Danica Patrick will have the familiar colors of GoDaddy on her car when she competes in the Daytona 500 next month and the Indianapolis 500 in May.
Danica Patrick will wear GoDaddy green in her final 2 races
Patrick plans to retire after competing in two of motorsports’ biggest events.
Photo by Sarah Crabill/NASCAR via Getty Images
Patrick and her former longtime sponsor will reunite for what will be the final two races of her career, Daytona 500 on Feb. 18 and the Indianapolis 500 on May 27. Patrick announced Nov. 17 she was retiring from full-time racing but would cap her career by driving in two of the most sport’s signature events. She has not yet signed with any team to compete in either race, though with sponsorship now in place she has cleared the biggest hurdle to securing a deal.
GoDaddy began as one of Patrick’s associate sponsors in 2007 when she was driving in the IndyCar Series and moved into a primary role in 2010, the same year Patrick started competing in NASCAR on a part-time basis. When Patrick shifted to NASCAR fulltime in 2012, the company did as well, and sponsored her through the 2015 season.
During her partnership with GoDaddy, Patrick became one of the most popular sports figures in the world. As a spokeswoman, she starred in 13 Super Bowl commercials, a celebrity record, with many of them flashy and often racy — including ads where Patrick was shown wearing nothing but a towel and a leather bodysuit.
Coinciding with her struggles on the track, Patrick has lacked consistent sponsorship since GoDaddy changed its marketing campaign and stopped backing her. That included Nature’s Bakery, GoDaddy’s initial replacement, withdrawing its support after just a single season, citing a lack of return on its investment and Patrick’s unwillingness to promote the snack food company to her fullest capability. The dissolving of that union resulted in Stewart-Haas Racing, Patrick’s then-team, suing Nature’s Bakery with the lawsuit later settled out of court.
In addition to finalizing plans to race in the Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500, Patrick is amid a career transition. She released a health and fitness book, Pretty Intense, last month that coincided with myriad national TV appearances, including guest spots on Good Morning America and The Chew.
And earlier this week, Patrick publicly announced she was dating Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Patrick and longtime boyfriend and fellow NASCAR driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. announced their separation in mid-December.
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