, although the team indicated Patrick will take on a schedule similar to that of her 13-race rookie campaign.
"I know we're all anxious to get the whole schedule put in place, but I'm extremely excited to be able to confirm our participation in the first four races of the 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series season, and also unveil another beautiful Go Daddy car," Patrick said.
"Danica has shown immense dedication in her NASCAR endeavor," said JR co-owner Kelley Earnhardt. "She proved last week [at Fontana's Auto Club Speedway] that even a little bit of experience goes a long way, as she drove an exceptional race. Starting this weekend at Charlotte, she will compete in each of the final five races of 2010. Add the first four Nationwide races of next season, and that's a solid stretch of seat time she will get to continue learning the intricacies of these racecars. She has done a commendable job so far given the limited seat time, and we appreciate her work ethic and dedication to Go Daddy and our race team."
The announcement seemed to give Patrick fresh momentum, as she had the second-fastest time in today's practice session for this weekend's race at Charlotte, behind Brad Keselowski.