Danica Patrick will not race this year in the most famous race on the North American motorsport calendar, the Indy 500. Patrick recently announced her decision at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, where she is taking part in the NASCAR Media Tour. She stated that she will instead take part in the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, North Carolina, part of the NASCAR Sprint Cup series. So after seven seasons in IndyCar, Patrick is now fully switching allegiance to NASCAR.

In her seven year Indy racing career, she became the most famous and decorated female racing driver in the world. However, the fame didn't compensate for lack of success. She won only one Indy race, the 2008 Motegi Circuit in Japan. The closest she came to winning the Indy 500 was third place back in 2009. In six out of seven starts at the Brickyard, she finished in the top 10 and started three Indy races from the pole position and finished six times on the podium. "It's unfortunate but I'm doing full time Nationwide and when I did full time IndyCar and part time Nationwide, all my focus was really on IndyCar and the Nationwide was supplement," she stated.

"But now when the focus is Nationwide and running at NASCAR...I don't want to compromise...it's disappointing but I have confidence that it will come together in the future."