Danica Patrick to run Daytona Nationwide race

Danica Patrick has entered the season-opening NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway.

Patrick will drive a car in the Feb. 22 race fielded by Turner Scott Motorsports, the same team she drove for in last year’s event as well at Talladega Superspeedway. She led five laps at Daytona, but an electrical issue on Lap 31 sidelined her and resulted in a 36th-place finish.

Patrick will be behind the wheel of the No. 30 Chevrolet with sponsorship from Florida Lottery. Mike Greci, who worked with Patrick last year, will again be her crew chief.

“Turner Scott Motorsports is a great organization, and I worked really well with Mike Greci and the whole team in both of the races I did with them last year,” Patrick said in a release. “I’m capable of a win this year working with that group. It comes down to making it until the end.”

The former Indy car driver is entering her third full season of NASCAR competition and her second in the Sprint Cup Series.

Having shown a knack for restrictor-plate racing, Patrick has been most competitive at Daytona and Talladega. Last year she became the first woman to win a Cup pole when she set fast time in qualifying for the Daytona 500. And in the race, Patrick was running third on the final lap before being shuffled back to eighth -- the highest finish for a woman in the history of the Daytona 500.

”We think a lot of Danica and she was a very strong competitor in both of the races she ran for us last year, said team co-owner Harry Scott Jr. “Restrictor-plate racing is tough, but she’s shown a lot of skill at Daytona in the past. I have no doubt that she has everything it takes to bring our car to Victory Lane.”

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