KANNAPOLIS, N.C. (May 14, 2013) – Danica Patrick enters this weekend not quite knowing how many laps she will race on Saturday night.

She might race 40, or she might race 130 depending on what happens with the Sprint Fan Vote and the Sprint Showdown. Both are part of the non-points Sprint All-Star event Saturday night at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway.

Twenty-two drivers are already locked in the 90-lap Sprint All-Star race by virtue of either a Sprint Cup race win in 2012 or 2013, an All-Star Race win at some point in the last 10 years, or a Sprint Cup championship in the last decade.

Patrick, who has only 21 Sprint Cup starts in her career, does not meet those requirements but has two other ways she can lock herself and the GoDaddy Cares Chevrolet team into the Sprint All-Star Race. She can finish first or second in the 40-lap Sprint Showdown, which takes place right before the Sprint All-Star Race, or win the Sprint Fan Vote. Fans can vote for Patrick until 5 p.m. EDT Saturday at NASCAR.com or on the NASCAR Mobile ’13 app, where votes count twice.

Patrick’s No. 10 GoDaddy Cares Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) will carry the logo of GoDaddy Cares for this weekend’s Sprint All-Star festivities. GoDaddy Cares is GoDaddy’s charitable branch whose unique “Round Up for Charity” program in which customers who purchase a domain name or a product at GoDaddy have an option of rounding up their purchase to the nearest dollar. Customers then select a charity of their choice from an extensive list offered by GoDaddy.

Three of the charities on that list are featured on Patrick’s GoDaddy Cares Chevrolet SS this weekend:

n Hope for Haiti: Hope for Haiti is a Naples, Fla.-based charitable organization operating in Port-au-Prince and out of Les Cayes in the south of Haiti. Serving in the most remote areas, Hope for Haiti’s mission is to improve the quality of life for the Haitian people, particularly children, through education, nutrition, and health care. For more than 20 years, the organization has been working in partnership with the Haitian people to connect, heal, and empower communities on the path toward sustainability.

n National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF): The National Breast Cancer Foundation was founded in 1991 by breast cancer survivor Janelle Hail. NBCF continues to grow every year to help more and more women around the world by educating them about breast cancer and providing free mammograms to women in need.

n VEX Robotics / REC Foundation: The Robotics Education & Competition Foundation (REC) seeks to increase student interest and involvement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by engaging students in hands-on sustainable and affordable curriculum-based robotics engineering programs across the United States and internationally.

For more information on GoDaddy Cares, visit: www.GoDaddyCares.com

DANICA PATRICK, Driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Cares Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing:

What do you think your chances are of getting the fan vote into the Sprint All-Star Race?

“I don’t know. I think about it from a fan’s perspective and I think you want the driver you cheer for to be out there, of course, but you want a good race. Hopefully, they think of me when they think of those two. We always have the opportunity to race in, as well. We’ve been working really hard over the last month on our mile-and-a-half car and we need to. Let’s hope it all comes together by the All-Star Race.”

You made a funny video about the All-Star voting process with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Talk about that.

“We thought that was fun. Ricky (Stenhouse) and I shot that little video. I would love to be in the race and I think, more than anything, you want to entertain your fans, of course. I hope I can be in the race to do that. Also, I want to perform well in the Coke 600 and racing in the All-Star Race would definitely help that. It was between GoDaddy and Sprint and them all making that happen. GoDaddy came up with the script and thought it was a clever little script, so we shot it in a matter of about 20 minutes and it aired. Obviously, we both want to be in the race and to try to create a little bit of buzz to get people to go vote and have some fun with it.”

TONY GIBSON, Crew chief of the No. 10 GoDaddy Cares Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing:

How important would it be for Danica to either race her way in or get voted into the All-Star Race?

“It’s pretty big for anybody just for track time and being able to work on the car. It’d be nice to get extra seat time for her. So, hopefully, the fans will vote us in if we can’t race our way in and we can get in the thing. Once you’re in it, you never know what can happen. Obviously, we’ve seen in the past someone you think is going to win doesn’t.”

How big of a thrash is it for the team if you transfer from the Showdown to the All-Star Race?

“It’s actually not too bad. It’s no different than a pit stop, really. You can do the same things, change tires, change spring rubbers, chassis adjustments – things like that. So it’s not that big of a deal. They don’t take the car to victory lane, anymore, just the driver. So we can get ready and turn it around and go. It’s not that big of a deal, anymore, because there’s a limit on what we can change for the All-Star Race. If we race our way in or get voted in, we’ll be happy to deal with that when the time comes.”

Date: May 11, 2013
Event: 64^th Southern 500 (Round 11 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Darlington (S.C.) Raceway (1.366-mile oval)
Start/Finish: 40^th/28^th (Running, completed 362 of 367 laps)
Point Standing: 28^th (196 points, 227 out of first, 119 behind 10^th)
Winner: Matt Kenseth of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Danica Patrick steadily got faster throughout the Southern 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Saturday night at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, but unusually long green flag runs put her three laps down early, and she finished 28^th.

Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), made her second start at the 1.336-mile egg-shaped oval and was forced to use her backup car after a crash in Friday practice caused heavy damage to her primary machine.

After starting 40^th, Patrick reported early that her car was experiencing a tight-handling condition as the leaders set an incredibly fast pace, while the race had only one caution in the first 303 laps.

“Those long green flag runs just killed us,” Patrick said. “It’s tough because you get behind, and it’s hard to get caught back up when the pace is that fast and there are so little yellows at the beginning. We had a setback in practice, and that cut into our practice time and because of that we didn’t get to make any qualifying runs, which led us to going out cold in qualifying, which is not a strength of mine anyway. So it was just a tough weekend. Nothing is wasted. No run or no lap is wasted, but sometimes the fruits of your labor aren’t realized until later on.”

Patrick’s crew chief, Tony Gibson, was pleased with her effort despite the finish lower than what the Go Daddy team had hoped.

“Obviously we had some issues on Friday, wrecking our primary car,” Gibson said. “So to go to qualifying with no mock (qualifying) runs and go out there raw, she did a good job. It’s tough here when you start that far back. She did a really nice job. Probably about halfway through the race, it kind of clicked, and she started running some really good lap times. She picked up on a few things following other guys, so our progress I thought went really good. The goal coming in here was to run all the laps, and if we can’t run them all, run as many as we can. Learn, then go home and digest all that and put it in our notebook and build off that, and that’s exactly what we did. It’s still a learning process for us, obviously. So to come out of here with a backup car and looking at her lap times and how she gained throughout the race – that’s good. She gave great feedback, and we made the adjustments, and it showed in the lap times. The pit stops were really, really good, and Danica did a good job. We learned a lot, and we’ll build on it for the next one.”

Patrick’s teammate Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet SS, finished 10^th to score his fifth top-10 finish of the season and his 10^th top-10 in 15 career Sprint Cup starts at Darlington.

The third member of SHR, Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS, finished 15^th.

Matt Kenseth won the Southern 500 to score his 27^th career Sprint Cup victory, his third of the season and his first at Darlington.

Denny Hamlin finished 3.155 seconds behind Kenseth in the runner-up spot, while Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top-five. Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Juan Pablo Montoya, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Newman comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were five caution periods for 25 laps, with eight drivers failing to finish the 367-lap race.

With round 11 of 36 complete, Newman continues to lead the SHR contingent in the championship point standings. He maintained his 17^th position in the standings and has 276 points, 147 back of series leader Johnson and 39 points behind 10^th-place Harvick. Stewart moved up one spot to 21^st in the standings and has 253 points, 170 out of first and 62 behind Harvick. Patrick dropped one spot to 28^th in the standings and has 196 points, 227 behind Johnson and 119 away from Harvick.

Fifteen races remain before the 12-driver, 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup begins Sept. 15 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. Only the top-10 in points are locked into the Chase. Positions 11 and 12 in the Chase are wild cards, awarded to the two drivers between 11^th and 20^th in points with the most wins. If multiple drivers have the same number of wins, a driver’s point standing serves as the tiebreaker.

Patrick, who is competing for Rookie of the Year honors against Ricky Stenhouse Jr., finished 10 spots behind Stenhouse, who placed 18^th.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race on Saturday, May 18 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. The non-point-paying event begins at 7:30 p.m. EDT, with live coverage provided by SPEED beginning with its pre-race show at 7 p.m. SPEED’s “RaceDay” begins at 4 p.m.

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. (May 7, 2013) – It’s been called the toughest of all tracks on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule. So much so that Darlington (S.C.) Raceway years ago was nicknamed “The Track Too Tough To Tame.”

Darlington is an egg-shaped oval 1.366 miles in length – the odd shape because the western portion of the oval needed a tighter radius on the turns as founder Harold Brasington promised Sherman Ramsey, who owned a farm next to the property, that he wouldn’t disturb his minnow pond when he built the track in 1949.

The odd shape also means that, to find the fast way around the track, drivers run against the outside walls in each turn, sometimes brushing up against the wall and thus earning what has affectionately become known as a “Darlington Stripe” on the right side of the car. And the black marks left on the walls by the tires rubbing up against them all race weekend have led to the track’s other nickname – “The Lady in Black.”

For the third time in her NASCAR career and second in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, “The Lady in Green,” Danica Patrick, driver of the green No.10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), will meet “The Lady in Black,” when she competes in Saturday night’s Southern 500 Sprint Cup race at Darlington.

Patrick made her NASCAR debut at Darlington last year in the Nationwide Series by starting 15^th and finishing and impressive 12^th. One night later, she made just her second Sprint Cup start ever and finished 31^st.

Her weekend impressed several NASCAR observers as Darlington is known as a track that is tough on first-timers. But “The Lady in Green” completed 513 of 519 laps in her first weekend at “The Lady in Black,” and did so without being in an accident – also a tough feat for a rookie, much less a seasoned veteran.

Patrick returns this weekend hoping to improve on her Darlington resume and perhaps tame the track that is “Too Tough To Tame.”

DANICA PATRICK, Driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing:

Are you more comfortable this year heading into Darlington than last year?

“Last year, I ran there in the (Sprint) Cup race and it was basically my first Cup race, really. I ran Daytona, but Darlington was like getting thrown into the deep end. That was the purpose of it, to get seat time so I’m not thinking or dreading going there this weekend worrying about what that’s going to look like for me and how it’s going to feel. I have an idea now of how it’s going to feel and what needs to be done.”

Talk about your experience at Darlington last year.

“I had never seen Darlington until that race weekend. So that’s always a bit interesting when you go somewhere you’ve never been. But I accomplished all the things I wanted to accomplish. Things went good on the Nationwide side. On the Cup side, my goals were to be respectable out there. I think I held my own. And the other one was to finish, and both of those things happened. So, overall, it was a good night. I definitely got a feel for all the elements. Starts, restarts and pitting, and all that stuff. Just how to get runs on cars. What to do when the car feels a certain way. Which lines to take, and to accommodate for the car and how it feels.”

TONY GIBSON, Crew chief of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing:

Overall thoughts on Darlington?

“Hopefully, she remembers what she learned last year. It’s hard because we only race at Darlington once a year, so it’s hard to remember that far back, sometimes. The biggest thing with Darlington is to race the racetrack, not anybody else. That’s what we did last time. She stayed out of trouble because she raced the racetrack, so that’s what she’s got to do again. I think that’s what impressed me there last time is she didn’t get caught up in trying to race everyone. She raced the racetrack and took what the car gave her. Our goal is to go there and have a clean race and finish. Typically, if you can do that, you can finish 25^th or better and that’s what we’re going to try to do.”

Date: May 5, 2013
Event: Aaron’s 499 (Round 10 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway (2.66-mile oval)
Start/Finish: 23^rd/33^rd (Accident, completed 182 of 192 laps)
Point Standing: 27^th (180 points, 203 out of first, 100 behind 10^th)
Winner: David Ragan of Front Row Motorsports in a green-white-checkered finish (Ford)

Danica Patrick missed a big accident early and outlasted a three-hour rain delay but couldn’t avoid a late-race multi-car crash, finishing a disappointing 33^rd in the Aaron’s 499 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), was in the middle of the pack of drafting cars on the backstretch on lap 182 when several cars began crashing in front of her. Despite her best efforts, she was caught up in the accident, and her GoDaddy.com Chevrolet suffered too much damage to continue.

“I’m probably sure the most common answer is, ‘I have no idea,’” Patrick said. “It happens out here; it is frustrating. Ricky (Stenhouse Jr.) was trying to make it four-wide, and the No. 36 (JJ Yeley) came up to block him, and it turned him. Then the No. 78 (Kurt Busch) was spinning; I went high, and somebody came up and clipped me and put me in the wall. I’m not sure which car it was. The No. 32 (Terry Labonte), it looked like. Honestly, it is just the way it goes. People forcing the issue. It is late in the race; I get it. But that’s what causes these accidents that makes speedway racing speedway racing. It’s just unfortunate for everyone on the Go Daddy team.”

On lap 44, Patrick did a spectacular job avoiding a multi-car accident that unfolded in front of her in turns one and two. She went low on the track and missed several cars crashing in front of her before coming to a complete stop as her path was blocked with wrecked race cars. She then drove around the roadblock and continued, much to the amazement of her crew chief, Tony Gibson.

“We were watching, and we were like, ‘Holy cow,’” Gibson said. “The next thing you know is she came on the radio, and she just aimed for the empty hole. I don’t know how she missed the No. 18 (Kyle Busch) there at the end. The No. 18 came back down across, and she said she got loose when she got on the first apron. Then when she got on the flat, she got real loose. How she survived, I have no idea. The GoDaddy.com Chevy did good, and our spotter (Brandon Benesch) did an awesome job. It’s unfortunate how it ended up with the late-race crash. But that’s part of restrictor-plate racing.”

Patrick’s teammate Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS, finished 32^nd. Newman, who led once for two laps, had his day cut short after being involved the same accident as Patrick.

The third member of SHR, Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet SS, finished 27^th after being one of 16 drivers involved in the multi-car accident on lap 44 that Patrick avoided. He was able to return to the race but finished five laps down in 27^th place.

David Ragan won the Aaron’s 499 to break a 64-race winless streak. The win is his second career Sprint Cup victory and his first at Talladega.

Ragan’s Front Row Motorsports teammate David Gilliland finished .212 of a second behind Ragan in the runner-up spot while Carl Edwards, Michael Waltrip and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top-five. Regan Smith, Matt Kenseth, Martin Truex Jr., Scott Speed and Aric Almirola comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were five caution periods for 31 laps, with 11 drivers failing to finish the 192-lap race, which was extended four laps by a green-white-checkered finish. Heavy rains also delayed the race for three hours, 36 minutes after the red flag was unfurled on lap 124.

With round 10 of 36 complete, Newman continues to lead the SHR contingent in the championship point standings. He fell one spot to 17^th and has 242 points, 141 back of series leader Johnson and 38 points behind 10^th-place Greg Biffle. Stewart maintained his 22^nd-place standing and has 224 points, 159 out of first and 56 behind Biffle. Patrick dropped one spot to 27^th place in the standings and has 180 points, 203 behind Johnson and 100 away from Biffle.

Sixteen races remain before the 12-driver, 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup begins Sept. 15 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. Only the top-10 in points are locked into the Chase. Positions 11 and 12 in the Chase are wild cards, awarded to the two drivers between 11^th and 20^th in points with the most wins. If multiple drivers have the same number of wins, a driver’s point standing serves as the tiebreaker.

Patrick, who is competing for Rookie of the Year honors against Ricky Stenhouse Jr., finished 20 spots behind Stenhouse, who placed 13^th.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Southern 500 Saturday, May 11 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. The race starts at 6:45 p.m. EDT, with live coverage provided by FOX beginning with its pre-race show at 6 p.m.

TALLADEGA, Ala. (May 4, 2013) - A potentially-strong run for Danica Patrick ended early when an issue with the tandem draft occurred. Patrick started the race on the outside of the second row in the fourth position and had high hopes for a strong finish for the AccuDoc Solutions/Go Daddy team. Just 14 laps into the Aaron's 312, Patrick was logging laps when she and her drafting partner lost contact, sending Patrick spinning in turn three. The damage to the No. 34 was to severe to repair, relegating the team to a 39th-place finish.

Patrick came into the weekend looking to make her second start of the 2013 NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) season with Turner Scott Motorsports (TSM). During Thursday's two practice sessions at the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway, Patrick worked on the tandem draft and made a mock-qualifying run. The team was confident going into Friday's qualifying session and Patrick backed it up with a stellar lap, placing the No. 34 AccuDoc Solutions/Go Daddy Chevrolet in the fourth position for Saturday's Aaron's 312.

After a long rain delay on Saturday, NNS eventually took the green flag hours after the scheduled start time. Patrick wasted no time in picking a partner and rode inside the top five for the first five laps. On lap eight, Patrick found a drafting partner, and the duo worked to make a move to stay towards the front of the lead pack and get to the NASCAR-mandated caution on lap 20. Unfortunately, it was on lap 14 when Patrick got disconnected from her drafting companion and sent the No. 34 AccuDoc Solutions/Go Daddy Chevy spinning. After making a couple trips down pit road, the Turner Scott Motorsports team decided that the damage was too severe to repair and retired from the Aaron's 312 in the 39th place.

"I hate it for everyone at Turner Scott Motorsports, this is the second time they gave me great car this season," said Patrick. "We were just riding and trying to make our way back up to the front. I'm just disappointed that I wasn't able to bring the AccuDoc Solutions/Go Daddy Chevy home with a finish that I felt like we could have gotten."

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. (May 1, 2013) – The stars may be aligning for Danica Patrick as she enters the Aaron’s 499 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday (May 5) at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), always seems run well in the month of May, and she loves restrictor-plate racing, the kind of which takes place at Talladega.

Her memorable “May Days” have mostly been in the IZOD IndyCar Series at the Indianapolis 500. She burst onto the scene in May 2005, when she stunned the world by leading 19 laps and finishing fourth in her first Indianapolis 500 – becoming the first woman to lead laps and score a top-five finish in the historic race.

Patrick set numerous records during her Indianapolis 500 debut and set the tone early when she posted the fastest lap on the opening day of practice. She went on to set the fastest practice lap five times that month – more than any other driver – including Pole Day and Carb Day.

Patrick’s practice lap of 229.880 mph on Pole Day was the fastest of any driver during the month and the fastest turned by any woman in the history of Indianapolis Motor Speedway. During her qualification attempt, Patrick made an impressive save as her car bobbled in turn one on her first lap, earning rave reviews for her car control by longtime Indianapolis Motor Speedway observers. She ended up qualifying fourth, the best starting position ever by a woman in the legendary event.

On race day, 11 laps before the end of the 200-lap race, Patrick blew past leader Dan Wheldon and held the point until lap 194, when she was forced to back off the pace to conserve enough fuel to make it to the finish. Patrick ended up fourth – the best finish ever for a woman at Indianapolis at that time – and earned Rookie of the Year honors for her efforts, which included leading the race three times for 19 laps.

In seven Indianapolis 500 starts (all in the month of May, of course) Patrick qualified in the top-10 five times and finished in the top-10 six times – including a third-place result in 2009. It remains the best finish by a woman in the history of the Indianapolis 500.

When she turned her attention to NASCAR full-time, Patrick continued to find promising May results in 2012. She finished 13^th or better in three of the four NASCAR Nationwide Series races (Talladega, Darlington, Charlotte) conducted during the month.

And while the month of May has always been good to Patrick, so have restrictor-plate tracks, and that was again true in February at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. Like she did at Indianapolis, she made headlines around the world with her record-setting performance in the 55^th Daytona 500. She became the first woman to win a Sprint Cup pole when she set the fastest time in qualifying for the Daytona 500, and then finished in eighth place, the highest finishing position ever for a woman in the “Great American Race.”

She led laps 90 to 91 under caution, becoming the first female to lead NASCAR’s most prestigious race, and then held the top spot under green from laps 127 to 129 to become the first woman to lead a NASCAR race under green. The only other woman to lead laps in a Sprint Cup race is Janet Guthrie, who led five laps under yellow in 1977 at Ontario (Calif.) Motor Speedway.

By leading laps in the Daytona 500, Patrick joined an elite club of only 13 drivers to have led both the Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500. The other drivers to accomplish the feat are A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, Al Unser, Bobby Unser, Bobby Allison, Jim Hurtubise, Johnny Rutherford, Tim Richmond, John Andretti, Robby Gordon, Juan Pablo Montoya and Tony Stewart.

Of those 13 drivers, only Patrick, Foyt, Andretti, Gordon, Montoya and Stewart have led at least five laps in each race.

Patrick’s eighth-place finish in the Daytona 500, coupled with her six top-10 finishes in the Indianapolis 500, make her one of only 15 drivers to have top-10 results in each race. The other drivers are Foyt, Montoya, Gordon, Rutherford, Stewart, Mario Andretti, Al Unser, Bobby Johns, Cale Yarborough, Dan Gurney, Donnie Allison, Jerry Grant, Paul Goldsmith and Tom Sneva.

She won’t be in Indianapolis this May, but she’ll look to make even more history in the Sprint Cup ranks during a month that has been very good to her throughout her career. And a victory at Talladega this weekend would certainly add another chapter to her already impressive story.

DANICA PATRICK, Driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing:

What are your thoughts on Talladega?
“Talladega is one of those tracks where anything can happen. Our superspeedway races are really exciting. There are a lot of leaders, a lot of lead changes and just a lot of action. If you’re a fan, this is a race you need to tune into because you just don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Given your eighth-place result at Daytona, do you feel you can win Talladega this weekend?
“I feel like I’ve learned some lessons from Daytona about the draft and how that unfolds at the end if you are in the right place at the right time. I think that, when we talk superspeedway racing, there’s a lot of luck involved. Like I said, right place at the right time … there are a lot of people who have a good chance of winning Talladega, I think. Hopefully, we are one of them at the end of the race. But, we won’t know that until end of the race.”

There have been some big penalties this year. You’re still new to NASCAR, but what are your thoughts on those penalties?
“It’s tough for me to know what the things that teams, cars, drivers, owners have been penalized for and to know how bad that is. I think penalties happen more in (Sprint) Cup than anywhere, it seems like, and I haven’t been around that long, and I don’t know how much of these things are performance gains or oversights, or blatant, or something they just got caught for. I just don’t know. I don’t know if it has to do with the new car. I really don’t. So, I would say NASCAR is definitely sending a message that if something is found that they don’t like, there will be penalties for it. That’s pretty clear.”

TONY GIBSON, Crew chief of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing:

Overall thoughts on Talladega?
“She’s pumped up and excited. She’s really excited to run the Nationwide Series race, also. It helps because you can learn a lot about drafting and things like that. Air is air and, the way it moves around, is the same for a Cup car or a Nationwide Series car. Learning to position yourself in certain situations so you have an advantage from Saturday and Sunday is a plus. So, she’s pretty excited to do both races. Obviously she’s a really good restrictor-plate racer. After running Daytona and starting on the pole and running in the top-three all day and finishing eighth, we’re excited. We kind of got snookered there at the end a little bit, but I think she logged that in the memory bank and learned some moves that she needs to keep in mind coming down to the last lap if we’re in a position to win at Talladega.”

Turner Scott Motorsports NASCAR Nationwide Series News & Notes:
Talladega Superspeedway

Danica Patrick
No. 34 AccuDoc Solutions/Go Daddy Chevrolet Camaro
Talladega Superspeedway | Aaron's 312
May 4, 2013

Season Recap...
Danica Patrick will make her second start of the 2013 NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) season this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. Patrick's first start of 2013 also came at a superspeedway, at Daytona International Speedway in the NNS season opener. Starting in the 12th spot, Patrick quickly moved through the 40-car pack and found herself racing for the lead. Patrick went on to lead five laps before she experienced an electrical failure on lap 31, forcing an early retirement from the DRIVE4COPD 300 and relegating her to a 36th-place finish.

Return to Talladega...
Patrick will make her second start at the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway. Patrick made her first start at the superspeedway last season, starting in 17th and working her way up through the field to lead a lap before eventually coming home with a top-15 finish, in 13th place.

Welcome Aboard...
The No. 34 Chevrolet is sporting the colors of AccuDoc Solutions this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway with Go Daddy will also onboard, serving as Patrick's associate sponsor. AccuDoc Solutions is based in Morrisville, N.C. and provides billing-statement printing and processing to hospitals and hospital-based physicians. In addition to paper-based billing statements, ADS enables patients to choose electronic statement delivery and make payments through secure online payment portals. Notable North Carolina based clients include Carolina's Healthcare System, the UNC Healthcare System, Sentara Healthcare, Baptist Health Care Pensacola, Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, Memorial Healthcare System and WakeMed. To learn more, visit www.AccuDocSolutions.com. Go Daddy is the Web's top platform for small businesses. Visit http://www.godaddy.com/business/small-business.aspx

This Week's Camaro...
Turner Scott Motorsports will debut a brand new chassis, TSM-337, for this weekend's Aaron's 312 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Follow Along...
Be sure to follow Turner Scott Motorsports on all social media platforms. You can find TSM on facebook at facebook.com/TurnerScottMotorsports, on twitter at @TSMotorsports and on Instagram at TSMotorsports.

Watch and Listen...
The Aaron's 312 can be seen live on Saturday, May 4 on ESPN. Race coverage will begin at 2:30 p.m. EDT. The event can also be heard live on MRN Radio as well as SiriusXM Radio, channel 90.

Crew Chief Mike Greci on Talladega Superspeedway:
"I'm looking forward to working with Danica again this weekend. I felt like we had a lot of chemistry the last time we worked together in Daytona. We were able to run up front and be in contention for a solid finish before we experienced an electrical failure. We have a great crew put together for this weekend, and I feel like we should be able to take the new chassis and compete for a solid finish."

Danica Patrick on Talladega Superspeedway:
"I really enjoy racing at the superspeedways, and Turner Scott Motorsports has a great superspeedway package. We had a great run going in Daytona, and I'm hoping we can pick up where we left off. I have a great crew, and I feel like we have an opportunity to bring home a solid finish for AccuDoc Solutions, Go Daddy and TSM."

NNS results at Talladega Superspeedway:
Starts: 1
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
Top 5: 0
Top 10: 0
Laps Led: 1
Average Start: 17.0
Average Finish: 13.0

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (April 29, 2013) - Turner Scott Motorsports announced today that Danica Patrick will return to pilot their fourth entry in the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race at Talladega Superspeedway. Patrick, who is competing full-time as a Sunoco Rookie-of-the-Year candidate in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) in 2013, will return behind the wheel for her second start of the season in the No. 34 AccuDoc Solutions/GoDaddy.com Chevrolet Camaro. Patrick will once again have the veteran crew chief Mike Greci atop the pit box to call the shot in this weekend's Aaron's 312 at Talladega Superspeedway. Greci previously served as crew chief for Patrick at the season opener NNS race in Daytona.

The former IndyCar driver has only one previous start at Talladega, leading one lap and finishing 13th in last year's NNS race. Patrick finished 36th at Daytona International Speedway, after experiencing an engine issue in her only previous start for Turner Scott Motorsports. Despite her bad luck in the NNS race, Patrick had success at Daytona, earning the pole and finishing eighth in the NSCS Daytona 500.

Patrick, the first woman in history to win an IndyCar race, has raced in a total of 59 NNS events, tallying one top-five and seven top-10 finishes. Patrick completed one full-time NNS season, finishing 10th in the 2012 driver point standings. The Roscoe, Ill. native also earned the NNS Most Popular Driver award following her full-time NNS campaign.

Long time Turner Scott Motorsports partner AccuDoc Solutions will serve as Patrick's primary sponsor and will also be joined by Patrick's long time sponsor Go Daddy as associate sponsor on the No. 34 Nationwide entry. AccuDoc Solutions, based in Morrisville, N.C., provides billing statement printing and processing to hospitals and hospital-based physicians, while Go Daddy is the Web's top platform for small businesses.

"I'm thrilled that I get another chance to drive the No. 34 AccuDoc Solutions/GoDaddy.com Chevrolet Camaro for Turner Scott Motorsports," said Patrick. "We had a great run going in Daytona, and I'm hoping we can pick up where we left off. I want to thank everyone at TSM, AccuDoc Solutions and GoDaddy for making this great opportunity come together."

Patrick will have three teammates on Saturday, with full-time TSM drivers Justin Allgaier, Kyle Larson and Nelson Piquet Jr. competing in the 117-lap restrictor plate race.

"We are very happy to welcome back Danica Patrick to the Turner Scott Motorsports Nationwide lineup this weekend in Talladega," said team co-owner Harry Scott Jr. "We were extremely pleased with Danica's efforts in Daytona and felt like we had all of the pieces in place to be successful. TSM has assembled a great crew for her this weekend and I feel like we have a great deal of potential; there's a very good chance of Danica bringing home Turner Scott Motorsports' first Nationwide win of the season."

The Aaron's 312 at Talladega Superspeedway will air live on ABC at 3:00 p.m. EDT on Saturday, May 4. The race can also be heard on MRN and Sirius XM Radio, channel 90.

About Turner Scott Motorsports: Turner Scott Motorsports was established in 1999 by Texas businessman Steve Turner, who was joined by partner Harry Scott Jr. as co-owner in 2013. This season will mark the fourth season of full-time NASCAR competition for the organization, which expanded in 2011 from a two-truck operation in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) to become the largest stand-alone multi-series team in NASCAR's top-tier touring series. The team earned its first championship when James Buescher captured the NCWTS title in 2012. Turner Scott Motorsports operates out of an 110,000 square-foot state-of-the art facility in Mooresville, N.C. The Chevrolet-backed team has created alliances with General Motors' powerhouse team Hendrick Motorsports, which provides engine support for both its NNS and NCWTS programs, and Earnhardt Technology Group for drive train and suspension technology assistance. For more information on Turner Scott Motorsports, visit

Date: April 27, 2013
Event: Toyota Owners 400 (Round 9 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Richmond (Va.) International Raceway (.75-mile oval)
Start/Finish: 30^th/29^th (Running, completed 402 of 406 laps)
Point Standing: 26^th (169 points, 174 out of first, 102 behind 10^th)
Winner: Kevin Harvick of Richard Childress Racing in a green-white-checkered finish (Chevrolet)

Danica Patrick finished 29^th in the Toyota Owners 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Saturday night at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway.

Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), dealt with a car that was loose on entry, tight in the center and loose on exit in the corners of the .75-mile oval.

While crew chief Tony Gibson tried a series of chassis and tire pressure adjustments, nothing brought the GoDaddy.com machine to life. Patrick finished four laps down in her first Sprint Cup Series start at Richmond.

“We were just so tight in the center of the corner,” Patrick said. “We just couldn’t loosen the car up enough to make the center work the way we needed to. Tony Gibson and the Go Daddy guys threw a lot at it, but we just couldn’t get the center quite right. We were loose in, tight center, loose off, but as much as we tried to loosen up the center, we never really affected the entry either.”

Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Outback Steakhouse Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 15^th, while Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS, finished 18^th.

Kevin Harvick won the Toyota Owners 400 to score his 20^th career Sprint Cup victory, his first of the season and his third at Richmond.

Clint Bowyer finished .343 of a second behind Harvick in the runner-up spot, while Joey Logano, Juan Pablo Montoya and Jeff Burton rounded out the top-five. Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were 11 caution periods for 75 laps, with six drivers failing to finish the 406-lap race, which was extended six laps by a green-white-checkered finish.

With round nine of 36 complete, Newman continues to lead the SHR contingent in the championship point standings. He moved up one spot to 16^th and has 229 points, 114 back of series leader Jimmie Johnson and 42 points behind 10^th-place Paul Menard. Stewart fell one spot to 22^nd place in the standings and has 207 points, 136 out of first and 64 behind Menard. Patrick dropped one spot to 26^th place in the standings and has 169 points, 174 behind Johnson and 102 away from Menard.

Seventeen races remain before the 12-driver, 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup begins Sept. 15 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. Only the top-10 in points are locked into the Chase. Positions 11 and 12 in the Chase are wild cards, awarded to the two drivers between 11^th and 20^th in points with the most wins. If multiple drivers have the same number of wins, a driver’s point standing serves as the tiebreaker.

Patrick, who is competing for Rookie of the Year honors against Ricky Stenhouse Jr., finished 13 spots behind Stenhouse, who placed 16^th.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Aaron’s 499 Sunday, May 5 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. The race starts at 1 p.m. EDT, with live coverage provided by FOX beginning with its pre-race show at noon.

The Party Is On! Danica Patrick to Tour Talladega Boulevard, Award Prizes to Best Decorated Campsite

Battle for the Coke Zero™ Tailgate Championship is set for Hallowed Ground – Talladega Boulevard

TALLADEGA, AL – The world famous Talladega Boulevard, a strip of land in Talladega’s infield known as NASCAR’s “Party Capital” for providing fans with the most fun in all of motorsports, just got even better! When the Aaron’s Dream Weekend (May 3-5) rolls into Talladega Superspeedway, NASCAR driver Danica Patrick will walk the Boulevard, mingle with fans, and award a one-of-a-kind “Coke Zero Tailgate Champion” trophy to the best decorated campsite.

After spending time on Talladega Boulevard last year during her first trip to the 2.66-mile unpredictable track, Patrick saw it to be “party central” for fans that featured fun, music, dancing, food, beverages and the most unique display of colorful creativity when it came to the décor of each campsite.

“I had heard about the Talladega Boulevard from my team prior to us coming to Talladega last year,” said Patrick, who will be a frontrunner for both the pole and race win for the Aaron’s 499. “So, we decided to walk from one end of the boulevard to the next, and I was amazed at how much fun these fans have at ‘Dega. It was unbelievable. After last year, I walked away saying how much I loved Talladega Superspeedway, as well as their super passionate fans.”

“I can’t wait to get back to Talladega and see the fans again on the track’s ‘Main Street’ in the infield. With the help of the track, as well as Coke Zero, there are some neat things planned for Talladega Boulevard. Race fans out there, make sure to bring anything and everything you can to decorate your campsite, and be ready to have some fun with it! We can’t wait to see you!”

Plans are for Danica to award the “Coke Zero Tailgate Champion” trophy Saturday afternoon, at some point following the conclusion of the Aaron’s 312 NASCAR Nationwide Series race.

The most notorious strip of real estate in NASCAR, Talladega Boulevard, is an innovative corridor like no other and has been a mainstay in NASCAR circles since the track was built in 1969. The Mardi Gras-type atmosphere of The Boulevard, complete with strings of beads and shenanigans, is a NASCAR tradition that separates Talladega from other venues. It truly is a sight to behold how tents, RVs, trucks and trailers, with an abundance of ingenuity and creativity, can liven up a large crowd of people.

“Danica’s passion for Talladega Boulevard shows fans what an incredible place it has been in the past and what it will be in the future,” said Talladega Chairman Grant Lynch. “Our fans will get an opportunity to see Danica up close Friday, so we encourage them to really dress up their area and get ready for a party. We hope the “Coke Zero Tailgate Champion” trophy presentation and competition will become a new tradition here at Talladega.

“We are thrilled that Coke Zero has come onboard to support Danica’s effort as well. We are also excited to have the Miller Lite Infield Track Bar as a part of Talladega Boulevard, a perfect setting for our Saturday night concert with country music star Chris Young.”

The most competitive racing in NASCAR combined with a mix of southern hospitality returns to Talladega Superspeedway May 3-5 for the Aaron’s Dream Weekend. Experience the excitement as the superstars of NASCAR attempt to tackle the high-banks of ‘DEGA at 200 mph. Secure your tickets at www.talladegasuperspeedway.com or by calling 877-Go2-DEGA. This is more than a race…This is Talladega!

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. (April 23, 2013) – It was just three weeks ago that Danica Patrick surprised many NASCAR observers with her impressive 12^th-place finish in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at the .526-mile Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), will look to improve even further on her short-track results in Saturday night’s Toyota Owners 400 Sprint Cup race at the .75-mile Richmond (Va.) International Raceway.

Like Martinsville, Richmond has been part of NASCAR since the early days of the sport. Lee Petty, father of seven-time Sprint Cup champion Richard Petty, won the first Sprint Cup race at Richmond on April 19, 1953 – little more than 60 years ago. Martinsville conducted its first race in 1949.

Patrick is no stranger to racing at Richmond, having competed in three NASCAR Nationwide Series races and five IZOD IndyCar Series races at the three-quarter-mile oval. She scored four top-10 IndyCar finishes, including sixth-place results in 2007 and 2008 and a fifth-place effort in 2009.

She has taken a liking to short-track racing and improved steadily through the last few months. In the August 2012 Sprint Cup race at the .533-mile Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway oval, Patrick was in the top-20 and on the lead lap with 66 laps remaining when her car was hit by another car and contacted the SAFER Barrier on the inside retaining wall of the frontstretch. She finished 29^th.

In the November Sprint Cup race at Phoenix International Raceway, Patrick finished what was then a career-best 17^th on the mile oval after running as high as 14^th with less than five laps to go. She improved even more with the 12^th-place finish April 7 at Martinsville.

One focus for Patrick and the Go Daddy team will be to improve their qualifying efforts. In addition to the obvious better starting spot, the better qualifying effort results in a better pit stall and better track position to start the race – both extremely critical at a short track like Richmond.

Sunday at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Patrick qualified 25^th, her best effort since her pole at this year’s season-opening Daytona 500.

DANICA PATRICK, Driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing:

The Go Daddy team has really tried to focus on qualifying better each week. How is that progressing?

“I was over talking to Tony (Stewart) after practice (last week at Kansas) and said, ‘Look, I’ve got to figure out how to qualify better.’ And you know, a lot of the runs there have been obvious issues, whether it be really loose or really tight or having a moment at the end of the first lap, which leads into the next lap, so it kills both of them. You know, there have been reasons. But all in all, it’s not necessarily my strong area and I know that. I was saying that in the Nationwide Series – it was kind of the same thing. And once I really got comfortable in the car and understood it and what it did when you pushed it, and obviously developed a setup that I am comfortable with, things really changed. And, all of a sudden, it was like a light switch and I was like, all right, I’m actually not so bad at qualifying these things anymore. But it took time. And so, I’m sure that it does happen like that with me. All of a sudden, something happens and I’ll feel more comfortable and there’s more speed there. But it doesn’t stop me from pushing and trying to figure out how to get better at it. I think the best thing we can do at this point in time is to try and get a car underneath me that I feel comfortable with and try to develop a good platform that we can go with each and every weekend to these 1.5-mile tracks, and to the short tracks, too, and just know what I have, as well. There’s something to be said for coming to the green and, yeah, you’ve got to be fast through (turns) three and four coming to the green. So, just knowing what you’ve got underneath you so you know what it’s going to do when you push it.”

A lot of young girls look up to you. Do you feel you’ve inspired some of them to get into auto racing?

“Maybe just from the perspective that they would think about racing. It’s not a normal sport for a kid to try because it’s not something you go play in school, right? In school, you play basketball, volleyball, all those kinds of sports, like baseball. Racing is not one of those. So, your family has to have the means to be able to do it and then you have to have even the scope of knowledge to be able to run a car. I think it might just make people a little bit more interested and maybe they want to become racecar drivers. But what I always tell little girls or little boys is that anybody who wants to become a racecar driver has to work really hard and it has to be your passion. And if you find that it is, so be it. But if not, then follow that because I think you can make a career out of anything.”

Television ratings for NASCAR have been up for the most part this year. How much of an impact do you think you have had on those ratings?

“I always say it takes all of us out there to make an entertaining race. If it was just me out there it would be really, really boring. I understand your question. I think that, when I’m running, let’s say at Daytona, and qualifying on the pole, there are a lot of stories written and so it drums up a lot of attention and interest and pure curiosity, like, ‘How’s this going to work out? Is she going to be good? Is she going to hang on? Is she doing to drop back?’ So, that curiosity might lead to viewership. I’m flattered by that. But again, I think we’ve seen throughout the races this year that there has been a record number – or at least a new record number – of lead changes at racetracks and that’s the kind of stuff that keeps fans coming back.”

Date: April 21, 2013
Event: STP 400 (Round 8 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan. (1.5-mile oval)
Start/Finish: 25^th/25^th (Running, completed 265 of 267 laps)
Point Standing: 25^th (154 points, 157 out of first, 86 behind 10^th)
Winner: Matt Kenseth of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Danica Patrick saw a potential top-15 finish go away due to a poorly placed piece of trash and finished 25^th in the STP 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan.

Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), was in the top-25 on lap 164 when she radioed to crew chief Tony Gibson that her engine was running hot. A quick check of the grille on Patrick’s Chevrolet reveled that much of it was covered by a piece of trash picked up somewhere along the 1.5-mile oval on a windy day.

A quick attempt to suck up behind the car of Jeff Gordon to remove the debris was unsuccessful. So Gibson ordered Patrick to pit road before the engine overheated and expired.

It took mere seconds to pull the trash off the grille. But the damage was done as Patrick returned to the track in 31^st place, two laps behind the leaders.

“We started out pretty good, but we just got tight in the second half of the race,” Patrick said. “We had a tire rub at one point and issues with the splitter from some contact we made. The trash on the grille was what really hurt us today. The temps went way high, and we had to pit to pull it off. That put us two laps down. It’s disappointing because I think we could have had a much better finish with the Go Daddy Chevy, but it’s one of those things that’s out of our control. The pit crew was awesome, I think they did a 12.1 (second stop), which I didn’t even think was possible. They did great today.”

Gibson was disappointed with the finish but managed to look at the positives.

“She did a great job, and it was definitely a top-15 car,” Gibson said. “We made improvement and the pit stops were good, but you can’t do anything about the trash on the grille. It’s just one of those things we just can’t control. That’s just part of it. But the bright side is that we finished again and got a lot of laps in, and we made some improvements and made a lot of gains. I felt like today was a positive day.”

Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Code 3 Associates Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 14^th, while Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 21^st.

Matt Kenseth won the STP 400 to score his 26^th career Sprint Cup victory, his second of the season and his second at Kansas.

Kasey Kahne finished .150 of a second behind Kenseth in the runner-up spot, while Jimmie Johnson, Martin Truex Jr. and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top-five. Brad Keselowski, Jamie McMurray, Aric Almirola, Mark Martin and Paul Menard comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were eight caution periods for 40 laps, with 10 drivers failing to finish the 267-lap race.

With round eight of 36 complete, Newman leads the SHR contingent in the championship point standings but dropped one spot to 17^th. He has 200 points, 111 back of series leader Johnson and 40 behind 10^th-place Paul Menard. Stewart moved up one spot to 21^st in the standings and has 181 points, 130 out of first and 59 behind Menard. Patrick also moved up one spot and is 25^th with 154 points, 157 behind Johnson and 86 away from Menard.

Eighteen races remain before the 12-driver, 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup begins Sept. 15 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. Only the top-10 drivers in points are locked into the Chase. Positions 11 and 12 in the Chase are wild cards, awarded to the two drivers between 11^th and 20^th in points with the most wins. In the event of multiple drivers having the same number of wins, a driver’s point standing serves as the tiebreaker.

Patrick, who is competing for Rookie of the Year honors against Ricky Stenhouse Jr., finished 14 spots behind Stenhouse, who placed 11^th.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Toyota Owners 400 Saturday, April 27 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway. The race starts at 7:30 p.m. EDT, with live coverage provided by FOX beginning with its pre-race show at 7 p.m.

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. (April 17, 2013) – Since leaving Texas Motor Speedway after Saturday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at the 1.5-mile oval, Danica Patrick has been a bit of a jet-setter.

Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing, spent Monday of this week in Los Angeles shooting a Go Daddy commercial with IZOD IndyCar Series driver James Hinchcliffe.

After the shoot with Hinchcliffe, who is also sponsored by Go Daddy, Patrick boarded a plane and headed to Daytona Beach, Fla., to participate in a two-day Goodyear tire test at Daytona International Speedway. The test was conducted Tuesday afternoon and evening, as well as all day Wednesday, in preparation for the July 6 Coke Zero 400 powered by Coca-Cola Sprint Cup race at the 2.5-mile oval.

From Daytona, Patrick will fly back westward to Kansas City, Kan., for Sunday’s STP 400 Sprint Cup race at Kansas Speedway.

While Patrick hit three times zones in four days, each stop on her tour of the United States brought her to a special spot in her racing career.

The Los Angeles area is home to the Long Beach Grand Prix, where 11 years ago Patrick started on the pole and won the professional portion of the Toyota Pro-Celebrity race.

Patrick’s trek to Daytona was her first since her historic Speedweeks in February when she started on the pole and finished eighth in the 55th Daytona 500. She set numerous records, including the distinction of becoming the first woman to win a Sprint Cup pole, and her eighth-place result was the highest finishing position ever for a woman in the “Great American Race.”

She led laps 90 to 91 under caution to become the first female to lead NASCAR’s most prestigious race. She also led laps 127 to 129 under green to become the first woman to lead a NASCAR race under green. Janet Guthrie led five laps under yellow in 1977 at Ontario (Calif.) Motor Speedway.

As for Kansas, Patrick scored her first career IndyCar Series pole at the 1.5-mile oval in July 2005. She has three top-10 results in IndyCar Series competition at Kansas and finished in the top-15 in each of her two Nationwide Series starts at the track in 2011 and 2012.

It’s been a busy week for Patrick, but also a trip that’s taken her a bit down memory lane. And she’s hoping to create even more memories and history Sunday.

DANICA PATRICK, Driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing:

How much more educated are you about driving stock cars than when you first started?

“A lot. I remember driving the car for the first time and I knew I liked it. The first time I pulled out of the pits, I knew I was having fun. I knew I wasn’t comfortable enough to even look at my gauges or my rear-view mirror. We were at Orlando (Walt Disney World Speedway) and I was white-knuckling it and I didn’t feel like I had time to look in my rear-view mirror to see what was going on. Now, going to a little place like Martinsville, you’re looking around and relaxing your leg and that’s much smaller than a place like Daytona. The comfort level has come along and I’m definitely getting educated on the car and the things that happen. I think I’m starting to speak the language better so that Tony (Gibson, crew chief) can understand much better what the car is doing. Also, just feeling the car and identifying the issues much better. I’m going to use an expression – I’m 10 times smarter than when I started, but I still have so much further to go.”

What is the difference between running 10 Sprint Cup races last year and running in a full Sprint Cup schedule this year?

“I mean, it just ends up feeling more comfortable. More comfortable with the car, more comfortable with everything that has to do with the Cup Series. I am adjusting to more work, though. There is a lot more going on. You basically have over a month’s worth of extra work just because you are at the track one day. Then there is lots of testing but, for me as a rookie drive in the Cup Series, that is a great thing. Definitely keeping me a lot more busy, but I have a really good relationship with the Go Daddy crew. We have a lot of fun and I’m really happy to be working with this group.”

Talk about the Goodyear tire test you participated in at Daytona?

“We’re tried out some of the green compounds for them and some combinations to see what works best and if there are any differences between the normal control tire and some of the others. We did single-car runs Tuesday night to get a speed reference for them and a balance, and then took them into Wednesday to do race runs to see if there’s any fall-off or any different feeling on the track that doesn’t happen until you get in a pack.”

Date: April 13, 2013
Event: NRA 500 (Round 7 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth (1.5-mile oval)
Start/Finish: 42^nd/28^th (Running, completed 331 of 334 laps)
Point Standing: 26^th (135 points, 134 out of first)
Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Danica Patrick struggled with an ill-handling car and finished a disappointing 28^th in the NRA 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Saturday night at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.

Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), started 42^nd and early on dealt with a car that was tough to handle. Crew chief Tony Gibson made a series of track-bar, wedge and tire pressure adjustments throughout the race, while also making a shock adjustment and inserting a spring rubber in the right-rear spring.

The changes made the car better throughout the night. But with only seven cautions for 36 laps, Patrick fell three laps behind the leaders and had to settle for a finish outside the top-25.

“It was a tough night,” Patrick said. “The car was just kind of all over the place at the beginning. Tony Gibson (crew chief) and the GoDaddy guys kept working on it all night, and we made some improvements on it. The pit crew did a good job on the stops. We just need to get better on the 1.5-mile tracks. I know the team will keep working at it. We’ll see what we can do in Kansas.”

Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet for SHR, led once for three laps en route to finishing 10^th. It was Newman’s fourth top-10 finish of the season and his fourth top-10 in 20 career Sprint Cup starts at the 1.5-mile oval.

Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet SS, finished 21^st.

Kyle Busch won the NRA 500 to score his 26^th career Sprint Cup victory, his second of the season and his first at Texas. Busch is tied for 23^rd on the all-time Sprint Cup Series wins list with 1965 Daytona 500 winner Fred Lorenzen.

Martin Truex Jr. finished .508 of a second behind Busch in the runner-up spot, while Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle and Joey Logano rounded out the top-five. Jimmie Johnson, Aric Almirola, Brian Vickers, Brad Keselowski and Newman comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were seven caution periods for 36 laps, with five drivers failing to finish the 334-lap race.

With round seven of 36 complete, Newman leads the SHR contingent in the championship point standings. He moved up six spots to 17^th and is 100 points behind series leader Johnson. Stewart maintained his 22^nd-place spot in the standings and is 111 points out of first. Patrick also maintained her 26^th-place spot in the standings and is 134 points behind Johnson.

Patrick, who is competing for Rookie of the Year honors against Ricky Stenhouse Jr., finished 12 spots ahead of Stenhouse, who placed 40^th.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the STP 400 Sunday, April 21 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan. The race starts at 1 p.m. EDT, with live coverage provided by FOX beginning with its pre-race show at 12:30 p.m.

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. (April 9, 2013) – Of all the tracks Danica Patrick has competed at, she is most associated with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.

In seven Indianapolis 500 starts, Patrick finished in the top-10 six times, including a third-place result in 2009, the best finish ever for a woman in the historic race. At Daytona, Patrick won the pole for the February 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series race and then, one year later, became the first woman ever to win a Sprint Cup pole by taking the top spot for the 55^th Daytona 500. She went on to finish eighth in the Daytona 500, the best result ever for a woman in the history of the race.

But while Indianapolis and Daytona have provided plenty of good memories for Patrick, it’s Texas Motor Speedway that has provided the most experience.

Of all the tracks where Patrick will compete in 2013, she has the most starts at Texas, having driven in 13 major-league races – one Sprint Cup, four Nationwide Series, and eight in the IZOD IndyCar Series. And it’s a track she’s taken a liking to in all three divisions.

In last November’s Sprint Cup race at Texas, Patrick started 32nd and finished 24^th. It was, at the time, her best career Sprint Cup finish, and it came in her first race with Tony Gibson as her crew chief. In her four Nationwide Series races, Patrick has three top-15 finishes, including an eighth place result in April 2012. In Patrick’s eight IndyCar Series starts at the 1.5-mile oval, she has five top-10 finishes, including a third-place result in June 2007 and second-place finish in June 2010.

Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), enters Texas with a good deal of confidence after a solid run in her first race of any kind Sunday at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. After starting last due to an engine change, then spinning early and going two laps down, Patrick rallied for an incredible 12^th-place finish at the .526-mile oval.

Patrick’s top-12 at Martinsville was impressive when considering where other drivers finished in their first races at the .526-mile paperclip – most notably her team owner Tony Stewart, who finished 20^th in his first Martinsville start in 1999. Five-time Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson finished 35^th in his Martinsville debut in 2002. NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace finished 15^th and Dale Jarrett finished 14^th, both in 1984. Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 26^th in 2000. Kyle Busch finished 39^th in 2005. Matt Kenseth finished 21^st and Kurt Busch finished 37^th, also in 2000. Fred Lorenzen finished 24^th 1956.

DANICA PATRICK, Driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing:

You have a lot of experience at Texas and you seem to really enjoy racing there. Why is that?

“I think, more than anything with Texas, it’s the fact it’s a really high-banked, fast track and those are the kind of tracks I’ve liked the most. I feel that load in the corner and you’re able to carry so much speed through there because of that banking. I feel like it translates more to a feeling I was familiar with from Indy cars. So I like going to Texas.”

What is your favorite memory of racing at Texas?

“The Dan Weldon/Danica Patrick boxing duo promotion coming off of (the) Milwaukee (IndyCar race in 2007). That was probably my favorite. I also just about won in 2009. It was (Ryan) Briscoe and I on the last stop. I came out in front of him, but I just didn’t have the speed and he went around me. But I almost won that race. That was a good night.”

You had a tremendous drive at Martinsville. Talk about that.

“Well, never being at Martinsville before, I didn’t know what to expect. All I knew was that it was going to be a little bit crazy. The bumping and banging sure gets going. I tried to guard the inside right there at the end and then (Brian) Vickers gave me a bump and I get it. I was trying to defend and hold my position. We still came away with a 12^th-place finish. It was good to do that for GoDaddy, and obviously the Hendrick Engine was very strong. I felt like I made a lot of passes. I feel like I just passed all day. But I’m sure a lot of people do that on a short track. It was a nice day for us. It was nice to have a good weekend. We’ve had quite a few bad ones since Daytona. So, we’ll take this and get rolling into the summer because we don’t have a break until July.”

TONY GIBSON, Crew chief of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing:

Did you ever in your wildest dreams think Danica could finish 12^th in her first trip to Martinsville?

“Nah, I’ve never thought that. I figured if we could finish top-25 and be a couple of laps down, it would be a miracle. I never dreamed this. I knew after Saturday and Friday that we had a good car. I knew she was capable of doing it, as far as speed and driving. To be able to go through all that beating and banging and survive and finish 12^th, she did a great job.”

How important was the test prior to Martinsville at “Little Rock” in Rockingham, N.C.?

“Going to Little Rock was obviously huge. Going there and just kind of getting in that mode of braking and working on a couple of things setup-wise to help her. Martinsville is one of those places where, if you can road race, you’re going to get around there pretty good. Obviously, she’s a pretty good road racer, so having that straight-line braking mentality and finesse of not just overdriving the car, that helped her the most going into there. She definitely did a really, really nice job all day. She got aggressive when she needed to at the end.”

How pleased were you to see her get aggressive at the end?

“It was great to see that. I was worried about that. I knew that, with 30 to go, the restarts were going to get more and more aggressive, and that’s why I told her it’s not going to get any easier. I was really, really happy to see how aggressive she got. You know, being able to be on the defense. They would bump her and she wouldn’t get flustered and shaken up. I was really, really impressed with that. That was the biggest thing I was nervous about – how she would do in a situation like that. It will help her gain some confidence. Obviously, that was the worst-case scenario of where we go for a restart. To come out of there proving she can do it – being more aggressive on the restarts and doing what these guys are doing – will hopefully build some confidence that will help her down the road.”

How much confidence does it give the GoDaddy team heading into Texas?

“It’s big. We ran really good there with her last year toward the end, and that was our first race with her. We had some confidence out of there and into Phoenix. So it’s awesome to come out of Martinsville with some confidence and a little momentum going into Texas. And we’re coming up on some tracks where I think we can run really good at. It’s huge right now for us.”

Date: April 7, 2013
Event: STP Gas Booster 500 (Round 6 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Martinsville (Va.) Speedway (.526-mile oval)
Start/Finish: 32^nd/12^th (Running, completed 500 of 500 laps)
Point Standing: 26^th (119 points, 112 out of first)
Winner: Jimmie Johnson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Danica Patrick delivered one of the most impressive drives by a rookie in the 64-year history of Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, finishing 12^th in the STP Gas Booster 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday.

It was the second-best finish of her brief 16-race Sprint Cup Series career, topped only by her eighth-place result in the season-opening Daytona 500.

“Having never been at Martinsville before, I didn’t know what to expect,” Patrick said. “All I knew was that it was going to be a little bit crazy. It was good day for GoDaddy and obviously the Hendrick engines were very strong today. I felt like I made a lot of passes. I feel like I just passed all day. But I’m sure a lot of people do that on a short track. It was a nice day for us. It was nice to have a good weekend. We’ve had quite a few bad ones since Daytona. So we’ll take this and get rolling into the summer because we don’t have a break until July.”

Patrick’s impressive rookie performance bested those of some other name drivers in their Martinsville debuts, most notably, her team owner, as Tony Stewart finished 20^th in his first Martinsville start (1999). Five-time Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson finished 35^th in his Martinsville debut (2002). NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace finished 15^th (1984). Dale Jarrett finished 14^th (1984). Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 26^th (2000). Kyle Busch finished 39^th (2005). Matt Kenseth finished 21^st (2000). Kurt Busch finished 37^th (2000). Fred Lorenzen finished 24^th (1956).

Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), qualified 32^nd and became the first woman to start a Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville. But it was a rocky start as she had to drop to the rear of the field due to an engine change the team opted to make after the final practice Saturday. And just 17 laps into the race, she spun in turns three and four, which brought out a caution and put her one lap down to the leaders. Patrick then went two laps down, but she and the Go Daddy team stayed calm and rallied.

They got lap one back when a caution on lap 242 allowed Patrick to stay on track and get the wave-around, putting her in 27^th for the restart, one lap down. By lap 288, Patrick had worked her way up to 22^nd and once again used the wave-around. She was back on the lead lap.

From there, Patrick drove an aggressive race and moved to 12^th place by the time the checkered flag flew. She didn’t back down from the bumping and banging that Martinsville is known for and earned rave reviews from fellow drivers and teams.

“The bumping and banging sure gets going,” Patrick said. “I tried to guard the inside right there at the end and then (Brian) Vickers gave me a bump, and I get it. I was trying to defend and hold my position. We still came away with a 12^th-place finish. I think you take what the car gives you. Tony Gibson (crew chief) has a really good track record here. He’s a great crew chief. And my car was pretty good all day. We kind of bounced around from being a little loose to a little tight, but we got the GoDaddy Chevy back up there. We obviously went down real early with that spin and were two laps down at one point in time. So I feel like that’s almost one of the things I’m most proud of is coming back from two laps down to being on the lead lap and then grabbing a 12^th place at the end.”

Patrick even surprised her crew chief Gibson, who admitted after the race he didn’t expect such a strong finish from his driver.

“I figured if we could finish top 25 and be a couple of laps down, it would be a miracle,” Gibson said. “I never dreamed this. I knew after Saturday and Friday that we had a good Go Daddy Chevrolet. I knew she was capable of doing it, as far as speed-wise and driving. To be able to go through all that beating and banging and survive and finish 12^th is unbelievable.”

Gibson was also happy with the aggressiveness his driver showed late in the race – a trait that can often be challenging for rookies to learn.

“It was great to see that,” Gibson said. “I was worried about that. I knew that with 30 to go the restarts were going to get more and more aggressive, and that’s why I told her it’s not going to get any easier. I was really, really happy to see how aggressive she got. You know, being able to be on the defense. They would bump her, and she wouldn’t get flustered. I was really, really impressed with that. That was the biggest thing I was nervous about – how she would do in a situation like that. It will help her gain some confidence. Obviously, this is the worst-case scenario of where we go for a restart. To come out of her proving she can do it…on these restarts be more aggressive and do what these guys are doing and hopefully build some confidence that will help her down the road here.”

Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS, finished 17^th in Sunday’s race, while Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet for SHR, finished 31^st after sustaining back-to-back, flat right-front tires that left him eight laps down.

Johnson won the STP Gas Booster 500 to score his 62^nd career Sprint Cup victory, his second of the season and his eighth at Martinsville. Johnson is the winningest active Sprint Cup driver in Martinsville history. He trails only Richard Petty (15 wins) and Darrell Waltrip (11 wins) on the track’s all-time win list, which has played host to the Sprint Cup Series since 1949.

Clint Bowyer finished .627 of a second behind Johnson in the runner-up spot, while Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne and Kyle Busch rounded out the top-five. Brad Keselowski, Jamie McMurray, Marcos Ambrose, Greg Biffle and Mark Martin comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were 12 caution periods for 85 laps, with five drivers failing to finish the 500-lap race.

With round six of 36 complete, Stewart leads the SHR contingent in the championship point standings. He maintained his 22^nd-place standing and is 96 points behind new series leader Johnson. Newman fell three positions to 23^rd, 97 points out of first. Patrick gained three spots to climb to 26^th, 112 points behind Johnson.

Patrick, who is competing for Rookie of the Year honors against Ricky Stenhouse Jr., finished 13 spots ahead of Stenhouse, who placed 25^th.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the NRA 500 Saturday, April 13 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. The race starts at 7:30 p.m. EDT, with live coverage provided by FOX beginning with its pre-race show at 7 p.m.

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. (April 2, 2013) – Two big challenges await Danica Patrick as she looks toward Sunday’s STP Gas Booster 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

The first and most important challenge is figuring out how to drive the tricky .526-mile paperclip oval that her crew chief Tony Gibson describes as “a tough place for any veteran to go, let alone a rookie.” Martinsville opened for business in 1947, two years before NASCAR was formed, and has a history rivaled by few tracks on the circuit. Every NASCAR champion has raced there and the Sprint Cup Series has conducted events at Martinsville twice a year since 1950.

So, given its extensive history, it’s a challenge to add something to the history books that isn’t already there. But Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), will add her name to the record book as she will be the first female driver to qualify and race at Martinsville.

But the primary goal is not just to add her name to the record book in such a way. She’s focused on getting experience and learning one of the most challenging tracks on the schedule. At .526 of a mile, Martinsville is the shortest track on the circuit and, from the air, looks like a paperclip as its long straightaways lead into tight, flat turns. The racing there can be described as “give-and-take” with drivers giving some bumps and taking some bumps as 43 cars fight for space on its tight confines.

Patrick and the Go Daddy team prepared for Martinsville by testing last month at “Little Rock,” a purpose-built test track in Rockingham, N.C., designed to feature the characteristics of Martinsville. But while the test was productive, Patrick and Gibson know well that the test can only help so much and that there is no replacement for the real Martinsville experience.

That said, part of the “real” Martinsville experience, off the track, is the world famous Martinsville Hot Dog. A popular staple at Martinsville, the hot dog is covered with slaw, chili, fresh onions and a few other secret ingredients, and wrapped in waxed paper. And that brings up the second challenge as Gibson told Patrick it’s bad karma to not have a hot dog when racing at the half-mile track. So, in addition to stomaching the tricky track, she also may feel obligated to stomach a Martinsville Hot Dog, something easier said than done for some people.

But as the great Clark Griswold once said: “It’s all part of the experience.”

DANICA PATRICK, Driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing:

What are your overall thoughts on Martinsville?

“I am actually really excited about Martinsville. I like the little short tracks. They’re fun. We’re going to be close racing a lot of the time. We went testing out at Little Rock (Rockingham, N.C.) and got a feel for a track like Martinsville. I thought we actually made some really big gains that day. It was fun. Is there time to look down at your water and oil temperatures? No, there’s not. I think it will be fun and I had no idea that a woman had not competed at Martinsville (in Sprint Cup), but I guess these are things I’ll find out along the way.”

You’ve been to five different tracks this season. Which ones do you feel most comfortable at and which ones are you not so comfortable at?

“I feel like it’s pretty obvious that Daytona would be my answer to which track makes me feel most comfortable. I think that in Phoenix we were starting to get a little bit closer in the race and we blew the tire. I feel relatively comfortable at short tracks. I think the mile-and-a-half’s are, oddly enough, I feel like one of the bigger challenges because, if the car isn’t right, there are so many more lanes to race on that the leaders come really fast. You’re working at a higher speed and that grip is a premium. We’re going to find our good races and bad races and I don’t think it’s necessarily going to be about what kind of track it is. I think our speedway stuff is really good at this point.”

Tony Gibson says its bad karma if you don’t eat a world famous Martinsville Hot Dog. Your thoughts?

“I would do anything for good karma so, if that involves eating a Martinsville hot dog, then I’ll do it. Do I have to eat the whole thing? With the chili and slaw and everything? I’ll do my best as that sort of meal is not generally in my everyday diet (laughs), but I look forward to the good karma the Martinsville Hot Dog will bring.”

You had the chance to participate in the 135th White House Easter Egg Roll, and you read Dr. Seuss’ “Go Dog Go” to a few young children Monday. Talk about that.

“It was an amazing experience. It’s such an honor to get to go to The White House and I really enjoyed it. I got to read Dr. Seuss’ ‘Go Dog Go’ to the kids and that was a lot of fun. I love kids and they’re so much fun to be around, and it’s pretty flattering when they tell you that you’re their role model or hero. It’s really humbling. Go Daddy helped make the trip happen and I can’t thank them enough. It was a great time.”

TONY GIBSON, Crew chief of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing:

What are you overall thoughts on Martinsville?

“It’s a tough place – it’s a tough place for any veteran to go, let alone a rookie. It’s going to be a big challenge for her. It’s worse than Bristol because you’re constantly in traffic and guys are constantly bumping into you and into the side of you. Martinsville will be her biggest challenge, for sure, and the focus will be just on finishing clean and learning as much as she can so we can prepare for the second time she goes to Martinsville in the fall. If she can do that, she’ll be in good shape.”

You’ve been racing in the Sprint Cup Series for a long time. Talk about the historic significance of Martinsville.

“It’s one of those places where there’s a lot of history. It’s like Darlington, where it’s been around forever. It makes or breaks a lot of racecar drivers. When you go into a place like that, you don’t want it to be a bad experience. You want to have a positive experience and be part of the history, not part of the negative history. I enjoy going there and racing where some of the greats have raced. It’s neat for us that she’ll be the first woman to ever race in a Sprint Cup race at Martinsville. It’s cool to be part of that history, especially at a place like Martinsville that has been around so long.”

Are you going to encourage her to eat a world famous Martinsville Hot Dog when she’s at Martinsville?

“Heck, yeah. You can’t go to Martinsville and not eat a hot dog. That’s a big tradition and it’s bad karma if you don’t have one when you’re there.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 1, 2013) -- Go Daddy, the world's top platform for small businesses, sent its inspirational spokeswoman to celebrate a spring tradition at the White House today. Go Daddy's Danica Patrick was a special guest of the President and First Lady at today's Easter Egg Roll, which included a range of activities focused on health and fitness education.

"It was an honor to be at the White House, but what made today really special was the interaction with the kids," said Danica, who recently won the Kids Choice Award for Favorite Female Athlete. "The First Lady's campaign to 'keep moving' and to make healthy food choices is an important one for all of us!"

Danica participated with young students in the South Lawn "eggtivity zone," visited with on-site chefs who offered up a variety of nutritional treats and read "Go, Dog. Go!" to dozens of children who gathered to see one of the sporting world's most famous women read from the story time stage. The book describes interactions of a group of highly mobile dogs, who operate cars in a variety of pursuits ... fitting for Go Daddy's inspirational NASCAR star who has found great success competing in a male-dominated sport.

This year's theme was "Be Healthy, Be Active, Be You!" and challenged kids to incorporate physical activity into each day. Other celebrities at today's annual affair included the NFL's Adrian Peterson, Academy Award-nominated actress Quvenzhane Wallis, "Kid President" Robby Novak and American Idol star Jordin Sparks. Celebrity chefs, including Ina Garten and Spike Mendelsohn, prepared healthy eating demonstrations at the "Play with your Food" station. Activities included a Yoga Garden, basketball on the president's court and a "Hop To It!" dance party with jump ropes and hula hoops.

Another interactive component of today's event was social media. To see Danica's personal tweets and photos about today's festivities, go to @DanicaPatrick, @GoDaddy and @DanicaRacing on Twitter. You can also check out @LetsMove and @FitnessGov or Facebook.com/letsmove or visit LetsMove.gov.

Connect with Go Daddy on Facebook & Twitter.

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Go Daddy is the world's largest domain name provider, Web hosting provider and new SSL certificate provider, focused on helping small businesses grow larger. Go Daddy provides dozens of cloud-based services and is the largest worldwide mass-market hosting provider by annual revenue according to 451 Research (Mass-Market Hosting Report-Fall 2012) and is the #1 provider of net-new SSL certificates for 2012, according to the Netcraft, LTD Secure Server Survey. To learn more about the company, visit www.GoDaddy.com/PR.

Date: March 24, 2013
Event: Auto Club 400 (Round 5 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. (2-mile oval)
Start/Finish: 40^th/26^th (Running, completed 199 of 200 laps)
Point Standing: 29^th (87 points, 112 out of first)
Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Danica Patrick achieved just what she wanted to do in the Auto Club 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. Patrick, the driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), wanted to run a clean race and finish the 200-lap event. She did that, earning a 26^th-place finish.

While Patrick and the Go Daddy team hoped for a higher finish, it was an improvement from the beginning of the weekend, a goal for the team as Patrick continues her Sprint Cup education.

Patrick started the race – her first Sprint Cup start at the 2-mile oval – in 40^th place with an ill-handling racecar. She nearly lost a lap to the leaders early thanks to the rapid pace of the race, but a timely caution at lap 28 kept Patrick on the lead lap and gave the team the opportunity to work on the GoDaddy.com Chevrolet.

The team made track bar, wedge and air pressure adjustments to help improve the balance of Patrick’s car, which she described as being loose entering the corners, tight in the center and loose exiting the turns. Once back under green, Patrick reported that the adjustments aided her car’s handling.

Patrick continued to give valuable feedback to the crew on her car’s performance. With each opportunity, crew chief Tony Gibson made adjustments, which helped the GoDaddy.com machine come to life. She also tried various lines on the multi-grooved racetrack to learn where the car was fastest. As the race wore on, Patrick’s car continued to improve.

Thanks to the various pit stops to work on the car, Patrick ended up on a different pit sequence than most of the leaders. A green flag pit stop at lap 77 saw her lose a lap to the leaders. But Patrick refused to give up and fought to keep her car in the mix. When the caution flag waved at lap 131, Patrick did not pit and was able to take the wave-around and get back on the lead lap.

But she again was pitting off-sequence and again lost a lap during a green flag pit stop at lap 161. Despite being a lap down, Patrick stayed in the battle to get back on the lead lap, but she never could claim the “Lucky Dog” spot.

By the end of the race, Patrick’s car had improved enough to turn lap times comparable to drivers in the top-15. While Patrick wanted to finish better than 26^th and one lap down, she was pleased with the improvements the team made to her car throughout the race.

“We just had a tough Friday and Saturday, and we regrouped for Sunday and put a new setup on the Go Daddy Chevrolet and stayed optimistic,” Patrick said. “The car started off a little bit loose, but once we dialed that in, it was decent. At the end of the race, I really thought it was pretty good. So I felt better at the end of the race than I did in qualifying. We made big improvements. We all want better than 26^th and that’s what we had today, and it will be better next time.”

Patrick’s performance at a difficult track made Gibson proud.

“We’re pleased,” Gibson said. “We’re making small gains and finishing races, and that’s what we’ve got to do. We struggled Friday and Saturday. We kind of leaned on the 14 (Tony Stewart) guys on part of their setup there, and made our car definitely better there. We got better as the race went on. Our adjustments were working. We fought for that ‘Lucky Dog,’ and we actually thought we had it there one time, but we just couldn’t get in the right line and get moving. We put ourselves in position to have a good day, and we had a good day. Really appreciate everyone at Go Daddy for their support.”

Patrick’s SHR teammate, Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 WIX Filters Chevrolet SS, finished 10^th to score his third top-10 finish of the season and his eighth top-10 in 19 career Sprint Cup starts at Fontana.

Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Rush Truck Centers /Mobil 1 Chevrolet for SHR, led twice for 18 laps and was in position for a top-five finish with 10 laps to go until a block by Joey Logano on the lap 190 restart forced Stewart low and impeded his momentum. Stewart lost valuable positions in the closing laps and finished a disappointing 22^nd.

Kyle Busch won the Auto Club 400 to score his 25^th career Sprint Cup victory, his first of the season and his second at Fontana.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished behind Busch in the runner-up spot as the race ended under caution for a last-lap crash involving Logano and Denny Hamlin. Logano, Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch rounded out the top-five, while Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Paul Menard, Kasey Kahne and Newman comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were nine caution periods for 35 laps, with eight drivers failing to finish the 200-lap race.

With round five of 36 complete, Newman leads the SHR contingent in the championship point standings. He gained three spots to climb to 20^th, 78 points behind new series leader Earnhardt. Stewart picked up two positions to rise to 22^nd, 91 points out of first. Patrick dropped one spot to fall to 29^th, 112 points behind Earnhardt.

Patrick, who is competing for Rookie of the Year honors against Ricky Stenhouse Jr., finished six spots behind Stenhouse, who placed 20^th.

The Sprint Cup Series takes a rare weekend off for Easter before returning to action April 7 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway for the STP Gas Booster 500. The race starts at 1 p.m. EDT, with live coverage provided by FOX beginning with its pre-race show at 12:30 p.m.

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. (March 20, 2013) – Every race in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is important, although races at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway and Darlington (S.C.) Raceway seem to carry extra importance due to historical significance.

Daytona is home to the “Super Bowl of stock-car racing,” the Daytona 500. Indianapolis has been around since 1909, with the Sprint Cup Series racing there since 1994. Charlotte is the “home game,” for Sprint Cup teams, and Darlington and NASCAR were practically born together.

While Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., doesn’t have the historical significance of Daytona, Indy, Charlotte or Darlington, it’s critically important to the teams of the Sprint Cup Series due to the fact it is among the “intermediate” tracks of 1.5 or 2 miles in length.

If a driver and team are going to be successful in the Sprint Cup Series, mastering intermediate tracks is key. More than a third of the 36 races on the schedule – 14 to be exact – are conducted at tracks 1.5 or 2 miles in length.

For rookie Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing, learning at every track is critical. She must learn how to restrictor-plate race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway and Daytona, while learning the short-track strategy at places like Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, Richmond (Va.) International Raceway and Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

But perhaps more important than anything is learning the nuances of racing at intermediate tracks, given their heavy presence on the schedule. And Patrick’s education will continue this weekend at the 2-mile Auto Club Speedway oval, site of Sunday’s Auto Club 400 Sprint Cup race.

Patrick has competed in four races at Fontana, but only one in the last two-and-a-half years. She finished 18^th after an accident in an IZOD IndyCar Series race in 2005 and then returned to the track in 2010 for NASCAR Nationwide Series races in March and October. Her last start at Fontana came in March 2012, when she qualified 21^st but finished 35^th thanks to engine problems that ended her day after just 63 of 150 laps.

DANICA PATRICK, Driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing:

What are your overall thoughts on Fontana?

“Fontana’s pavement has not aged gracefully (laughs), so it makes for a challenging race. It’s a challenge to set up the car – the seams move the car around a lot. It’s very fast, yet you still have to get the car to rotate and it seems really tight off of (turn) two. It’s one of the tougher places to get the balance right. But if you do strike a good balance in practice, you have a chance to have a really good day on Sunday.”

Are you getting used to three-day events and not doing “double-duty” with a Nationwide Series race?

“The race weekends actually feel rather paced. On Saturday, you have half a day off, actually, because you’re usually done mid-day. You find more time in market. I enjoy being at the racetrack more than ever.”

TONY GIBSON, Crew chief of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing:

What are you overall thoughts on Fontana?

“I think it’s probably a better track for us to go to being a bigger track – a multiple-lane racetrack. I feel like we’ve run extremely well there in the past with Ryan (Newman). For two or three years, we’ve been really fast out there. I think it’s more Danica’s style of racing – a lot of throttle, not a lot of braking. That seems to be her type of deal. Hopefully, we can go out there and qualify a little better. I think that will help the racing. I’m excited about going. I feel like we’ve got a really good setup for out there and I think we’ve been pretty good there the last three or four years.”

What has most impressed you about Danica in the first four races thus far this season?

“I know last year you saw her not be as patient and try to make something out of what’s not there. And I told her that. What impresses me is that she takes what the car will give her and not drive over her head and get herself in trouble. That’s probably the biggest thing I’m impressed with compared to last year. I saw her get herself in trouble and get frustrated and put herself in a bad spot. This year, she’s done a good job of not doing that and just taking what the car will give her and the situation around her and finishing and making laps. She got to learn and it isn’t going to be easy. It’s going to be a process for her just like any other rookie, so she’s just got to be patient with herself and it will come.”

Date: March 17, 2013
Event: Food City 500 (Round 4 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway (.533-mile oval)
Start/Finish: 41^st/28^th (Running, completed 495 of 500 laps)
Point Standing: 28^th (69 points, 97 out of first)
Winner: Kasey Kahne of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Danica Patrick battled a tight-handling racecar and a late pit-road speeding penalty en route to a 28^th-place finish Sunday in the Food City 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.

Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), started 41^st and dealt early with a tight-handling car. While Patrick provided superb feedback regarding the car, crew chief Tony Gibson began tinkering with the handling of the GoDaddy.com Chevy with tire pressure, wedge and track bar adjustments, as well as inserting and extracting spring rubbers from the rear springs.

As the race moved along, Patrick’s car began to come to life. But the rapid pace of the race around the .533-mile oval – and lack of caution periods – put her three laps down to the leaders with 150 laps to go. Despite being three laps down, Patrick was still in 25^th place with a top-20 result within reach.

But after a pit stop under caution on lap 350 for four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment, NASCAR officials ruled Patrick’s car exceeded the 30-mph pit-road speed limit in zone six (the end of pit road). She was forced to serve a pass-through penalty.

After serving the penalty shortly after the green flag came out, Patrick fell to 30^th, four laps behind the leaders. While a good finish was out of the question, her Sprint Cup Series education continued.

“There are a lot of things that I have to work on at this point in time,” Patrick said. “For us, the most important thing is to find a decent balance to start off the race so that we don’t drop back.

“We’ve been really loose the last couple of races, so we wanted to make sure we were tight. So we decided that was our accomplishment today was to aim to be tight, and we were. So we probably didn’t need to, and, in fact, we probably kind of knew we were over-compensating. But we just never really got it completely freed up like we needed to. It was better later in the race, but by then the damage is done.”

Patrick’s SHR teammate, Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS, finished seventh to score his second top-10 finish of the season and his 13^th top-10 in 23 career Sprint Cup starts at Bristol.

Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet for SHR, finished 31^st after a cut left-rear tire sent him spinning into the turn one wall on lap nine of the 500-lap race. His crew repaired the No. 14 machine after a lengthy stay on pit road. After returning to the track in 41^st, Stewart gained 10 positions by the time the checkered flag dropped.

Kasey Kahne won the Food City 500 to score his 15^th career Sprint Cup victory, his first of the season and his first at Bristol.

Kyle Busch finished 1.7 seconds behind Kahne in the runner-up spot, while Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top-five. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Newman, Brian Vickers, Paul Menard and Jamie McMurray comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were 10 caution periods for 66 laps, with 10 drivers failing to finish the 500-lap race.

With round four of 36 complete, Newman leads the SHR contingent in the championship point standings. He gained eight spots to climb to 23^rd, 79 points behind series leader and reigning Sprint Cup champion Keselowski. Stewart dropped six positions to 24^th, 81 points out of first. Patrick picked up two spots to rise to 28^th, 97 points behind Keselowski.

Patrick, who is competing for Rookie of the Year honors against Ricky Stenhouse Jr., finished 12 spots behind Stenhouse, who placed 16^th.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Auto Club 400 Sunday, March 24 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. The race starts at 3 p.m. EDT, with live coverage provided by FOX beginning with its pre-race show at 2:30 p.m.

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. (March 13, 2013) – If you’re Irish and celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, you may head to Boston, Chicago or New York City or, perhaps, listen to the music of The Wolfe Tones and Paddy Reilly.

If you’re Irish and involved in NASCAR, you’ll head to the Irish hotbed of Bristol, Tenn., for Sunday’s Food City 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway. And rather than the sound of Irish music, you’ll hear pretty much nothing as it’s pretty darn loud at Bristol when 43 stock cars roar to life.

But in the spirit of the occasion, Danica Patrick’s No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) will sport a special St. Patrick’s Day paint scheme. The look of the car will be unveiled Thursday on GoDaddy’s Twitter feed (@GoDaddy).

Patrick will make her second Sprint Cup start at Bristol and hopes to build on her successful run last August at the .533-mile high-banked, concrete oval when she surprised some veteran NASCAR observers by running a solid race for much of the night. After starting 43^rd due to qualifying being rained out, Patrick calmly moved her way through the field and was in the top-20 and on the lead lap with 66 laps remaining when her car was hit by another and contacted the SAFER Barrier on the inside retaining wall of the frontstretch. She finished a disappointing 29^th.

Her solid run in her Bristol debut in the Sprint Cup Series, came one night after a ninth-place finish in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race.

The Food City 500 will also mark the first short-track race that she and crew chief Tony Gibson will work together. They’ve worked two races at the 1-mile Phoenix International Raceway, but have never competed together at a short-track such as Bristol. In addition, it will be their first race together at a concrete racetrack.

It’s not the traditional Irish celebration, but a good run at Bristol will have Irish eyes smiling on the GoDaddy.com team.

DANICA PATRICK, Driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing:

What are your thoughts heading into Bristol?

“I’ve liked Bristol since the first time. For me, I respond to the banking, which translates to grip, and it’s definitely there. We were having a decent run in the Cup car, we were lead lap and top-20 after 440 laps and, unfortunately, were taken out. But, I think that all those events lead us to more potential the next time around with a better baseline setup. I feel like, for us and for me, my strong suit is the race, or, at least at this point. We just need to work on qualifying and get a decent qualifying spot so we can work from there. I feel like it’s not very common to drop back for me so, if we can just start further up, then we can continue to make progress and be smart.”

You struggled with an ill-handling car last week at Las Vegas. Does that concern you as you look toward the upcoming races at Fontana and Texas?

“Vegas is a little bit different, but the only thing that worries me is that Vegas is a little bit more of a high-grip track. So, when the grip level goes down, when I felt like I didn’t have much grip to begin with, that concerns me a little bit. We’re only one mile-and-a-half race into the year with the new Gen-6 car, so there’s no reason to panic, yet. But it is time to really buckle down and figure out how we’re going to make the GoDaddy.com Chevrolet better for the next mile-and-a-half.”

How do you stay calm when you have a tough day like you did a Las Vegas?

“Tony Gibson (crew chief) does a great job of telling me to stay calm and take what the car will give me. I feel bad sitting in the car and not being able to go further forward. He feels bad because he can’t give me the car that I need to go further forward. So, we’re both feeling for each other. He’s a good cheerleader and I appreciate that. It makes a big difference on days like Sunday when you’re down. We are all a little somber and disappointed, but nobody is throwing around words or screaming. And that helps us for this weekend.”

Date: March 10, 2013
Event: Kobalt Tools 400 (Round 3 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Las Vegas Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval)
Start/Finish: 37^th/33^rd (Running, completed 261 of 267 laps)
Point Standing: 30^th (53 points, 76 out of first)
Winner: Matt Kenseth of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Danica Patrick could tell from the drop of the green flag that her car was going to be a handful in the Kobalt Tools 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Despite a valiant effort by crew chief Tony Gibson, the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) never came to life, and Patrick finished a disappointing 33^rd, six laps behind the leaders.

“It was a real tough day, no doubt,” Patrick said. “We knew we were going to have tough days, but this is not the kind of tough day we thought about. We need to figure out how and why it (the car) changes so much from practice to the race and really learn this new car. I was extremely loose the whole time. We made it a little bit better in the middle of the race, to the point where it would go for half the run, but by the end of every run I would find myself very, very loose again. Being behind traffic, the aerodynamics change a lot, and it’s a handful. I felt like I was about to spin on the frontstraight. We just have to figure out how to make it better and work our butts off to make sure that we never have this day again.”

Nothing seemed to cure the GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS despite Gibson’s efforts during pit stops, from the normal track bar, wedge and tire pressure adjustments, to the extreme spring rubber inserts and the packer adjustments in the shocks.

“These are the days, and I said this on the radio, these are the days you earn your money, not the days like Daytona where you run up in the top-five all day,” said Patrick, who finished eighth in the Daytona 500. “Those days are great, but you’re just marching forward. These are the days that you have to be strong and you have to work through it and not let it drag you down.”

Patrick’s SHR teammate, Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet SS, finished 11^th. The third member of SHR, Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet for SHR, finished 38^th after an engine failure ended his day after just 234 laps.

Matt Kenseth won the Kobalt Tools 400 to score his 25^th career Sprint Cup victory, his first of the season and his third at Las Vegas. Kenseth celebrated his 41^st birthday Sunday and became the third driver in Sprint Cup history to win on his birthday. Cale Yarborough accomplished it twice, while Kyle Busch did it once.

Kasey Kahne, who led six times for a race-high 114 laps, finished .594 of a second behind Kenseth in the runner-up spot, while Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards rounded out the top-five. Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick and Paul Menard comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were five caution periods for 25 laps, with five drivers failing to finish the 267-lap race.

With round three of 36 complete, Stewart leads the SHR contingent in the championship point standings. He is 18^th, 57 points behind series leader Johnson. Patrick is 30^th, 76 points out of first, while Newman is 31^st, 79 points behind Johnson.

Patrick, who is competing for Rookie of the Year honors against Ricky Stenhouse Jr., finished 15 spots behind Stenhouse, who placed 18^th.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Food City 500 Sunday, March 17 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. The race starts at 1 p.m. EDT, with live coverage provided by FOX beginning with its pre-race show at 12:30 p.m.

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. (March 6, 2013) – “Some days you’re the windshield, some days you’re the bug. Today, we were the bug.” – Tweet from @TonyOldman10 Sunday evening, March 3.

Tony Gibson, crew chief of Danica Patrick’s No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), hit send on that bit of wisdom just hours after he and Patrick looked over a destroyed race car in the garage area during the Subway Fresh Fit 500k NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday, March 3 at Phoenix International Raceway.

One week after starting on the pole and leading five laps en route to a record-setting eighth-place finish in the 55^th Daytona 500, Patrick and Gibson became “the bug” after a massive accident at Phoenix sent them to a disappointing 39^th-place finish.

Patrick was in the top-25 on lap 184 at Phoenix when she exited turn four of the mile oval and the right-front tire of her car suddenly lost all air pressure. Her machine headed straight for the SAFER Barrier on the outside of turn four, and the right front of her GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS took the brunt of the impact. The car then bounced off the wall and was hit in the driver’s side by the oncoming car of David Ragan, who had nowhere to go.

The two collisions destroyed Patrick’s car, but the driver was checked and released without injury from the infield care center. The accident caused Patrick to fall from seventh to 22^nd in the point standings.

Patrick will look to change her luck in this week’s Kobalt Tools 400 Sprint Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and everyone knows luck is an important part of any trip to Vegas. So, perhaps it’s ironic that Patrick will make her 13^th career Sprint Cup Series start this weekend.

If the number isn’t traditionally lucky, at least Patrick’s stock car luck at the 1.5-mile oval traditionally has been good. In three NASCAR Nationwide Series starts at Las Vegas, Patrick has two top-12 finishes, including a record-setting fourth-place result in 2011.

That marked the best finish by a woman in a NASCAR national stock-car series, topping a fifth-place run by Sarah Christian in a Sprint Cup race in 1949 at Heidelberg (Pa.) Raceway.

DANICA PATRICK, Driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing:

What are your thoughts coming out of Phoenix and looking toward Las Vegas?

“Obviously, Phoenix was tough all around. It was a bad finish, we took a hit in the points, and our car was destroyed. You always hate to destroy a car, but especially with the new ones, it really hurts the team because everyone is trying to build new cars as quickly as possible. So I really feel bad for all the guys because it’s just more work for them. So, hopefully we’ll have a better outing at Las Vegas with the GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS. We’ve had good results in the Nationwide Series, and I think the test day on Thursday will be beneficial. Any track time at a place we race is helpful for me as the learning process continues. It gives us a chance to learn more about the car and helps Tony Gibson and I build a notebook. The more track time, the better.”

Is it more important to have a good finish on Sunday, or learn as much as you can on Friday, Saturday and Sunday?

“I feel like they both lead to good things. If you learn and grow, you are going to finish better. That learning curve is different for everyone, which is why it is difficult to say where I should be at a certain point in time because you just don’t know at what point in time for an athlete or driver something is going to click and make sense, and you figure something out, and get more comfortable. I guess I would say the most important thing overall, if you look at the big picture, is to learn and grow. Good races and good finishes can just happen, and sometimes you don’t know why. Sometimes it’s because of other people’s misfortunes, your luck – which is a big part of the sport. But learning is something that is going to pay off over time far more than being lucky one weekend.”

TONY GIBSON, Crew Chief of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing:

What are your thoughts heading into Las Vegas?

“She likes Vegas, and I like Vegas. We’ve run well there in the past with (Ryan) Newman. Our company has been real strong there the past two or three years. We have a test on Thursday, and we’re going to focus a lot on qualifying trim on Thursday and even on Friday just to make sure we qualify better. That’s what we think is our weak point. With these cars being aero-sensitive like they are, you have to focus on qualifying. I talked to Danica about it, and we’re going to spend the second half of Thursday strictly on qualifying runs and then all of Friday on qualifying runs. We’re going to try that approach and see if that benefits us. I think the more runs she makes, we can get the balance closer for her. That’s our plan.”

Have you had a chance to talk with Goodyear officials about the accident Sunday at Phoenix?

“We talked, and they took the tire back to Akron (Ohio). It didn’t look like a heat failure because the rest of the tire looked normal. There was no stress in the sidewall, no heat – nothing that would show signs of a heat failure. So, we’re looking at a puncture. They have to take the tire and see how it shredded and how it opened up. I haven’t heard back from them, but that takes time and it will take a couple of weeks to get that back. It’s hard to tell on those deals, though, because when you blow a tire and hit the fence, it tears the tire up so bad it’s hard to tell. The whole weekend, we didn’t show any signs of heat or wear or anything. Our whole company raced a lot less camber than we ran there the last time, so we were real comfortable about our settings. And we ran longer than that previously in the race, and everything went fine. I can’t really explain it, but I’m leaning toward she ran over something and cut it because it was too early in the run to say anything else. They’ll let us know.”

Date: March 3, 2013
Event: Subway Fresh Fit 500k (Round 2 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Phoenix International Raceway (1-mile oval)
Start/Finish: 40^th/39^th (Running, completed 184 of 316 laps)
Point Standing: 22^nd (42 points, 48 out of first)
Winner: Carl Edwards of Roush Fenway Racing (Ford) in a green-white-checkered finish

Danica Patrick cut a tire on lap 184, resulting a hard crash in turn four that caused her to finish a disappointing 39^th in the Subway Fresh Fit 500k NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway.

Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), was in the top-25 when she exited turn four of the 1-mile oval and the right front tire of her car suddenly lost all air pressure. Her machine headed straight for the SAFER Barrier on the outside of turn four. The right front of her machine took the brunt of the impact, and then her car bounced off the wall and was hit in the driver’s side by the oncoming car of David Ragan, who had nowhere to go.

The two collisions destroyed Patrick’s GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS, but the driver was checked and released without injury from the infield care center.

“There was no real warning,” Patrick said. “I wasn’t that tight, either; I was sliding a little bit. I felt like most of the day I was chasing the rear. It was a little unexpected. I took a hard hit to the right and then on the left. I’m fine. The cars and the tracks are so safe. As a driver that’s a nice feeling. It doesn’t change the fact that we aren’t going to get any points, really, coming out of today, and it would have been nice. These points in the beginning of the year are so important. We were making progress, but unfortunately our day ended early. I feel bad for Go Daddy – this is their home race. Obviously, I wish would we could have had a better run.”

Crew chief Tony Gibson was left to try and figure out what caused the tire problem.

“The bead (of the tire) looks OK,” Gibson said. “We ran longer than that today earlier with no issue. We didn’t see any temperatures all day long; our tires we pulled off were fine. It’s a mystery to me; I don’t know. Even in practice as hot as it was yesterday, no issues with temps. We got less camber than we ran last year with the old car. It’s a good question, not really sure why. We’ll take the tire back and see if they can dissect it. The bead doesn’t look melted out of it. I don’t know if she ran over something, or what. Tough deal.”

After the accident, Patrick stuck around and surveyed the damage with Gibson and the crew for nearly 45 minutes.

“She’s in it to win it,” Gibson said. “Got all the desire and the ‘want to,’ to do it, and she’s got the heart. A lot of people don’t understand that about her. That just shows what she does. She wanted to know what she could do different, was it something she did, how do we fix it for the next time. She’s into it, asks a lot of questions and wants to make things better. That’s all you can ask.”

Patrick’s SHR teammate, Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS, finished eighth to score his 12^th top-10 in 23 career Sprint Cup starts at the 1-mile oval.

The third member of SHR, Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet for SHR, finished 40^th. Newman had two separate right-front tire issues, which both resulted in contact with the outside wall. The damage from the second incident was too much for Newman to return to the racetrack.

Carl Edwards won the Subway Fresh Fit 500k to break a 70-race winless streak. His last victory came March 6, 2011 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Today’s win marked the 20^th Sprint Cup victory of his career and his second at Phoenix.

Five-time Sprint Cup champion and reigning Daytona 500 winner Jimmie Johnson finished 1.024 seconds behind Edwards in the runner-up spot, while Denny Hamlin, reigning Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski and Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounded out the top-five. Clint Bowyer, Matt Kenseth, Stewart, Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were eight caution periods for 43 laps, with eight drivers failing to finish the 316-lap race, which was extended four laps by a green-white-checkered finish.

With round two of 36 complete, Newman leads the SHR contingent in the championship point standings. He is 20^th, 46 points behind series leader Johnson. Patrick stands 22^nd, 48 points out of first. Stewart is 23^rd, 51 points behind Johnson.

Patrick, who is competing for Rookie of the Year honors against Ricky Stenhouse Jr., finished 23 spots behind Stenhouse (16^th).

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Kobalt Tools 400 on Sunday, March 10 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The race starts at 3 p.m. EST, with live coverage provided by FOX beginning with its pre-race show at 2:30 p.m.

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. (Feb. 27, 2013) – “We have a lot more history to make.”

Those were the words of Danica Patrick just two Sundays ago following her history-making pole run for the 55^th Daytona 500 as she became the first woman to ever earn a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series pole position.

But those were more than just words for Patrick, the driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR). Being competitive, having success on the racetrack and even making a little history along the way are the goals that she and her No. 10 team set forth for their first full Sprint Cup season together.

Making more history is just what the 30-year-old Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year candidate did in Sunday’s Daytona 500. She rewrote some of the NASCAR record book yet again thanks to an impressive eighth-place finish at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, the highest finishing position ever earned by a woman in the “Great American Race.”

In addition to her history-making pole run and finish in the Daytona 500, Patrick also led five laps (90 to 91 and 127 to 129), becoming the first female to lead NASCAR’s most prestigious race and the first woman to lead Sprint Cup Series laps under green. Janet Guthrie led five laps under caution in 1977 at Ontario (Calif.) Motor Speedway.

This weekend, Patrick and her No. 10 GoDaddy.com team turn their attention from the high banks of Daytona to Phoenix International Raceway.

This team has been here before. In fact, just a few short months ago last November, Patrick and her Tony Gibson-led team earned a 17^th-place finish at the mile oval nestled in the Arizona desert. Prior to her record-breaking run at Daytona, Phoenix was the site of Patrick’s best Sprint Cup finish.

As the No. 10 team rolls into Phoenix, it hopes to build on the momentum from Daytona and improve on last November’s finish at the home track for Patrick’s longtime sponsor, GoDaddy.com, which is based in Scottsdale, Ariz., just 30 miles east of Phoenix International Raceway.

And if they make a little more history along the way, so be it. Patrick wants to keep rewriting the history books.

DANICA PATRICK, Driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing:

What are your overall thoughts heading into Phoenix?

“Obviously, coming off Daytona, we’ve got a lot of confidence. Tony Gibson and the Go Daddy crew are excited and I am, too. To have two good weeks in Daytona really helps set the tone for the early the part of the year. We ran well at Phoenix last year until we got taken out at the end, so we want to improve on that. It’s just about getting better every week. Obviously, it’s a big race because Go Daddy headquarters are in Scottsdale, not far from the track, and we know there will be a lot of people in Go Daddy green at the track supporting us. We want to give them something to cheer for.”

What are your expectations heading into Phoenix?

“It was nice to run like we did at the end of the year last year with Texas and especially with Phoenix. I feel like it will give us a good baseline idea of how we need to set the car up. But it also is a new car, so we’ll have to adapt to that. Tony and I are still figuring out how we get the most out of me with new tires in a qualifying situation, things like that. We still have a lot of stuff to work on. But it was nice to have that race in Phoenix at the end of last year. While it might not be so much about Phoenix, I think it’s about Tony Gibson and everybody who works around him.”

Given what you accomplished at Phoenix last year and Daytona to start the season, do you adjust your expectations a little bit?

“No. I mean, I think that would be unwise to sort of start telling myself that top-10 is where we need to be every week. I think that’s setting up failure. The list of drivers in the Cup series is deep. Daytona is a unique track. These tracks are different and unique. A lot about the car. I mean, you have to be smart enough to do the right thing at the right time. But it’s very much about the car. I feel like I’m still sticking to, ‘Let’s see how these first five races go where we go to a bunch of different kinds of tracks, see where we settle in.’ Then start to establish goals from there on out. The only thing we can go off of is at the end of last year and running solid inside that top-20, hopefully get inside that top-15. That’s really all I can think, right now. That’s all I can think. It might change after five races. It might be better. Who knows? It might be worse. We’re going to kind of pick up where we left off.”

You are the first woman to lead laps in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500. Talk about that.

“I think a stat I found more interesting is only 13 people, including me, now, have led Indy and Daytona. I thought that was a much cooler stat for me. I’m honored. But, again, these are things that just happen along the way. I’m on the quest to be the best driver, run up front, get to victory lane. These things happen and I’m proud, but they’re not the ultimate goal.”

TONY GIBSON, Crew Chief of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing:

What has the mood been around the shop the last few days?

“It’s exciting. There’s still a long way to go but, to have all three cars unload really fast and have one of the cars sit on the front row, it was a good Speedweeks. It’s been great. Everyone is pumped up and excited. But, it doesn’t last long. We were at the shop until 10 or 11 at night on Monday getting the truck loaded up so they could leave at 6 a.m. on Tuesday. Now we’re thrashing on Vegas cars because they’re going to have to leave on Friday so we can swap those out with the Phoenix cars after the race on Sunday. Everybody is really excited, but tired, too. This is a tough part of the season, but it helps to run well and get the pole at the Daytona 500. It helps at these times for the guys putting in extra effort. They know it’s paying off.

What are your thoughts heading into Phoenix?

“Daytona is a different deal than Phoenix and Vegas and all these tracks we have coming up. We’ve got our work cut out for us building that notebook between Danica and I and getting her more time on these tracks. That is one of the two races we got to work with her last year and we did run extremely well. We were 12^th going into the green-white-checkered after the big fight there and we were thinking, ‘We can get a top-10 here.’ We got taken out by Jeff Burton with a lap to go, but we still finished 17^th, which is still good, but we were getting ready to really surpass our goals we had set for that weekend. She did a fantastic job. She stayed on the lead lap and raced her way up into the top-15 there near the end. She gave great feedback all day and did a great job, so we’re excited to go back. We know qualifying is something we have to work on at these places, getting her up to speed quicker, and that’s what we need to work on in the first part of the year. That way, when we come back in the second half, we can do even better in qualifying. Track position at these short tracks is just so huge and she knows that and, obviously, everyone else does, too.”

Date: Feb. 24, 2013
Event: 55^th Daytona 500 (Round 1 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway
Start/Finish: 1^st/8^th (Running, completed 200 of 200 laps)
Point Standing: 7^th (37 points, 10 out of first)
Winner: Jimmie Johnson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Danica Patrick finished eighth in the Daytona 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, earning the highest finishing position ever for a woman in the “Great American Race.”

The previous best finish for a woman in the Daytona 500 was 11^th by Janet Guthrie in 1980.

Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), wrote another chapter of Daytona 500 history by leading laps 90-91, becoming the first female to lead NASCAR’s most prestigious race. She also led laps 127-129. Patrick made similar history in the IZOD IndyCar Series when she led 19 laps as a rookie in the 2005 Indianapolis 500, becoming the first woman to lead open-wheel racing’s premier event. She finished fourth that year at Indy.

Patrick is one of only 13 drivers to have led the Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500, joining A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, Al Unser, Bobby Unser, Bobby Allison, Jim Hurtubise, Johnny Rutherford, Tim Richmond, John Andretti, Robby Gordon, Juan Pablo Montoya and Tony Stewart.

The impressive drive capped an incredible week for Patrick, who made more history a week ago by becoming the first woman to win a Sprint Cup pole when she set the fastest time in qualifying for the Daytona 500.

“We ran up front all day long, and we led a little,” said Patrick, who also earned her career-best Sprint Cup finish. “We stayed in the top-10 all day, pretty much. Had nice pit stops by the GoDaddy crew, the car was fast, and it’s always a little frustrating when you come through and you’re top three on that last lap. I will learn more for next time.”

Patrick was third as the as the field took the white flag but got shuffled out of the draft and dropped to eighth before the checkered flag fell on the 55^th running of the Daytona 500.

“I really didn’t feel like I had a great grasp as to ‘how do you go win this race?’” Patrick said. “I hadn’t wrapped my head around exactly how that was going to happen. I kept thinking about it out there because for the most part I was running half-throttle for most of the race running in the line. I will know better for next time and for Talladega. I mean, the same stuff will probably apply. Good job Jimmie (Johnson) – we got a Chevy to win, so that is good.”

Despite being disappointed in losing a top-five finish and possibly a win, Patrick saw the upside to her impressive day.

“At the end of the day, it was a solid day for the GoDaddy Chevrolet and the GoDaddy crew,” Patrick said. “They did a nice job in the pits, and we stayed basically in the top-10 all day long. So I can’t really complain about that. It was nice. It was calm most of the time, but it was fun when it got a little exciting.”

Tony Gibson, crew chief of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS, could not have been more proud of Patrick’s performance.

“I’m jacked up, man; that was awesome,” Gibson said. “We definitely had a shot to win it there, and that’s all you can ask for. Can’t do nothing about those guys getting runs on you. It is just the way it is. But I am so proud of Danica and everybody on the GoDaddy Chevy SS. It has been a great week-and-a-half. I couldn’t ask for it to go any better. She impressed the heck out of me the whole day long. Getting on and off pit road. The pit crew did a fantastic job.

“I’m just looking forward to every week. Every week we are going to get better and better and better. There’s going to be some bumps in the road, but we’re willing to suck those on and get us some high notes. I’m just jacked up. I’m so proud of her. She kept her head for a week-and-a-half. We wouldn’t let her race in the 150 (Budweiser Duel qualifying race). We wouldn’t let her practice hard. She came out here and ran up front all day long. To be the first woman to sit on the pole of the Daytona 500 and the first woman to lead a lap in the Daytona 500 is pretty damn impressive. And the highest finish ever. What else are you going to get from that?”

Patrick’s SHR teammate Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet SS, finished fifth. Patrick’s other SHR teammate, Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS, finished 41^st after getting caught in an accident early in the 200-lap race.

Jimmie Johnson won the Daytona 500 to score his 61^st career Sprint Cup victory and his second in the Daytona 500, with the other in 2006. He became the 10^th driver to win multiple Daytona 500s.

Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished .129 of a second behind in the runner-up spot. Mark Martin, Brad Keselowski and Newman took spots three through five. The rest of the top-10 consisted of Greg Biffle, Regan Smith, Patrick, Michael McDowell and JJ Yeley.

There were six caution periods for 24 laps, with eight drivers failing to finish.

With round one of 36 complete, Newman leads the SHR contingent in the championship point standings. He is fifth, seven points behind series leader Johnson. Patrick stands seventh, 10 points out of first. Stewart is 37^th, 44 points behind Johnson.

Patrick, who is competing for Rookie of the Year honors against Ricky Stenhouse Jr., finished four spots ahead of Stenhouse (12^th).

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Subway Fresh Fit 500k Sunday, March 3 at Phoenix International Raceway. The race starts at 3 p.m. EST, with live coverage provided by FOX beginning with its pre-race show at 2:30 p.m.

A strong early run for Danica Patrick ended in the garage at Daytona International Speedway in Saturday's NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race. After starting the race in the top 15 and surging to an early lead, an electrical failure on the No. 34 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet Camaro resulted in a loss of power on the racetrack on lap 31, forcing the team to retire early and relegating Patrick to a 36th-place finish.

Qualifying 12th on the strength of a 51.067-second (176.239 m.p.h.) lap in her Turner Scott Motorsports debut, Patrick shot to the lead by lap seven. Patrick held the point position when the first caution flag of the day waved on lap nine, and both driver and crew chief Mike Greci concurred that they would remain on the racetrack to maintain their position at the front of the field. Green-flag racing resumed on lap 12, and Patrick continued her impressive run, remaining in the top 10 as positions around her were frequently traded.

On lap 29, the No. 34 GoDaddy.com Chevy unexpectedly began losing positions quickly and Patrick keyed the radio to state that her car had suddenly slowed. Checking her temperatures and gauges for information that might explain the issue, Patrick slipped into the 19th position. It was only two laps later that Patrick relayed over the radio that she had completely lost power.

Patrick navigated the No. 34 to the NNS garage, where the Turner Scott Motorsports team worked diligently under the hood of the GoDaddy.com Chevy, determining that Patrick could not return to the racetrack as a result of an electrical failure. After a total of 120 race laps, Patrick was ultimately scored in the 36th position.

"Turner Scott Motorsports built me a really good GoDaddy.com Chevy Camaro, and I appreciated the opportunity to run for them in Daytona. I was very happy with the way the car drove and we were running really well at the beginning. The electrical failure was unfortunate, but a very small issue in contrast to everything that happened on the last lap of the race. The fans are the reason we're able to work in this sport and do what we love, and we appreciate everyone who came out on Saturday. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone who was injured and their families. W​e keep hearing good news about fans being released from the hospital and conditions being upgraded, so we're very hopeful that everyone is recovering quickly."

Turner Scott Motorsports is back in action next weekend when the NASCAR Nationwide Series heads to Phoenix International Raceway.

Final Practice
Position: 6th
Laps: 20
Fastest Lap: 47.307

Qualifying
Position: 12th
Fastest Lap: 51.067

Race
Position: 36th
Laps Led: 5
Laps Completed/Total Laps: 31/120

Date: Feb. 21, 2013
Event: Budweiser Duel (non-point qualifying races for the 55^th Daytona 500)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway (2.5-mile oval)
Start/Finish: 1^st/17^th (Running, completed 60 of 60 laps in Budweiser Duel No. 1)
Winners: Budweiser Duel No. 1 – Kevin Harvick of RCR (Chevrolet)
Budweiser Duel No. 2 – Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Danica Patrick and crew chief Tony Gibson learned what they needed to learn, then played it safe and finished 17^th in their Budweiser Duel qualifying race Thursday at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.

The Budweiser Duel consists of twin qualifying races that set the 43-car field for the season-opening Daytona 500, but Patrick was already locked into the Great American Race. She will start from the pole for the 55^th Daytona 500, as she set the fastest lap in qualifying last Sunday, which locked her into the No. 1 starting position.

Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), had nothing to gain in the Budweiser Duel other than experience and information. She got both, starting on the pole and staying up front for the first 10 laps of the 60-lap race around the 2.5-mile superspeedway. After learning how her car performed in the draft, she dropped to the rear of the field to avoid any potential accidents, ensuring that the same GoDaddy.com Chevrolet that set the quickest lap in time trials would start from the pole in the Daytona 500.

“It’s not an exciting mission when you’ve just got to bring it home,” Patrick said. “But, it’s for the Daytona 500, so you’ve got to keep that in mind. I learned that the outside (lane) is strong and it carries a lot of good momentum. And then I learned that you need some friends. I also learned that you can’t be too tight because that outside (lane) is what’s good, but you can’t be too tight, which my car was. It was way too tight at the start. But we wanted to be conservative. We didn’t want to have any issues with the Go Daddy Chevrolet. We wanted to make sure we’ve got it on that front row for Sunday.”

Patrick battled an issue with the tachometer during her one pit stop of the day on lap 42. Drivers use the tachometer to determine their speed down pit road, where they must mind 55 mph speed limit. When Patrick looked down at her dashboard, her tachometer was broken.

“Again, it’s not the most exciting way to race, but something was wrong with the tachometer,” Patrick said. “I didn’t know what speed I was doing, so I just went really slow (down pit lane). I tried to hit the right revs and I realized there are no lights for those revs. So, I knew there was something wrong, and then when I got out there on the track, it showed I was going 10,000 rpm. I’m sure I’d love to have the kind of speed that comes with 10,000 rpm, but it wasn’t right. So, it’s good to get those little bugs out of the way. We’ll fix them and be solid for Sunday with the Go Daddy Chevrolet.”

Gibson, her crew chief, was pleased with the day.

“The important thing is the car is in one piece for Sunday,” Gibson said. “She learned what she needed to learn, but the car is in one piece for the big race. We’ll tear the car down and change everything out, the tachometer obviously too, and do some practice on Friday and Saturday. It’s always a challenge to get through the Duels clean and we did that. Just really proud of everyone on this team and everyone at Go Daddy for supporting us.”

Patrick’s teammate and car owner, Tony Stewart, led the way for SHR by finishing sixth in the first Budweiser Duel race. Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, will start 13^th in the Daytona 500.

SHR’s Ryan Newman finished 21^st in the second Budweiser Duel after a cut right-rear tire with 20 laps remaining forced an unscheduled pit stop and dropped him off the lead lap. Newman, driver of the No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet, earned the 34^th starting spot for the Daytona 500, but because he’s going to a backup car due to the damage sustained from the flat tire, he’ll be forced to start the Daytona 500 from the back of the 43-car field.

Kevin Harvick won the first Budweiser Duel by .165 of a second over Greg Biffle. Juan Pablo Montoya, Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch took spots three through five. The rest of the top-10 consisted of Stewart, Brad Keselowski, Casey Mears, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Joey Logano.

Kyle Busch won the second Budweiser Duel by .093 of a second over Kasey Kahne. Austin Dillon, Clint Bowyer and Matt Kenseth took spots three through five. The rest of the top-10 consisted of Mark Martin, Paul Menard, Jeff Burton, Jamie McMurray and David Ragan.

With the Budweiser Duel now complete, the field for the Daytona 500 is set. On the pole is Patrick, and alongside her is Jeff Gordon. By notching the two quickest times during last Sunday’s time trials, both drivers were able to lock themselves into the front row for the Daytona 500.

Failing to qualify today for the Daytona 500 were Brian Keselowski and Mike Bliss.

The Daytona 500 gets underway at 1 p.m. EST Sunday, Feb. 24 with live coverage provided by FOX beginning with its pre-race show at noon.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (Feb. 20, 2013) -- Danica Patrick, Go Daddy's long-time spokeswoman, made history this week as the first woman to take a NASCAR Sprint Cup pole position for the Daytona 500.

Leaders at Go Daddy, the Web's top platform for small businesses, knew the Daytona 500 was going to be big, but with Danica Patrick securing the coveted starting spot for NASCAR's marquee race ... the event is generating even bigger buzz than expected. Increased social media chatter, heightened mainstream media coverage and a surge in fan support make this weekend's races compelling to a much wider audience.

"To watch Danica's story unfold at such a high-profile venue like the Daytona 500 has been inspirational, not just for women, but for anyone with a dream to compete at the highest level," said Blake Irving, Go Daddy CEO. Irving is a dedicated proponent for women in male-dominated fields, having been involved with the Society of Women Engineers and the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing for years. "When Danica took the pole Sunday, it represented another barrier being broken and another door being opened -- and that makes us incredibly proud. We're ecstatic for Danica and the whole Go Daddy crew in Daytona."

Go Daddy has been Danica's primary NASCAR sponsor from the beginning of her stock car career and sponsored her in open-wheel racing long before she made history as the first woman to win an IndyCar race in Motegi, Japan back in 2008.

Coincidently, the 2013 mantra for the Go Daddy Danica partnership is about 'driving results,' both on the track and on the Web. By driving faster than anyone else vying for the Daytona 500's top spot, Danica launched the campaign with the kind of flare that can't be bought. Go Daddy sees the history-making feat as a great way to shine more light on women entrepreneurs, who like Danica, work to build a brand in order to build their businesses.

As for Danica, she's less focused on what makes her different from others and instead is concentrating on the results. "I don't think about being a woman when I'm out there on the track, or when I'm managing my business ... I'm really just focused on driving and working with the Go Daddy team to leverage all the assets we have in order to be successful. Whether it's business or sports ... it takes a team," Danica said.

"Most people don't think of Danica as a business owner, but she absolutely is," said Go Daddy Chief Marketing Officer Barb Rechterman, who is at Daytona again this year to watch the races. "Danica is driving a race car in a male-dominated sport. She is also driving a business. Her website and social media presence have definitely helped her develop her brand, not unlike what other business owners do to nurture and grow their bottom line. At Go Daddy, we are focused on helping small businesses harness the power of the Internet, which is driving results for our Go Daddy customers."

Go Daddy recently incorporated a new Content Delivery Network (CDN), technology that speeds up website load time. Go Daddy is also giving customers simple and affordable tools to build mobile websites in order to capture new customers using smartphone technology. Go Daddy also offers personalized 24/7 telephone support to help customers looking to build or develop their websites quickly.

The parallel between speed levels in website performance and racing were noted by one Go Daddy customer, who is already enjoying Go Daddy's new CDN. "I'm a speed enthusiast, whether on the track or on the Web," said Jonathan Farkas, Vice President of Marketing at AdamsInterior.us. Adam's Interiors is a company dedicated to world-class contemporary furnishings. "Go Daddy's new CDN sped up my website performance by more than 200 percent. That means my site loads in 1.1 seconds, or three times faster than the time it takes Danica to go from zero to 60."

Danica is set to hit speeds approaching 200-miles-per-hour in Daytona this weekend. She is in the top spot, behind the wheel of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for the 55^th annual Daytona 500, scheduled to start Sunday at 1 p.m. E.T. on FOX.

Saturday, look for Danica in the No. 34 GoDaddy.com Nationwide Chevrolet Camaro on ESPN beginning at 1 p.m. E.T.

If you want to know more about increasing your website hosting speed, or find out how to develop your online presence, visit GoDaddy.com.

2013 NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) season opens at Daytona International Speedway this Saturday, February 23. Danica Patrick, who embarks on her first full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) season this year, will be behind the wheel of the No. 34 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet Camaro for Turner Scott Motorsports in the NNS season opener.

The race will mark Patrick's first event for TSM, and will be her 59th career start in the Nationwide Series. Veteran crew chief Mike Greci will be calling the shots from atop the pit box.

Leading The Way...Patrick made history last Sunday when she laid down the fastest lap (45.817 seconds, 196.434 mph) in NSCS Daytona 500 qualifying, making her the first woman to win a pole in NASCAR's top series. This will not be the first time Patrick has started from the top spot at Daytona International Speedway; she earned the NNS pole in the February race last season.

DIS Stats...Patrick, who made her NASCAR debut at Daytona International Speedway in 2010, has five previous NNS starts at the 2.5-mile superspeedway. Patrick has one top-10 finish, which she earned in July of 2011, and one pole, which she earned in February of 2012. In her five events at the Daytona Beach, Fla. track, Patrick has started in the top five three times and has never taken the green from outside the top 15, tallying an average start of 6.0.

This Week's Camaro...Patrick and the No. 34 team will unload chassis TSM-336 for this weekend's race at Daytona International Speedway. TSM-336 is a brand-new Chevrolet Camaro, which will be making its on-track debut on Saturday afternoon.

Watch and Listen...The DRIVE4COPD 300 can be seen live on Saturday, February 23 on ESPN. Race coverage will begin at 12:00 p.m. ET, and the event can also be heard live on MRN Radio, as well as SiriusXM Radio, channel 90.

Danica Patrick on driving at Daytona International Speedway

"Daytona has been a great track for me in terms of qualifying. I've always had really good starts, but with the racing at Daytona being what it is, I haven't always had the finishes to reflect how well we ran. Every time I come to one of these superspeedway tracks, I learn a little more; it really comes down to patience and being in the right place at the right time. I'm looking forward to making my first start with Turner Scott Motorsports, I've got three talented teammates to work with and all the power we need under the hood with those Hendrick engines, so I'm hoping that everything will come together and I can help Turner Scott Motorsports win this race for the second year in a row."

Date: Feb. 17, 2013
Event: Daytona 500 Time Trials (Round 1 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway (2.5-mile oval)
Pole Winner: Danica Patrick of Stewart-Haas Racing (45.817 seconds at 196.434 mph)

Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), qualified on the pole for the season-opening NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. Patrick turned a lap of 45.817 seconds at 196.434 mph on the 2.5-mile superspeedway.

“Everything went smoothly,” said Patrick, whose Sprint Cup debut came in last year’s Daytona 500. “This is very much a moment to talk about being proud of the guys who prepare the car. For us drivers, it’s very important for us to hit our shifts and be smooth. But, there is a certain amount of speed that the car has as potential, and that’s what you’re getting to. Thanks to the Go Daddy crew, Hendrick for the power, and Chevy for the car – those are the elements that are really important. The driver plays a part, but a small part.”

Patrick is the first female to win a Sprint Cup pole. Janet Guthrie previously held the record for top starting position by a female in Sprint Cup, twice starting ninth in 1977. She started ninth at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway on Aug. 7, 1977 and at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway on Aug. 28, 1977. The previous best starting position for a female in the Daytona 500 was 18^th, by Guthrie in 1980.

“Those are nice things,” said Patrick in regard to the historical significance of her pole. “For someone like Go Daddy who has been really patient waiting for me to get to Sprint Cup fulltime, it’s very important. All the people who have been supportive along the way, that’s who it really pays off for.”

Longtime Patrick sponsor Go Daddy.com was thrilled with her record-breaking day.

“I don’t think anyone expected Danica to come out here today and take a pole for a second consecutive year,” said Go Daddy’s Chief Marketing Officer Barb Rechterman, who will be at the track for the races next weekend. “When you think about the odds of this happening in the Go Daddy car again in Daytona, it’s damn impressive. All of us at Go Daddy see Danica as a role model, not just for athletes, but for women starting their own businesses. She’s a passionate, focused woman competing in a man’s world – woman who has worked hard to get where she is right now. Danica deserves every bit of this success. Congratulations to Danica and everyone on Team Go Daddy who helped make history today!”

Also locking up his starting spot for the Daytona 500 was four-time Sprint Cup champion Jeff Gordon, who qualified second to Patrick. Gordon missed the top spot by .033 of a second. He turned a lap of 45.850 seconds at 196.292 mph.

Patrick’s SHR teammates – Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart – qualified fourth and fifth, respectively. Newman posted a lap of 45.931 seconds at 195.946 mph in his No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet SS, and Stewart reeled in a lap of 45.936 seconds at 195.925 mph behind the wheel of his No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS.

With the front row of Patrick and Gordon, along with the fourth-, fifth- and sixth-place qualifying efforts made by Newman, Stewart and Kasey Kahne (45.953 seconds at 195.852 mph), respectively, Hendrick-powered Chevrolets took five of the top-six qualifying spots. The lone interloper was third-quick Trevor Bayne (45.924 seconds at 195.976 mph) in a Ford. Toyota was the third-fastest make thanks to seventh-quick Denny Hamlin (45.972 seconds at 195.771 mph).

Forty-five drivers made a qualifying attempt for the Daytona 500.

While Sunday’s time trials locked in the front row, the remaining positions will be determined following Thursday’s Budweiser Duel – twin 150-mile heat races that set the majority of the 43-car Daytona 500 field.

Those cars earning odd-numbered positions from qualifying will be assigned to the first Duel race. Those cars earning even-numbered positions from qualifying will compete in the second Duel race. The starting positions for each Duel race will be based on qualifying times.

Patrick and Stewart will compete in the first Budweiser Duel race and start first and third, respectively. Newman will start second in the second Budweiser Duel race.

The top-15 finishers in each Duel race – excluding the already locked-in front row – will earn a spot in the Daytona 500 and fill positions 3-32. Based on their finishing position in the first Duel race, the top-15 will line up on the inside row (odd-number starting positions). Based on their finishing position in the second Duel race, the top-15 will line up on the outside row (even-number starting positions).

Positions 33-36 will go to the four fastest cars from qualifying that have not already earned a spot. Position 37-42 will be provisional positions, and go to the highest six cars in 2012 owner points that have not already qualified via the Duel or qualifying. The 43^rd starting position will be assigned to any car owner who has the most recent eligible past Sprint Cup champion who did not make the field by any other method, providing the driver had competed in the 2012 Sprint Cup season. If the 43^rd position remains unused, it will be assigned to the next highest car in 2012 owner points not already locked into the field.

All three SHR drivers are guaranteed a starting spot in the Daytona 500 no matter their respective finishes in the Budweiser Duel. Patrick is locked in via her pole, and Newman and Stewart each finished high enough in 2012 owner points (14^th for Newman, ninth for Stewart) to secure their spots in the Daytona 500.

The Budweiser Duel gets underway at 1:40 p.m. EST on Thursday, Feb. 21 with live coverage on SPEED. The green flag waves for the Daytona 500 at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 24, with live coverage provided by FOX beginning with its pre-race show at noon.

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (February 14, 2013) - It was announced today that Danica Patrick will pilot Turner Scott Motorsports' fourth entry in the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race at Daytona International Speedway. Patrick, who will be a full-time Rookie of the Year candidate in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) in 2013, will be behind the wheel of the No. 34 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet Camaro in the season-opening DRIVE4COPD 300. Veteran crew chief Mike Greci will be calling the shots from atop the pit box. 

The former IndyCar driver, who made her Nationwide Series debut at the 2.5-mile superspeedway in 2010, has five previous NNS starts in Daytona, with a best finish of 10th (July, 2011). Patrick has three top-five starts at the Daytona Beach, Fla. track, including one pole award, which she earned in the first race of the 2012 season.

Patrick, who is the first woman in history to win an IndyCar race, has raced in a total of 58 NNS events, completing one full-time season in 2012. Patrick finished 10th in the 2012 driver point standings, tallying one top-five and seven top-10 finishes. The Roscoe, Ill. native also earned the NASCAR Nationwide Series Most Popular Driver award following her first full-time NNS campaign.

Patrick's longtime sponsor GoDaddy.com will back the No. 34 Nationwide entry. GoDaddy.com is the world's largest Web host and domain name provider.

"I'm looking forward to competing in the Nationwide Series race at Daytona driving the No.34 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet Camaro," said Patrick. "Turner Scott Motorsports is a great organization and they've got great people to work with. I really have to thank everybody at GoDaddy for this opportunity. They are always so supportive of what I do."

Turner Scott Motorsports heads to Daytona International Speedway as the defending winner of the February race; 2012 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion James Buescher claimed his first NNS win at the season opener in 2012. Patrick will partner with full-time TSM teammates Justin Allgaier, Kyle Larson and Nelson Piquet Jr. in the 300-mile restrictor plate race.

"We are very happy to announce the addition of Danica Patrick to our lineup for the race in Daytona," said team co-owner Harry Scott Jr. "We think a lot of Danica and what she's achieved so far in NASCAR. She's a great qualifier at Daytona and she has a lot of experience there in her relatively short NASCAR career. We think Turner Scott Motorsports has a lot of potential for the first race of the season and we're looking forward to getting to the racetrack."

The NASCAR Nationwide Series season kicks off on Saturday, February 23rd with the DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona International Speedway. The race will air live on ESPN and MRN beginning at 1:00 p.m. ET.

About Turner Scott Motorsports: Turner Scott Motorsports was established in 1999 by Texas businessman Steve Turner, who was joined by partner Harry Scott Jr. as co-owner in 2013. This season will mark the fourth season of full-time NASCAR competition for the organization, which expanded in 2011 from a two-truck operation in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) to become the largest stand-alone multi-series team in NASCAR's top-tier touring series. The team earned its first championship when James Buescher captured the NCWTS title in 2012. Turner Scott Motorsports operates out of an 110,000 square-foot state-of-the art facility in Mooresville, N.C. The Chevrolet-backed team has created alliances with General Motors' powerhouse team Hendrick Motorsports, which provides engine support for both its NNS and NCWTS programs, and Earnhardt Technology Group for drive train and suspension technology assistance. For more information on Turner Scott Motorsports, visit www.TurnerScottMotorsports.com.

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. (Feb. 13, 2013) – The No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS is loaded up and ready. Crew chief Tony Gibson and the GoDaddy.com crew are ready. And, most importantly, Danica Patrick is ready for the start of her first full NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.

The marathon 36-race Sprint Cup schedule begins with the 55^th Daytona 500 Feb. 24 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. And it marks the first race in Patrick’s first full season in NASCAR’s top division.

After seven full seasons in the IZOD IndyCar Series and one full season of NASCAR Nationwide Series competition, Patrick is about to embark on the longest and toughest season in all of racing. In IndyCar, she competed in only one race a year of 500 miles in length – the world famous Indianapolis 500. In the Sprint Cup Series, 10 of the 36 races on the schedule are 500 miles or more in length and only six are less than 300 miles.

Patrick will drive more miles than she ever has in a season, but she’ll do so with a veteran crew led by crew chief Gibson. The Go Daddy crew and Gibson worked with Patrick last November at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth and Phoenix International Raceway in order to get prepared for the 2013 season.

The two-race “get-to-know-you” session worked well as Patrick had her two best Sprint Cup races of 2012. She finished 24^th at Texas and 17^th at Phoenix, her best two Sprint Cup finishes in 10 career starts, all of which came last season.

While Patrick, a Rookie of the Year candidate, lacks a ton of Sprint Cup experience, a new car may help level the playing field for her as she embarks on her first full season at NASCAR’s highest level. NASCAR’s sixth-generation Sprint Cup car (Gen-6) is being used for the first time this season, meaning even veteran drivers won’t have old notes to work from, given that the new machines are vastly different (and better looking) than the Gen-5 automobiles.

So the car is ready, the team is prepared and the driver is relaxed and focused as the new journey begins.

DANICA PATRICK, Driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing:

Talk about your outlook for the year.

“I think the Daytona test went very well. Obviously, the car is fast. At the Charlotte test, we learned a lot, got more comfortable and, more than anything, kind of found a better balance as the day went on, improved our race pace. I’m sure there are going to be some trying moments moving through the beginning part of the year, but we kind of know it’s going to be a challenging year and there’s just a lot to learn. We’ll move through that together and we’ll keep our heads up, and we’re still going to have some good days, too, and those will be nice rewards for our hard work. But it’s that time of year where everybody is feeling relatively optimistic.”

Tony Stewart chose 10 of the toughest races on the schedule for you last year. Do you feel like, having been through the tougher races, you’ll see the benefit of that this year?

“Of course. I think whenever you get the tough ones out of the way, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. I think last week they were saying Tony was wondering why I wasn’t doing Martinsville at the end of the year, and somebody said, ‘Well, you picked the schedule, you tell us why she didn’t do Martinsville.’ So we’ll be obviously testing there before we get to race there. But, other than that, I mean, I think Pocono is the only other one I haven’t been to. There will still be some challenges ahead as far as new experiences, but just getting those – the toughest ones – out of the way first is going to be nice going into the season. And, hopefully, it’ll help us in the long run, of course.”

Do you feel like competing in 10 races last year will make you more comfortable this year since the Sprint Cup Series will not be completely new to you?

“I think all the experience I had last year, of course, is going to make me a little more comfortable moving into this year. I think just the little things like fitting in the car and just the stuff you’re constantly messing with when you first get in with a team, that’s all gone and you can really hit the ground running as far as how does the car feel, how do I improve it. Obviously, I’m familiar with the people who work at Stewart‑Haas and that just makes it all easier when you get going for the next year. We still have a lot to do, though, and there’s a lot of stuff I haven’t experienced, yet. I’m still in Cup for the first time, full‑time, so that’s going to be difficult in and of itself.”

Talk about working with your crew chief Tony Gibson.

“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: He’s a great guy. I haven’t come across anyone who doesn’t like Tony Gibson. For some reason, I like these good ol’ boys. I got along great with Tony Eury Jr., and I feel like they just have a good feel for the sport and they’re real hands‑on, and that’s nice, I guess. That’s a big compliment for somebody different like me to come in and make a good ol’ boy a fan of mine and work hard for me and want to do that job. That’s a nice compliment.”

What specific things do you want to work on this year?

“I feel like I tend to work on similar issues no matter where I go or what I do, and then there are ones I don’t have to work on because they are more natural to me and I’m naturally maybe better at. But it’s usually things like getting on and off pit road well. It’s qualifying, getting up to speed quickly. That’s stuff where you need to really, really trust the car and know what it’s going to do. I’m just not there, yet, especially now in Cup starting that full‑time. It’s just a learning process. It took a while to get there in Nationwide, but I did, especially from more of a qualifying get‑up‑to‑speed perspective, and I’m sure that’ll happen in Cup in due time.”

Does the new car help level the playing field for you as a rookie?

“Well, I mean, again, we’re obviously all dealing with the new car. I think it’s nice from a driver’s perspective like mine, without a lot of experience in the Cup Series, to be able to kind of start with this new car, now, because I won’t take any bad habits in, I won’t take any pre‑conceived ideas as to what the car is doing or can be doing for me out on the track. It’s a clean slate and I think that’s a good thing. It’s definitely not bad.”

What are your expectations for Daytona?

“I don’t know. Does anybody know what to expect when they go to Daytona? I think what makes it exciting for the fans and exciting for everybody is every now and again you have a surprise, and I would hope to be one of those surprises. That would be nice. Obviously it was about as bad as it could go last year getting taken out in the Nationwide race after starting on the pole, and getting taken out in the last lap of the Duel and the first lap of the Daytona 500. Those are all the worst times to get taken out. We’re only looking up from there I say, right?”

Tony Gibson has a habit of calling everyone “Old Man.” Has he called you “Old Man,” yet?

“He only called me Old Man once. It was maybe after Charlotte qualifying or Atlanta qualifying. I think I qualified like 21^st or 23^rd. I don’t know, it was like a decent qualifying for me, and he comes in and I picked up like 1.2 seconds in qualifying, and he was like, ‘Old Man, good job.’ And he’s like, ‘Oh, sorry.’ I said ‘I’m glad you’re feeling comfortable enough to call me Old Man. That’s fine, but you could call me Old Lady, too, and I wouldn’t be mad.’

You’ve had a long association with Go Daddy. Talk about that.

“One of the most important roles is the sponsor and I’ve got the best one in Go Daddy. They gave me the ability to take my time and move from IndyCar to NASCAR. I’m not sure people understand how supportive they are. When I told them I wanted to drive for Stewart‑Haas, they said, ‘Whatever you want to do, we support you.’ And that’s a really rare thing. I’m really lucky to have the support of Go Daddy and all their employees.”

TONY GIBSON, Crew Chief of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing:

What is your outlook for the 2013 season?

“Well, I think for us the sky’s the limit. We were fortunate enough to get a couple races at the end of the year; Texas and Phoenix went extremely well. We were really pumped up when we left both those places. Me and Danica talked after Phoenix and she was, like, when we go to Homestead, because everything was going good, guys were excited, she was running good, running up front, doing a great job. But we’re setting small goals for ourselves. I told her when we first started this deal, we’re going to set goals that we can reach, set small goals, and when we achieve it, we’ll go to the next one. And we’ve done that the two races that we did. I think we hit all our goals before we left there, so it was pretty exciting.

“We want to run good, we want to gel as a team and, like I said, it’s so exciting to have a driver who is so pumped up each day to get in the car. And the feedback she’s been giving us is tremendous, and it’s been a lot of fun to experience that again. You know, we all feel like rookies, now. I’ll tell you, we’re rookies together. That part of it’s been exciting. But we’re just setting small goals and we’re achieving them and being proud of that. We want to come out each weekend with a positive. No matter what happens on the weekend, you’ve got to bring a positive home and we can build from that and have a great season.”

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (Jan. 4, 2013) -- Go Daddy has signed actress and model Bar Refaeli to star with Danica Patrick in one of its two 30-second Super Bowl commercials this year. The question now is how the two women will illustrate the Go Daddy customer story for television's most-watched event.

The commercial is titled "Perfect Match," though details of the ad concept are not being released. This will be Bar Refaeli's first-ever Super Bowl commercial. Bar is an Israel native and ranks number one on the Maxim Hot 100 list for 2012. She'll share the screen with Danica, the Go Daddy Girl known for being in more Super Bowl commercials than any celebrity in television history, 12 after this next campaign.

"We think we're going to make special Super Bowl magic with 'Perfect Match,'" said Go Daddy Chief Marketing Officer Barb Rechterman. "This ad marries Go Daddy's edgy brand with our reputation for taking care of customers in a way we think will be surprising and, more importantly, entertaining."

The ad was developed by Deutsch NY and is being filmed in Los Angeles today.

"The opportunity to be in a Super Bowl commercial is thrilling ... and to partner with Go Daddy is something I just couldn't resist," Bar said. "I feel like the 'Perfect Match' commercial is a chance to be in an iconic Super Bowl spot that not only leaves people talking, but shows everyone what Go Daddy is really about. I really look forward to meeting Danica too!"

The two have a few things in common. Both have been featured in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition, each have built strong brands using the Internet and understand the power of the Web. "I think we both know how important online is for any up-and-coming business today and Go Daddy is THE place to go if you're looking to build a brand online," said Danica.

"Go Daddy attracts a lot of marketing attention," Danica explained. "What really makes Go Daddy special, though, is the way they 'get it done' for their customers -- their brand of personalized service is unlike anything in the tech industry ... the commercials are just the icing on the cake and I think 'Perfect Match' will be one of those ads people rewind to see over and over."

This is Go Daddy's ninth consecutive Super Bowl campaign. Over the years, the iconic TV commercials have generated massive media attention for Go Daddy, the world's top Web hosting and domain name provider serving nearly 11 million customers, many of whom are small business owners looking to leverage the Internet.

"The Super Bowl ads definitely got my attention over the years," said Van Bond at Van-Tech Industries, a longtime Go Daddy customer. "But what really makes Go Daddy a great company to do business with is how they take care of their customers. I challenge you to name an Internet company that offers round-the clock, bend over backward telephone support ... and provides top-notch, easy to use products to help small businesses grow. That may not sound all that sexy, but when you're building a business, that's the bottom line. That's why I use Go Daddy."

While the commercials aren't Bond's top reason for loving Go Daddy, he did confess his plan to watch for the ads on Super Bowl Sunday.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (Jan. 3, 2013) -- Don't be surprised if the chant from the stands at this year's GoDaddy.com Bowl is "let's go social, let's go!" Go Daddy, the world's largest Web hosting and domain provider, is sending its spokesperson superstar to lead the festivities at Sunday's GoDaddy.com Bowl, which includes a big social media campaign. Go Daddy Girl Danica Patrick will lead the social charge on and off the field in Mobile, Ala. this weekend and is asking fans to tweet and post to Facebook using the hashtag #GoDaddyBowl.

Two #GoDaddyBowl field markings are being stamped in each red zone. Danica, NASCAR's Most Popular Nationwide driver, will also use the hashtag to help spectators get closer to the action, posting behind the scenes photographs and commentary.

"Social media is an excellent way to connect fans to not only sporting events like the GoDaddy.com Bowl, but the players and coaches too," said Go Daddy customer Hatton Weeks, who also serves as News Content Director of KAIT TV Jonesboro. "Everyone in the stadium or the millions watching on TV can experience the event in a personal, real-time way never thought possible before social media. Just a quick glance at Facebook or Twitter and you can tell Arkansas State fans and players are fired up for the GoDaddy.com Bowl!"

Danica, who has been in more Super Bowl commercials than any other celebrity in history, is also serving as the Grand Marshal for the GoDaddy.com Bowl Parade and will be on the field for the coin toss and trophy presentation, as well.

"I am planning to tweet photos to my friends and followers," Danica said. "Social media is such a great way to share the experience and engage with fans. It's sort of like the game, a live event where you aren't sure exactly what's going to happen. I want to hear from football fans, especially the ones who are Go Daddy customers -- we're on the same Go Daddy team, no matter who you are rooting for in the Bowl."

Forty-thousand passionate fans are expected to fill the stadium to cheer on their team at this year's GoDaddy.com Bowl game, which pits Mid-American and Sun Belt Conference teams against each other in Mobile. This year Kent State University (11-2, 8-0) faces Arkansas State University (9-3, 7-1). This is Kent State's first college bowl game in 40 years. Arkansas State University is back for a second time, after being defeated by Northern Illinois last year.

"We are really excited to have one of our clients playing in the GoDaddy.com Bowl," said Go Daddy customer Serge Knystautas, CEO of PrestoSports, a company that helps sports teams manage their online image. "Kent State had a fantastic football season and we plan to tweet using the hashtag #GoDaddyBowl ahead of the game to show our support and enthusiasm."

Go Daddy, the go-to choice for individuals and small businesses looking to leverage the power of the Internet, took over Bowl sponsorship in 2011.

"Just as Go Daddy is known for providing a great customer experience, we want fans of college football to have a great time watching our game," said GoDaddy.com Bowl President Jerry Silverstein. "Go Daddy is an outstanding partner -- they're always innovating and engaging."

Watch the GoDaddy.com Bowl live from Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Ala. Sunday at 8:00 p.m. CST. The game is televised nationally on ESPN.

Can't watch the game, but want to get in on the action? Look for tweets with #GoDaddyBowl from your computer or your smartphone.

To learn more about the GoDaddy.com Bowl please visit www.GoDaddyBowl.com.

To learn more about how Go Daddy helps customers succeed on the Internet, please visit: www.GoDaddy.com.

EVENT: Ford EcoBoost 300 (200 laps / 300 miles)
TRACK: Homestead-Miami Speedway
LENGTH: 1.5-mile oval
DATE: Saturday, Nov. 17, 2012
TV: ESPN2 (Coverage begins at 4 p.m. EST)
RADIO: MRN (4:15 p.m. EST)

Danica Patrick - GoDaddy.com/"Make Yourself Mobile" Chevrolet
“I definitely showed concern years and years ago about the length of the sea-son. That was one of the things that held me back from committing to NASCAR. Now that I’m in it, and I feel like I’ve had a nice transition into it, I don't mind at all. I like racing every weekend. The season could keep going and I’d be fine with that. Although I never turn down off time, and there is definitely a lot of stress and work, it’s fun at the same time. That’s surprising for me. I thought I would be very tired at this point in time. But I feel like I am figuring it out.”

Notes

REGAN SMITH JOINS JRM IN SEASON FINALE - Regan Smith will pilot the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet for JR Motorsports at Homestead-Miami Speedway, giv-ing the Dale Earnhardt Jr.-owned company three cars in this weekend’s season-finale race. The race will mark the eighth event in which JRM has entered three cars this sea-son. Smith’s entry is in preparation for 2013 when he’ll compete for a Nationwide Se-ries Championship under the JRM banner in the No. 5 Chevrolet.

TAXSLAYER.COM TO KICK OFF UPCOMING BOWL SEASON AT HOMESTEAD -
The familiar red and black paint scheme of the TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet will take on a new look this weekend. In promotion of TaxSlayer.com’s sponsorship of the 68th Gator Bowl, which will be played on Jan. 1, 2013, at Everbank Field in Jacksonville Fla., the car features a special football-themed paint scheme. Cole Whitt will also wear a special helmet in the 300-mile race that replicates an actual football helmet. The TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl will kickoff at Noon ET on Jan. 1, and will be televised nationally on ESPN2. It pairs the fifth selection after the BCS from the Southeastern Conference and the third selection after the BCS from the Big Ten Conference.

RECORD-SETTING RUNS WITH JRM - In the three years Patrick has competed for JR Motorsports, she has twice etched her name in the NASCAR history books and is on the cusp of doing so a third time. Patrick holds the distinction of being the highest-finishing female in any NASCAR national touring series race, following a fourth-place effort at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2011. After winning the pole in the season opening race at Daytona in 2012, she became the first woman in nearly 18 years to win a NASCAR pole award. Currently occupying the 10th spot in the driver standings, Patrick will finish no worse than 11th in championship points, giving her additional accolades as the all-time highest-finishing female in points among NASCAR’s top three series. The previous high was held by Sara Christian who finished 13th in the Sprint Cup stand-ings in 1949.

SMITH’S CUP RECORD IN HOMESTEAD - Smith holds four starts at Homestead-Miami Speedway at the Sprint Cup level with a pair of top-20 finishes to his credit. With his best finish of 13th coming in 2011, Smith’s average finish at the facility is 24.0.

HISTORY WITH HOMESTEAD - Whitt made his debut in the Camping World Trucks Series at Homestead Miami Speedway in 2010, finishing 28th. The facility is one of six tracks where Whitt holds a start in each of NASCAR’s top-three touring series.

PATRICK’S CAREER STATS - Since joining JR Motorsports for her 13-race rookie campaign in 2010, Patrick has made 57 starts in Nationwide Series competition, earning one top-five and seven top-10 finishes. She earned one pole (Daytona 2012) and led a total of 55 laps.

JRM SEASON-ENDING STATS - Through 32 races this season, the JR Motorsports team cars have amassed nine top-five and 22 top-10 finishes. The team also earned one pole (Daytona 2012).

YEAR END AUTOGRAPH SIGNING FOR COLE WHITT - Don’t miss out on Cole Whitt’s final autograph session of the sea-son. On Saturday, Nov. 17, beginning at 1:30 p.m. local time, Whitt will sign autographs at the JR Nation merchandise hauler in the fan concourse area. Stop by the JR Nation merchandise hauler on Saturday morning to obtain a free ticket to the ses-sion.

HENDRICKCARS.COM RETURNS ON NO. 5 CHEVROLET – For the second time in the 2012 season, the HendrickCars.com brand will be featured on a JRM Chevrolet. Cole Whitt drove the No. 88 HendrickCars.com ride to a 16th-place finish during the Bristol spring event. This week Regan Smith will wheel the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevy in the season finale at Home-stead. HendrickCars.com is the best destination for online shoppers of cars, offering a selection of 20,000 new, used and classic automobiles. The site also offers CARFAX reports, nationwide delivery, and holds the distinction of housing one of the largest collections of manufacturer certified used cars in the world.

Date: Nov. 11, 2012
Event: AdvoCare 500k (Round 35 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Phoenix International Raceway (1-mile oval)
Start/Finish: 37^th/17^th (Running, completed 318 of 319 laps)
Winner: Kevin Harvick of Richard Childress Racing (Chevrolet) in a green-white-checkered finish

Danica Patrick finished a career-best 17^th in the AdvoCare 500k NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway, giving herself and the GoDaddy.com Chevrolet team plenty of momentum as they prepare for her first full-time Sprint Cup Series season in 2013.

Patrick, who drives the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet for Tommy Baldwin Racing via a collaborative agreement with Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), improved upon her previous best of 24^th on Nov. 4 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. The Phoenix race was her 10^th career Sprint Cup Series start and her last of 2012.

While Patrick had one of her best races of the season, her 17^th-place result came after a wild day for her and several competitors at the 1-mile oval.

After starting 37^th, Patrick was running top-10 lap times despite her car’s tight handling. Crew chief Tony Gibson was able to improve the car’s handling throughout the race, but the duo still needed track position as Patrick went one lap down during a green-flag run from laps 59-168.

Patrick continued to chip away at the cars in front her, climbing the standings until she was in 22^nd-place and one of only four cars one lap down on a lap-276 restart. She passed Bobby Labonte on the restart to take 21^st when the caution flew again on lap 281 for a spin by her SHR teammate Tony Stewart. By being the first car one lap down, Patrick was able to take advantage of the “lucky dog,” which allowed her to join the leaders on the lead lap.

Then things really got interesting.

Patrick was in the top-20 when a four-car accident on lap 312, triggered by Jeff Gordon intentionally wrecking Clint Bowyer, brought out the red flag and set up a green-white-checkered finish. And as a donnybrook between the teams of the two feuding drivers made the garage area crazy, the race’s final restart made things even crazier.

Patrick was 14^th on the restart when she and Jeff Burton entered the backstretch dogleg on the on the penultimate lap, and the right-front of Burton’s car hit the left rear of Patrick’s machine, sending her car spinning into the SAFER Barrier on outside retaining wall between turns three and four. Patrick’s No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet limped off the wall, down to the apron of the track and along the frontstretch, leaking oil from an oil line that ruptured during the crash.

But the caution flag was never thrown, and Patrick had no choice but to continue to drive her wounded racecar as far as possible for the best potential finish. The leaders raced down the backstretch and into turn three, only to discover, as race winner Kevin Harvick said, “There was more oil than there was asphalt.”

Harvick tip-toed off turn four and crossed the finish line first to take the win. Denny Hamlin followed, with polesitter Kyle Busch – who led four times for a race-high 237 laps – in third. Behind the trio was calamity, as cars spun in the oil and careened off each other.

Patrick’s car served as a proverbial ping-pong ball and briefly got airborne after getting hit hard in the rear by the out of control cars of Kurt Busch and Paul Menard, who had crashed behind her.

Patrick was checked and released without injury from the infield care center.

“We had a green-white-checkered; it was a nice exciting finish for the fans,” Patrick said. “Got around (turns) one and two and came off had decent distance on the No. 31 (Burton) and he went down and took the apron got down into (turn) three, and I did not think he was near close enough to be on me going into (turn) three. I left a little bit of room, not a ton of room, for sure, but I think Tony Gibson (crew chief) said he went down and talked to him, and he said he just went in too deep.

“Clipped my left-rear, spun me around, and I just tried to limp back to the line. I didn’t know exactly how much damage I had or what it was, but just trying to limp to the line and get the finish on the lead lap, whatever that was. Still our best finish, but you always want more. I was 14^th, I think, or something right around there, and that would have been a really good finish for the Go Daddy Chevrolet.”

Gibson was ecstatic with Patrick’s effort throughout the day.

“Another great day,” Gibson said. “Everybody did a really good job today. She raced hard. She had some great runs today. She raced herself to the ‘lucky dog’ there and got a lap back. Then she was solid, man. She had a top-10, top-12 car all day long. She deserved to finish 12^th, at least. But she got wrecked by (Jeff) Burton. But it’s our best finish. 17^th. We’ll take that. But we know we were better than that.

“She’s getting better, and better and better. It just makes up pumped for next year. She said herself, ‘I wish we were going to Homestead.’ It is just pumping everybody up. It’s exciting. I’m glad we got these two races in because it just shows her she can drive and run with these guys. It puts confidence in our guys, that yes, she can do it. Around the whole table, it is awesome for the Go Daddy Chevrolet team.”

Harvick’s win in the AdvoCare 500k was his 19^th career Sprint Cup victory, his first of the season and his third at Phoenix.

Hamlin finished .580 of a second behind Harvick in the runner-up spot, while Kyle Busch, Kasey Kahne and Ryan Newman rounded out the top-five. Brad Keselowski, Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch, Menard and Mark Martin comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were eight caution periods for 38 laps, with 15 drivers failing to finish the 319-lap race, which was extended seven laps by a green-white-checkered finish.

The final race of the Sprint Cup Series season, the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, begins at 3 p.m. EST Sunday, Nov. 18. Live coverage by ESPN begins with a pre-race show at 2 p.m.

Patrick will make her final NASCAR Nationwide Series start for JR Motorsports in the Ford 300 on Saturday, Nov. 17 at Homestead. She begins her first full-time Sprint Cup Series season in February 2013 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway driving the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (Nov. 8, 2012) -- Go Daddy, a one-stop shop for small businesses to succeed online, and The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation are matching all donations, dollar for dollar, to the Semper Fi Fund up to $1 million. They are joining forces to make a profound difference in the lives of the brave men and women injured while serving our country ... and they are giving the public simple ways to make a big difference, as well.

The Semper Fi Fund is a non-profit organization set up to provide immediate financial support for injured and critically ill members of the U.S. Armed Forces and their families. The Semper Fi Fund provides relief for financial needs that arise during hospitalization and recovery, as well as assistance for those with perpetuating needs.

The new multifaceted fundraising project was formally announced today by Go Daddy Executive Chairman and Founder Bob Parsons with unprecedented star power. Go Daddy Girl and NASCAR superstar Danica Patrick and her Sprint Cup team owner Tony Stewart flanked Bob and Renee Parsons as the program was outlined from Go Daddy's headquarters. Also on stage at today's news conference was the Arizona Veteran's Hall of Fame Society President Rick Romley, who represented a Go Daddy customer website dedicated to benefiting military veterans.

"We are taking fundraising to support injured members of our military to an all-new level -- we're making it insanely simple for people to help this vitally important organization," said Bob Parsons. "Our veterans, from each and every branch of our military, deserve to come home to a support system that reflects how much we appreciate and respect the sacrifice they and their families have made for our country ... for all of us. If you can't give a lot, give a little, no amount is too small ... we'll match it and together we will definitely make a difference."

Bob Parsons is a decorated war veteran, who joined the U.S. Marine Corps during the Vietnam War and received the Combat Action Ribbon, Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry and a Purple Heart Medal. Thanks to the G.I. Bill, he enrolled into the University of Baltimore. He graduated magna cum laude and founded two successful businesses, one, a multi-million dollar company called Parsons Technology, later sold to Intuit, and the other, a billion-dollar company, GoDaddy.com.

Earlier this year, Parsons and his wife Renee created The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation to inspire hope by providing critical funding at critical times to communities striving to make a difference. "The Semper Fi Fund hits home for us because we know how dedicated our armed forces are," said Renee Parsons. "These men and women are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice ... we believe we owe our veterans the utmost respect and support and we think our fellow Americans will join us in this important cause. It's a simple process and every donation, large or small matters."

The key to this Semper Fi Fund drive is the variety of easy alternatives for people to participate. Donation options include Go Daddy's Round Up for Charity program, an initiative where customers "round up" their purchase to the next dollar. The spare change adds up to make a big difference over time. People can also donate directly at GoDaddy.com by clicking Go Daddy's 8^th annual U.S. Marine Corps Birthday Salute, a special tribute to the U.S.M.C.'s 237^th birthday.

"Our military veterans and active troops alike have been enjoying Bob's Marine Corps Birthday video card for years, it's become part of our tradition," said Semper Fi Fund President, CEO and Founder Karen Guenther. "What's so moving about this donation program is its inspirational aspect. This is more than cutting a check and shaking a few hands, this is about rallying people together, making it easy for the entire community to donate what they can and have that amount doubled instantly."
 

The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation and Go Daddy are teaming up to provide the $1 million match. Bob Parsons said, "We owe our military everything, that's the way I look at it -- Semper Fi!"

"Having been severely wounded in combat while in Vietnam, I personally know how important these funds are to wounded soldiers," said former Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley, who serves as Executive Advisor for Veterans Heritage Project, a Go Daddy customer. The organization uses its Go Daddy website to help connect veterans with students to share their stories of service. "Matching donations of up to $1 million are going to help more of our wounded soldiers as they return home. I am honored to be here with Bob Parsons and Go Daddy. Both care deeply for those who serve in our military."

Go Daddy is looking to inspire NASCAR fans, too. Go Daddy Girl Danica Patrick is set to drive two cars sporting the matching donation message this weekend in Phoenix. Both Danica's Nationwide and Sprint Cup Chevys will sport a new logo created to raise awareness about the Semper Fi Fund program.

"These veterans and their families face some challenging circumstances," said Danica. "I'm fortunate to have a sponsor who, time and time again, demonstrates its caring heart and soul. It feels good to be part of something this special. I can tell you, when Bob and Renee put their minds to something, there's no stopping them."

Alongside Danica at today's news conference was three-time Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart, who is also Danica's teammate and co-owner of her Stewart-Haas Racing team.

"NASCAR fans are some of the most patriotic people you will meet," Stewart said. "I think Danica's Cup car promoting the matching donations program will not only bring attention to this worthy cause, I think it's also something fans will rally around. The fact Bob and Renee, along with Go Daddy, initiated this effort to support our brave military veterans says a lot about them and their organizations."

To learn more about the Semper Fi Fund, visit SemperFiFund.org.

To find out more about Go Daddy's charity work, go to GoDaddyCares.com.

To find out more about The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation, visit WeDealinHope.org.

To join the Go Daddy team of customer-oriented professionals, visit GoDaddy.com/Jobs.

Connect with Go Daddy on Facebook & Twitter.

Read why our customers recommend Go Daddy.
 

About Go Daddy
Go Daddy is the world's largest domain name provider, Web hosting provider and new SSL certificate provider, focused on helping small businesses grow larger. Go Daddy provides dozens of cloud-based services and is the largest worldwide mass-market hosting provider by annual revenue according to Tier1 Research (Mass-Market Hosting Report-Winter 2011) and is the #1 provider of net-new SSL certificates for 2011, according to the Netcraft, LTD Secure Server Survey. To learn more about the company, visit GoDaddy.com/PR.
 

About The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation

The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation inspires hope by providing critical funding at critical times to communities striving to make a difference. We primarily focus on issues in the greater Phoenix area. We believe every person is entitled to an education, good nutrition, medical care, a stress-free, happy environment and the hope that they too, will share in the American Dream. We provide funding to non-profit organizations that are successfully addressing these essential needs. The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation is also committed to the children of Haiti, helping to grow and improve schools, medical services and overall well-being for communities in rural Haiti through the Hope for Haiti organization.

About Semper Fi Fund

The Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit set up toprovide immediate financial support for injured and critically ill members of the U.S. Armed Forces and their families. The Semper Fi Fund provides relief for financial needs that arise during hospitalization and recovery as well as assistance for those with perpetuating needs. Our program provides support in a variety of ways including: Service Member and Family Support, Specialized & Adaptive Equipment, Adaptive Housing, Adaptive Transportation, Education and Career Transition Assistance, PTSD and TBI Support and Team Semper Fi. For more information visit http://www.SemperFiFund.org, http://www.facebook.com/semperfifund, or follow them on Twitter @SemperFiFund.

To learn more about the Veterans Heritage Project, visit VeteransHeritage.org.

To find out more about the Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame Society, visit AVHOF.org.

EVENT: Great Clips 200 (200 laps / 200 miles)
TRACK: Phoenix International Raceway
LENGTH: 1-mile tri-oval
DATE: Saturday, Nov. 10, 2012
TV: ESPN (Coverage begins at 3:30 p.m. EST)
RADIO: MRN (3:40 p.m. EST)

Danica Patrick - GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
“I’ve transitioned through quite a bit over these years. It was coming every month or so into the car and doing a race, and trying to get comfortable quickly after driving in IndyCar for a while. There was that transition for two years, and then this being the first full time year in Na-tionwide. That’s a lot of transitions and a lot of things to get used to, new cars and new schedules. I think that it all helps me adapt quicker and helps me focus on being more specific with my words and more poignant with what I want. There has been a lot I’ve learned, for sure, and I have a lot left to learn. Just understanding the cars and how they change from practice to the race, and then how they change during the race. Those are things that are just so much more unique to NASCAR than they are to IndyCar.”

Notes

INTRODUCING TAKAGI ON BOARD THE NO. 88 CHEVROLET - Takagi Tankless Water Heaters will be primary sponsor of the No. 88 team this weekend in Phoenix, with its Chevrolet featuring a vivid red, white and blue paint scheme. A producer of tankless water heaters since 1952, Takagi is a worldwide industry leader and the first tankless water heater company specializing in tankless-only products. In addition to its commitment to innovation and customer satisfaction, Takagi is focused on increas-ing consumer awareness surrounding the use of energy efficient products at home. For more information visit www.takagi.com.

JRM’s SHORT TRACK INFO - JRM team cars have tallied a top-10 finish in over half of the nine short track starts in Nation-wide Series competition this season. All totaled, drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr., Danica Patrick and Cole Whitt have earned one top-five and five top-10 finishes on short tracks in 2012.

PHOENIX POLE AWARD - JR Motorsports’ sixth organizational pole came at Phoenix International Raceway last year with the No. 88 team. They went on to lead a season-high 66 laps in the race.

WHITT’S SHORT TRACK PROFILE - Whitt has notched three top-10 finishes (Iowa, Bristol II and Dover II) on short tracks this season. His average finish is 12.6.

88 TEAM CHASSIS INFO - The 88 team will race chassis 605 this weekend in Phoenix. Whitt has a best finish of seventh with this chassis at Iowa, and raced it in four short track events this season, including earlier this spring in Phoenix.

PATRICK ON SHORT TRACKS - Patrick owns one top-10 finish on a short track, which came earlier this season at Bristol Motor Speedway. The Roscoe, Ill. native has made solid gains on short tracks through her stock car career, seeing her aver-age finishing position improve from 33.5 in her rookie campaign to 20.6 in 2012.

7 TEAM CHASSIS INFO - Patrick is scheduled to drive chassis 613 at Phoenix International Raceway this weekend. She earned a pair of top-10 finishes wheeling this chassis at the spring Texas event and Kansas.

MEET COLE WHITT AT PHOENIX AREA WALMART - Fans are invited to meet JRM driver Cole Whitt at an autograph ap-pearance on Thursday, Nov. 8, beginning at 4:30 p.m. at Walmart, located at 2020 North 75th Ave., Phoenix. Whitt will be appearing at the store on behalf of the Degree Men and Hellmann’s brands.

WHITT TO PARTICIPATE IN NNS AUTOGRAPH SESSION - Cole Whitt will participate in the Nationwide Series driver auto-graph session on Saturday, Nov. 10, from 9 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. local time at Phoenix International Raceway outside the turn one grandstands.

JRM SOCIAL MEDIA - Keep up with JR Motorsports through the team’s @JRMotorsports Twitter account and JR Mo-torsports Facebook page. You can also follow JRM drivers Danica Patrick (@DanicaPatrick), Cole Whitt (@ColeWhitt) and general manager Kelley Earnhardt Miller (@EarnhardtKelley) on Twitter.

“DRIVEN TO GIVE” SET FOR NOV. 7 - The Dale Jr. Foundation’s fall fundraiser “Driven to Give” returns next Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012. “Driven to Give” is a dinner, concert and silent auction hosted by Dale Earnhardt Jr. each year. Headlining the festivities is special musical guest Kellie Pickler. For more information on The Dale Jr. Foundation, its mission and initiatives, visit its website here or contact The Foundation’s Project Manager, Lauren Caldwell (lauren@dalejr.com). You can also follow The Foundation’s official Twitter handle @tdjf.

KANNAPOLIS, N.C., (Nov. 6, 2012) – Daytona Speedweeks seem so, so long ago. And that’s probably because it was a long, long time ago, given that around nine months have passed since the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season kicked off at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.

Mitt Romney was still two months away from winning the Republican nomination for President of the United States, the 2012 World Series-champion San Francisco Giants had just started spring training, and Peyton Manning was still a member of the Indianapolis Colts when the racing season started.

So it’s hard to believe that Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, is about to complete the 10-race Sprint Cup Series schedule she embarked upon at the outset of 2012. The goals set forth by team owner Tony Stewart were simple: log laps and learn at the toughest tracks NASCAR has to offer.

And so Patrick has raced at places like Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway and Dover (Del.) International Speedway as she preps for a full-time Sprint Cup Series schedule in 2013.

There have been ups and downs but, throughout the year, Patrick has made steady progress in the Sprint Cup Series, including a career-best 24^th-place finish last week at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. Teamed with new crew chief Tony Gibson, who will be atop to the pit box for 2013, Patrick was in the top-20 late in the race at Texas and had one of her best outings of the season.

The final race of Patrick’s Sprint Cup Series season will be a bit of a “homestand” as Phoenix International Raceway, site of Sunday’s Advocare 500k, is about 30 miles west of her residence in Scottsdale, Ariz. Scottsdale is also home to her longtime sponsor GoDaddy.com.

While enjoying the comforts of home, it will also give Patrick one more race to work with Gibson before the duo begins racing with points on the line in 2013.

And before they know it, they’ll be back at Phoenix March 3 for the second race of the new season.

DANICA PATRICK, Driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet:

You worked with new crew chief Tony Gibson last week for the first time. Talk about that.

“We had a really nice first weekend. It was really steady from the beginning. The car unloaded and it had speed right from the get-go. We just kept on improving with it. I felt like it was a nice progression of the weekend where I actually felt like I knew why I went faster and I knew why I went slower. In the race, we were creeping along. We spent most of the race tight, but there, late in the race, we finally got it freed up enough to start really running some good speed. Those yellows at the end, I just didn’t do a good enough job on those restarts and lost a whole bunch of spots. I always feel so defeated at the end of the race when that happens. It was a really nice first weekend with the new GoDaddy.com crew. Tony Gibson did such a good job. I’m really looking forward to next year.”

What lessons have you learned in your three years in NASCAR and are you getting comfortable here?

“For me, I have just transitioned through quite a bit over these years. It was just coming every month or so into the car and doing a race and trying to get comfortable quickly after driving an IndyCar for a while. There was that transition for two years, then this being the first full-time year (in the Nationwide Series), then sort of sprinkling in some (Sprint) Cup races, then next year going full-time Cup. That is a lot of transitioning and a lot of changes and a lot of things to get used to, whether it’s new cars, new schedules or a new crew chief. It’s just been a lot to get used to, but I think it all helps me adapt more quickly. It helps me focus on being more specific with my words and being more poignant with what I want. There has been a lot I have learned, for sure, and I have a lot left to learn. Just understanding the cars and how they change from practice to the race, and how they change throughout the race. Those are things that are just so much more unique to NASCAR than they are to IndyCar, I feel. In IndyCar, you could set the car up in practice and it would feel the same in qualifying and the race, for the most part, when it came to adapting to weather changes, the downforce levels. To that, they were equal. You could calculate that. There is a lot more transitioning within the weekend itself in NASCAR. So, getting used to that has been something I’m still learning.”

TONY GIBSON, Crew Chief of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet:

Talk about working with Danica for the first time last weekend at Texas.

“It was a great day and a great weekend for the first weekend working together. Qualifying went really well and practice went really well. She had an awesome race and she did a great job. We did the wave-around twice and got back on the lead lap early and she stayed on the lead lap. She ran with guys she’s never run with before – Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman and Denny Hamlin. To go to Texas and run on the lead lap and have a shot at a top-20 was pretty impressive.”

How will you know if things are moving in the right direction next year, and what will be your expectations for Danica to know that she is improving?

“Well, there’s no pressure on us. I think the communication will get better and smoother. Every driver I’ve ever had is different. Even (Tony) Stewart and (Ryan) Newman are totally different. The offsets that we had to do for Newman versus Stewart are just on the other side of the spectrum. Just learning those things for what she needs going into qualifying trim and, as the races go on, how do we adjust, and me learning the tone of her voice. I can tell from a driver, if the tone of his or her voice is getting higher and higher and higher, that it’s pretty serious. Those things we’re going to learn. For us, it’s all about learning and growing together. Like I told her, we’re going to set small goals and achievable goals for us. Whether it’s by the end of practice and qualifying, if we’re the left side of the board by qualifying 25^th, 23^rd, 20^th, 18^th – let’s set goals we can achieve together as a race team and grow together. I’m not putting any pressure on her or saying we’ve got to win a race or we’ve got to run a top-five. So, I’ll judge everything by how we are getting along, how our team is building, more than I am results.”

Notes of Interest:

• The Advocare 500k at Phoenix International Raceway will mark Danica Patrick’s 10^th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start and her first at Phoenix. She has four NASCAR Nationwide Series starts at the mile oval with a best finish of 17^th in February 2011.

• Last week at Texas, Patrick finished 24^th to score her best career Sprint Cup Series finish.

• In the August Sprint Cup race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, Patrick was in the top-20 and on the lead lap with 66 laps remaining when her car was hit by another car and contacted the SAFER Barrier on the inside retaining wall of the frontstretch. She finished 29^th.

• The Advocare 500k marks the final race of Patrick’s 10-race Sprint Cup Series schedule for 2012. She will compete full-time in the Sprint Cup Series in 2013 driving the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing.

• In 2012 Nationwide Series competition, Patrick has one pole (Daytona) and a best finish of eighth, which came in April at Texas. She led once for a race-high 20 laps in August on the road course at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal until mechanical problems caused her to go to the garage for repairs. She finished 27^th, six laps down.

• Four Score: In March 2011, Patrick finished fourth in the Nationwide race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the best-ever finish by a woman in a NASCAR national stock-car series, topping a fifth-place run by Sarah Christian in a Sprint Cup race in 1949 at Heidelberg (Pa.) Raceway.

• History Maker: Patrick became the first woman to win a major-league open-wheel race in a North American series in April 2008 by winning the IZOD IndyCar Series Indy Japan 300 at the Twin Ring Motegi oval in Japan.

• Big Stage: In seven Indianapolis 500 starts, Patrick finished in the top-10 six times, including a third-place result in 2009, the best finish ever for a woman in the historic race.

Date: Nov. 4, 2012
Event: AAA Texas 500 (Round 34 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth (1.5-mile oval)
Start/Finish: 32^nd/24^th (Running, completed 355 of 355 laps)
Winner: Jimmie Johnson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet) in a green-white-checkered finish

In her first race working with new crew chief Tony Gibson, Danica Patrick finished a career-best 24^th in the AAA Texas 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.

Patrick, who drives the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet for Tommy Baldwin Racing via a collaborative agreement with Stewart-Haas Racing, improved upon her previous best of 25^th in September at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. Today’s race was her ninth career Sprint Cup Series start.

“We had a really nice first weekend together,” Patrick said of working with Gibson. “It was really steady from the beginning. The GoDaddy Chevy unloaded, and it had speed right off the get-go. We just kept on improving with it. I felt like it was a nice progression of the weekend, where I actually felt like I knew I why I went faster and I knew why I went slower. In the race, we were creeping along. We spent most of the race tight, but there late in the race we finally got it freed up enough to start really running some good speed.”

Patrick was in the top-25 and on the lead lap for much of the event and was in the top-20 as the laps wound down. But she wasn’t able to maintain that position through the final two restarts and finished 24th, on the lead lap.

“Those yellows at the end, I just didn’t do a good enough job on those restarts and lost a whole bunch of spots,” Patrick said. “I always feel so defeated at the end of the race when that happens. It was a really nice first weekend with the new GoDaddy crew. Tony Gibson did such a good job. I’m really looking forward to next year.”

Crew chief Gibson was ecstatic with the effort displayed by his new driver.

“It was a great day and a great weekend for the first weekend working together,” Gibson said. “Qualifying went really well, and practice went really well. She had an awesome race, and she did a great job. We did the wave-around twice and got back on the lead lap early, and she stayed on the lead lap. She ran with guys that she’s never run with before: Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman and Denny Hamlin. To come here and run on the lead lap and a shot at a top-20 was pretty impressive.”

Jimmie Johnson won the AAA Texas 500 to score his 60^th career Sprint Cup victory, his fifth of the season and his second at Texas. The win marked the 700^th Sprint Cup victory for Chevrolet and made Johnson only the eighth driver in Sprint Cup Series history to record 60 or more wins.

Brad Keselowski finished .808 of a second behind Johnson in the runner-up spot, while Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth and Stewart rounded out the top-five. Clint Bowyer, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick and Greg Biffle comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were nine caution periods for 49 laps, with 11 drivers failing to finish the 335-lap race, which was extended one lap by a green-white-checkered finish.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule – the penultimate race of the Sprint Cup Series season – is the Advocare 500k on Nov. 11 at Phoenix International Raceway. The race begins at 3 p.m. EST, with live coverage provided by ESPN beginning with a pre-race show at 2 p.m.

The Advocare 500k will be Patrick’s final scheduled Sprint Cup Series start in 2012.

FORT WORTH, Texas (Nov. 1, 2012) – Danica Patrick owns rock-star status when it comes to popularity in motorsports, but on a supposed quiet Thursday morning at Texas Motor Speedway, she actually felt like a music star.

Thunderous chants of “DAN-I-CA,” cascaded from the frontstretch grandstands as 1,500 students from three nearby Northwest ISD elementary schools showed their raucous appreciation for Patrick visiting with them for the Turn 2 awards assembly of Texas Motor Speedway’s “Speeding To Read” educational program.

Patrick was on hand to speak with the student bodies and faculty from W.R. Hatfield, Clara Love and Justin elementary schools about the important of reading, encouraging them to chase their dreams while sharing her early start and meteoric rise in motorsports. The top-reading classrooms and individuals also were treated to Patrick presenting them with their trophies, signing autographs and taking photographs along with Sonic the Hedgehog mascot next to her SEGA-themed No. 7 Nationwide Series show car on the frontstretch.

“That was a really fun experience with all the kids,” Patrick said. “To see them get all excited about something maybe when you are growing up that you think ‘Ah man, I have to read,’ but they make it fun and rewarding for the kids and it teaches them how to read,” Patrick said. “I feel the more you read when you’re younger, the more you read when you get older. That’s definitely been a highlight of the week to see them cheering so much. They made me feel like I was Taylor Swift up there or something.”

"Speeding To Read" is an incentive-based, NASCAR-themed reading program created by Texas

Motor Speedway to encourage elementary school students to read more frequently during the school year. The program, currently in its second year, has the three schools going head to head to determine the school champions of the "Speeding To Read" competition as well as the top classrooms and individuals in the two divisions (Kindergarten-2^nd Grade and Grades 3-5). The competition is split into four quarters - or four turns like a speedway - with the students and schools being rewarded at each turn.

“It’s great any time that you can do things with kids or do things that help communities or something outside of the norm are always things we try and do if we can make it work on a race weekend,” Patrick said. “We were here a little early – I was doing an event yesterday – so we had some time to be able to do these types of good things. It’s definitely been the highlight so far this week.”

On Thursday, the Turn 2 leaders were rewarded with special appearances by Patrick and Sonic; two tickets to Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge Nationwide Series race to watch her compete; Patrick’s autobiography; AAA Texas 500 race program; Sonic the Hedgehog lanyard; special edition Sonic the Hedgehog comic book from Archie Comics; and books for their home library from Score-A-Goal in the Classroom.

Patrick also donated several hardback copies of her autobiography, “Danica—Crossing the Line,” to each school’s library for the other students to enjoy during the competition.

“It was really cool to go on the same track that Danica will race on this weekend and see her car and meet Sonic the Hedgehog,’’ said Clara Love fifth-grader Brandon Etchieson, who was among the top five readers in the Grades 3-5 Division. “I’m really looking forward to coming back and seeing her race this weekend.”

Patrick will be performing double duty this weekend, competing in both Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge and Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 Sprint Cup Series race. Sonic the Hedgehog will be on her No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet with a special paint scheme for the O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge. She also will be driving the No. 10 GoDaddy Racing Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing in the AAA Texas 500.

“It may be tough for both the Saturday and Sunday crowds combined to match the reception she received from these students,” Texas Motor Speedway Vice President of Media Relations Mike Zizzo said. “She transcends all age groups as witnessed by today and her visit was a big boost to keep these students motivated to keep reading at a high level. She was a big hit with the students and definitely left here with 1,500 more avid fans.”

The three schools combined to read 92,908 books, with 49,192 coming in Turn 2. Hatfield unseated Turn 1 leader Clara Love and captured the lead in Turn 2 – the midpoint of the

competition – by reading 25,992 books with 84 percent of their students meeting their reading goals. Hatfield Principal Cathy Sager was awarded the giant “Speeding To Read” trophy as the Turn 2 leader to showcase in their school until the competition reaches Turn 3 in February.

Clara Love, however, had the leading Turn 2 classrooms in both divisions. Ms. Green’s second-grade classroom, with 5,680 books read, was the Turn 2 leader for the K-2 Division and Ms. Porter’s fifth-grade class, with 514 books read, was the Grades 3-5 Division leader.

The individual Turn 2 leader in the K-2 Division was Hatfield kindergartener Chloe Brown with 539 books read. She was followed by Hatfield kindergartener Katie Gilbert (510 books), Clara Love second-grader Zya Lee (431), Clara Love kindergartener William Arnett (425) and Clara Love second-grader Dominic Duarte (403).

Justin fourth-grader Cooper Donoho was the Turn 2 leader for the 3-5 Division with 74 books read. He was followed by Clara Love fifth-grader Justin Barnes (72), Etchieson (63), Clara Love fifth-grader Joshua Graybeal (59) and Justin fifth-grader Ashlyn Newman (49).

EVENT: O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 (200 laps / 300 miles)
TRACK: Texas Motor Speedway
LENGTH: 1.5-mile oval
DATE: Saturday, Nov. 3, 2012
TV: ESPN (Coverage begins at 7 p.m. EST)
RADIO: PRN (7 p.m. EST)

Danica Patrick - SEGA Sonic the Hedgehog/GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
“I feel like we’ve been much faster and performed much better than what our results show. We definitely had a long stretch of bad luck through the summer, which is when I felt we had the most speed. Everything from Elk-hart to Daytona to Iowa, there were a bunch of races where things happened that definitely were not in my full control, but that’s racing.

We recognize as a team that we need to find more speed and that’s why you’ve seen all the personnel changes. We all want to get faster and be more competi-tive. For me, ultimately because I’m moving on, it’s about learning and understanding cars and changes. And get-ting a better grasp for all the elements of the weekend.”

Notes

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG MAKES NASCAR DEBUT - Sonic the Hedgehog makes his NASCAR debut this weekend on board Danica Patrick’s No. 7 SEGA Sonic the Hedge-hog/GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, which is in promotion of the upcoming release of Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed™. Patrick is featured in the game, which challenges players to race across land, air and water in fully transforming vehicles against an All- Star cast of SEGA characters like Sonic, Knuckles, AiAi and others. Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed will be available on the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, Play- Station®Vita system, the Nintendo 3DS™ hand-held system, Nintendo’s Wii U™ sys-tem and PC Digital Download this holiday season.

PATRICK RETURNS TO THE SITE OF HER SEASON BEST FINISH - Patrick will return to Texas Motor Speedway, the track where she earned her season-best effort of eighth in April. During that event, she maintained a position inside the top-15 for most of the night. The pivotal moment for the No. 7 team came with a caution on lap 189. Patrick proceeded to pit for four tires and took the final restart in 13th, improving five positions in the closing laps to finish eighth.

NASCAR BASHERS ON THE 88 CAR - For the second time this season, the NASCAR Bashers brand is featured as primary sponsor of the No. 88 Chevrolet and driver Cole Whitt. NASCAR Bashers is a line of toys produced by SpinMaster and styled like an actual NASCAR race car. These cars actually crash, featuring multiple different dramatic crash transformations. NAS-CAR Bashers are available at major toy retailers like Walmart, Target, Toys R Us, Kmart and more.

88 TEAM HITTING ITS STRIDE - Whitt and the 88 team have earned one top-five and five top-10 finishes in the past eight races (Bristol II through Kansas). The team’s average finish in that time is 9.0.

WHITT TO VISIT THE CHEVY STAGE AT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY - Cole Whitt will appear at the Chevy Stage on Satur-day, Nov. 3, at 1 p.m. local time for a Q & A session with fans. The Chevy Stage is located in the fan concourse area on the frontstretch side of Texas Motor Speedway.

A RUNNING TALLY AT INTERMEDIATE TRACKS - The JR Motorsports team’s best finish at 1.5-mile facilities this season came at Kansas Speedway two weeks ago, where Cole Whitt finished fifth. All totaled, the teams have one top-five and seven top-10s (Whitt with five and Patrick with two). JRM’s average finish in those races is 7.4.

88 TEAM CHASSIS INFO - The 88 team will race chassis 746 this weekend in Texas. The team finished fifth with this chassis in Kansas two weeks ago.

7 TEAM CHASSIS INFO - Patrick is scheduled to drive chassis 740 at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend. She earned one top-10 finish with this chassis (Bristol II) and also drove it in races at Charlotte II, Iowa II, Loudon and Richmond II.

JRM SOCIAL MEDIA - Keep up with JR Motorsports through the team’s @JRMotorsports Twitter account and JR Mo-torsports Facebook page. You can also follow JRM drivers Danica Patrick (@DanicaPatrick), Cole Whitt (@ColeWhitt) and general manager Kelley Earnhardt Miller (@EarnhardtKelley) via Twitter.

“DRIVEN TO GIVE” SET FOR NOV. 7 - The Dale Jr. Foundation’s fall fundraiser “Driven to Give” returns next Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012. “Driven to Give” is a dinner and silent auction, which will be hosted by Dale Earnhardt Jr. in Mooresville, N.C. Headlining the festivities is special musical guest Kellie Pickler. For more information on The Dale Jr. Foundation, its mission and initiatives, visit its website here or contact The Foundation’s Project Manager, Lauren Caldwell (lauren@dalejr.com). You can also follow The Foundation’s official twitter handle @tdjf.

KANNAPOLIS, N.C., (Oct. 30, 2012) – For Danica Patrick and the GoDaddy.com Chevrolet team, it could be argued that the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season starts this week at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.

While the calendar will read November 4, 2012, Sunday’s AAA 500 Sprint Cup Series race at the 1.5-mile oval will mark the first race that Patrick and new crew chief Tony Gibson work together in preparation for Patrick’s first full season at NASCAR’s highest level.

Anyone in the Sprint Cup garage knows that the driver-crew chief relationship is the most critical to success during the 36-race schedule. But for a rookie like Patrick, having an experienced crew chief on the pit box like Gibson cannot be understated.

Gibson is a veteran who most recently won races and twice made the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup with Stewart-Haas Racing’s Ryan Newman. He now moves to the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet piloted by Patrick and brings with him a wealth of experience, including Sprint Cup Series championships as a crew member with Jeff Gordon (1998 and 2001) and the late, great, owner-driver Alan Kulwicki (1992).

While Gibson has worked with veteran drivers like Kulwicki, Gordon, Newman, Mark Martin and Bill Elliott either as a crew chief or crew member, he’s also worked with up-and-coming drivers like Aric Almirola and Steve Park. So while he can draw off his vast experience of working with established drivers, he can also understand the challenges facing drivers early in their career.

One thing Gibson won’t have to worry about this week is Patrick’s familiarity with Texas Motor Speedway as she already has competed in 11 races at the 1.5-mile oval. The downside is that nine of those races were in the IZOD IndyCar Series, which won’t offer her much helps as she makes her Sprint Cup debut at Texas this weekend. That said, the Lone Star State has been kind to Patrick throughout her career as she was second in the June 2010 IndyCar Series race and notched a third-place result in IndyCar competition in June 2007.

And in her two NASCAR Nationwide Series starts at Texas, she finished 11^th in November 2010 and then eighth this past April.

DANICA PATRICK, Driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet:

What are your thoughts on working with Tony Gibson for the first time?

“I know Tony about as well as I know anyone else at Stewart-Haas, other than Zippy (Greg Zipadelli). I’ve always felt really comfortable around Tony. I feel like he’s always listened to me. I feel like he has a lot of respect and I have a lot of respect for him. I get along with him great and, most of all, I trust in what they decide for me because I’m not experienced enough to make those calls. That’s why I went with a team like Stewart-Haas, because I know they’re going to give me what I need.”

How valuable will the two races you work with Gibson this year be as you look toward 2013?

“Any practice we can get this year is a step ahead for next year because he can get to thinking over the winter about my driving style. We can then fine-tune the language between each other and he can understand what I mean when I describe how the car is handling. It’s just little things that will make it easier next year for both of us.”

TONY GIBSON, Crew chief of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet:

What are your thoughts on working with Danica for the first time?

“I talked to Danica about it and our thought process is small goals – small goals and try to make improvements each practice. We just want to make small gains. We want to set forth reasonable, reachable goals for her and this race team. We have two races to get started, so we’re going to use these as kind of a test session for 2013. We want her to get confidence in us and us to get a feel for what she wants.”

How valuable will the two races you work with Danica this year be as you look toward 2013?

“It’s huge. Some of the smallest things are things you just don’t think about. The communication side of it – hearing my voice on the radio, the things I’m going to be saying on the radio during the race and learning things she wants to hear during the race. Some of the strategy stuff we’re thinking about might be a little bit different than what she’s used to. It’s going to be fun in a lot of ways. A lot of the veteran drivers already have a mindset about what will and won’t work with these cars. With a new driver like Danica, she’s open-minded and has the attitude of, ‘Just feed me what you want to feed me and I’ll give you feedback on it.’ So it’s like a huge test session for us. It’s a challenge but, at the same time, it’s exciting for us because we have a driver who is brand new. She’s just so new, she’s like a sponge just absorbing information. But getting two races’ worth of communication will be huge. Her hearing my voice, me hearing her voice, knowing what she wants in the car – it’s all going to help us get ready for next year.”

Notes of Interest:

• The AAA 500 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth will mark Danica Patrick’s ninth career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start and her first at Texas. She has finished 11^th and eighth, respectively, in her two NASCAR Nationwide Series starts at the 1.5-mile oval.

• In eight IZOD IndyCar Series starts at Texas between 2005 and 2011, Patrick scored five top-10 finishes, including a second-place result in June 2010.

• Patrick has career totals of one top-five finish, six top-10s, and 55 laps led and one pole in 55 career NASCAR Nationwide Series races.

• In 2012 Nationwide Series competition, Patrick has one pole (Daytona) and a best finish of eighth, which came in April at Texas. She led once for a race-high 20 laps in August on the road course at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal until mechanical problems caused her to go to the garage for repairs. She finished 27^th, six laps down.

• Patrick started 34^th and finished ninth in August in the Nationwide race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway to score her second top-10 of 2012. One night later, in the Sprint Cup race, she was in the top-20 and on the lead lap with 66 laps remaining when her car was hit by another car and contacted the SAFER Barrier on the inside retaining wall of the frontstretch. She finished 29^th.

• The only remaining race on Patrick’s Sprint Cup Series schedule after Texas is the Advocare 500k Nov. 11 at Phoenix International Raceway.

• Four Score: In March 2011, Patrick finished fourth in the Nationwide race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the best-ever finish by a woman in a NASCAR national stock-car series, topping a fifth-place run by Sarah Christian in a Sprint Cup race in 1949 at Heidelberg (Pa.) Raceway.

• History Maker: Patrick became the first woman to win a major-league open-wheel race in a North American series in April 2009 by winning the IZOD IndyCar Series Indy Japan 300 at the Twin Ring Motegi oval in Japan.

• Point Taken: In 2009, Patrick finished fifth in IndyCar Series points, the best finish ever for a woman in the series.

• Big Stage: In seven Indianapolis 500 starts, Patrick finished in the top-10 six times, including a third-place result in 2009, the best finish ever for a woman in the historic race.

Date: Oct. 21, 2012
Event: Hollywood Casino 400 (Round 32 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series}
Location: Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan. (1.5-mile oval)
Start/Finish: 40^th/32^nd (Accident, completed 154 of 267 laps)
Winner: Matt Kenseth of Roush Fenway Racing (Ford)

Danica Patrick finished 32^nd in the Hollywood Casino 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan.

Patrick, who drives the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet for Tommy Baldwin Racing via a collaborative agreement with Stewart-Haas Racing, was involved in an accident with Landon Cassill on lap 154. Her car was damaged too extensively to continue.

“I have just been really frustrated with the No. 83 (Landon Cassill),” said Patrick, who started 40^th but twice managed to crack the top-20. “He slammed into me on the front straight for no other reason than his radio communication, ‘She was in the way.’ I’ve always played fair.

“If it’s one time, I can imagine it’s frustration, but it’s been quite a few times with him. At some point, I have to stand up for myself so this doesn’t happen with other people. I chose today. The bummer about it is that my car is out, and he kept going, so I’ve got to work on how to do that.”

Before the accident, Patrick was having one of her best races of the season. She ran has high as 15^th on lap 124. Throughout the race, she and race strategist Greg Zipadelli worked on the handling of her GoDaddy.com Chevrolet while spotter Tab Boyd offered tips on navigating traffic on the newly-paved 1.5-mile oval.

“The GoDaddy crew and Zippy (Greg Zipadelli) gave me a really good car today,” Patrick said. “I know we struggled in practice, but we made a lot of progress here today and were making the car better.”

Matt Kenseth won the Hollywood Casino 400 to score his 24^th career Sprint Cup victory, his third of the season and his first at Kansas.

Martin Truex Jr. finished .495 of a second behind Kenseth in the runner-up spot, while Paul Menard, Kasey Kahne and Tony Stewart rounded out the top-five. Clint Bowyer, Regan Smith, Brad Keselowski, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were a race-record 14 caution periods for 66 laps, with 16 drivers failing to finish the 267-lap race.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule – the seventh race of the 10-race Chase – is the TUMS Fast Relief 500 on Oct. 28 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The race begins at 2 p.m. EDT, with live coverage provided by ESPN beginning with a pre-race show at 1 p.m.

Patrick, who is running only a 10-race Sprint Cup Series schedule in 2012, will next drive in NASCAR’s top division in the AAA 500 on Nov. 4 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. (Oct. 19, 2012) – With an eye on 2013, Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) is restructuring its team lineup beginning with the Oct. 26-28 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race weekend at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

Tony Gibson, currently the crew chief of the No. 39 U.S. Army/Quicken Loans team of driver Ryan Newman, will move to the No. 10 GoDaddy.com team of driver Danica Patrick. Gibson will get a jump start on the 2013 season by serving as Patrick’s crew chief during her last two Sprint Cup races of the 2012 season – Nov. 4 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth and Nov. 11 at Phoenix International Raceway.

Matt Borland, currently the vice president of competition for SHR, will add to his duties by returning to the role of crew chief when he takes over the No. 39 team beginning at Martinsville. Borland served as Newman’s crew chief for five years when the two were together at Penske Racing (2002-2006), earning 12 wins and 37 poles.

The 2013 structure of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 team of driver/owner Tony Stewart and crew chief Steve Addington will remain unchanged from 2012.

Greg Zipadelli, competition director for SHR, explained the restructuring.

“We have a lot of talented people at Stewart-Haas Racing and as we grow, it’s important to place people in the proper roles to get the best out of everyone.

“Tony Gibson has been with Stewart-Haas Racing from the beginning and knows what it takes to build a team. His experience will be crucial to developing the No. 10 team and Danica, and the rapport he already has with Matt Borland and Steve Addington will make the communication between all three of our teams seamless.

“Matt Borland has had great success as a crew chief, and much of it came when he and Ryan Newman worked together. Matt and Ryan both have engineering backgrounds and they have similar mindsets. It’s a pairing that produced some very good results and there’s no reason why it can’t produce similar results now that they’re back together. Their four races together this year will position them very well for 2013.”

About Stewart-Haas Racing:

Stewart-Haas Racing is the title-winning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team co-owned by three-time Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart and Gene Haas, founder of Haas Automation – the largest CNC machine tool builder in the western world. The team fields two entries in the elite Sprint Cup Series – the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet for Stewart and the No. 39 U.S. Army/Quicken Loans Chevrolet for 2008 Daytona 500 winner Ryan Newman. Based in Kannapolis, N.C., Stewart-Haas Racing operates out of a 140,000-square-foot facility with more than 160 employees. For more information, please visit us on the Web at www.StewartHaasRacing.com, on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/StewartHaasRacing and on Twitter @StewartHaasRcng.

KANNAPOLIS, N.C., (Oct. 16, 2012) – Say the word “test” to just about anyone and there is usually a chill that will go up his or her spine. Any high school student will tell you he or she doesn’t like tests (unless you’re one of those really smart students who gets into someplace like Princeton).

But when it comes to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, sometimes a test is a great thing – something even looked at with anticipation. That would be the case for Danica Patrick and the GoDaddy.com Chevrolet team as they look forward to the two-day testing session this week at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City.

The current NASCAR rules prohibit teams from testing at tracks the top three series (Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck) compete at during the season other than the season-opening test at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, any test at a newly paved racetrack, and any test sanctioned by Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company.

So basically, testing is extremely limited, which makes it challenging for a new Sprint Cup driver like Patrick. Other than Daytona, her six other Sprint Cup Series starts have consisted of a couple of hours of practice, two qualifying laps and then going right into the race.

This week at Kansas will be different, however, as NASCAR has scheduled a two-day testing session Wednesday and Thursday prior to the three days of normal practice, qualifying and Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at the newly paved 1.5-mile Kansas oval. With new pavement and 17 to 20 degrees of variable banking in the turns – a change from the 15-degree banking there from 2001 through the spring of this year – NASCAR decided to schedule four hours of testing Wednesday, followed by four hours Thursday to allow teams to gather plenty of information so the fans can see the best race possible.

While the extra track time will be of immediate benefit to Patrick at Kansas for Sunday’s race, it will also help her prepare for a full-time Sprint Cup season in 2013. Intermediate tracks of 1.5 and 2 miles in length, like Kansas, are critical as they comprise 14 of the 36 races on the schedule.

DANICA PATRICK, Driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet:

How beneficial are the extra two days of testing at Kansas, and does the new surface sort of “even the playing field” for you, a bit?

“The reason we picked Kansas in the first place was because there is extra testing and it will give me the opportunity to get more laps and get more comfortable. I think a new surface evens it out a little bit more, competition-wise, because no one is perfectly prepared from previous races with the setup. So, the extra testing will be good and that’s why it went on the schedule.”

Intermediate tracks of 1.5 and 2 miles in length make up 14 of the 36 Sprint Cup races on the schedule. Can you talk about your learning curve on those types of tracks?

“I think that, for me, I feel like 1.5-mile and bigger tracks and the higher grip tracks – I feel like there’s just more of a similarity to where I came from with the way the car loads up in the corner and the way you can feel the car pick up G-forces in the corner and you feel the load as opposed to the slippery and slower tracks. I was talking to Kasey Kahne about it a couple of months ago and he said the short tracks took him the longest to get used to. Both of us kind of having an open-wheel background, I think there’s just a relief to hear that, sometimes, and understand why the short tracks are a little bit harder. A lot of drivers come from short-track (pavement Late Model) racing, so that’s just a real comfort zone for them. I come from much more of the 1.5-mile, 200 mph speeds, so they’re a comfort zone for me.”

GREG ZIPADELLI, Race Strategist of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet:

How valuable are the two days of testing going to be for Danica at Kansas?

“I think any time you can test and get practice at the same place you’re going to race and do so on the same time, it’s important. It’s going to help her probably more than anyone else. Everyone else, they’re up here in a small group and she’s here, trying to play catch up, so I think she has the most to gain there. So, we’re definitely looking forward to a couple of days of testing there. She’s in the Nationwide car as well as the (Sprint) Cup car, so hopefully it will be a good weekend for her.”

Notes of Interest:

• The Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City will mark Danica Patrick’s eighth career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start and her first at the 1.5-mile oval. She started 15^th and finished 15^th in the October 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series race in her only other stock-car start at Kansas.

• In six IZOD IndyCar Series starts at Kansas between 2005 and 2010, Patrick scored three top-10 finishes. She won her first career IndyCar pole at the 1.5-mile oval in July 2005.

• Patrick has career totals of one top-five finish, five top-10s, and 55 laps led and one pole in 54 career NASCAR Nationwide Series races.

• In 2012 Nationwide Series competition, Patrick has one pole (Daytona) and a best finish of eighth, which came in April at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. She led once for a race-high 20 laps in August on the road course at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal until mechanical problems caused her to go to the garage for repairs. She finished 27^th, six laps down.

• Patrick started 34^th and finished ninth in August in the nationwide race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway to score her second top-10 of 2012. One night later, in the Sprint Cup race, she was in the top-20 and on the lead lap with 66 laps remaining when her car was hit by another car and contacted the SAFER Barrier on the inside retaining wall of the frontstretch. She finished 29^th.

• The remaining races on Patrick’s Sprint Cup Series schedule after Kansas are at Texas (Nov. 4) and Phoenix International Raceway (Nov. 11).

• Four Score: In March 2011, Patrick finished fourth in the Nationwide race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the best-ever finish by a woman in a NASCAR national stock-car series, topping a fifth-place run by Sarah Christian in a Sprint Cup race in 1949 at Heidelberg (Pa.) Raceway.

• History Maker: Patrick became the first woman to win a major-league open-wheel race in a North American series in April 2009 by winning the IZOD IndyCar Series Indy Japan 300 at the Twin Ring Motegi oval in Japan.

• Point Taken: In 2009, Patrick finished fifth in IndyCar Series points, the best finish ever for a woman in the series.

• Big Stage: In seven Indianapolis 500 starts, Patrick finished in the top-10 six times, including a third-place result in 2009, the best finish ever for a woman in the historic race.

EVENT: Kansas Lottery 300 (200 laps / 300 miles)
TRACK: Kansas Speedway
LENGTH: 1.5-mile oval
DATE: Saturday, Oct. 20, 2012
TV: ESPN (Coverage begins at 3 p.m. EST)
RADIO: MRN (3:15 p.m. EST)

Danica Patrick - Tissot/GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
“We’re definitely going to get plenty of laps this weekend with both series combined. I do feel like it’s nice to go out in the Cup car first. It’s the faster car and helps me push a little harder when I get in the Nationwide car and be more comfortable. Everything happens so much slower in the Nationwide car. Everything from driving down the straights to getting in the gas, it’s all a little more lethargic. I think that will be a good scenario for me this weekend. The biggest challenge will just be get-ting up to speed.”

Notes

TISSOT RETURNS - Tissot, a manufacturer of Swiss watches since 1853, will be fea-tured as co-primary sponsor of the No. 7 Chevrolet this weekend at Kansas along with GoDaddy.com. Tissot has been a partner of JR Motorsports since 2010 and this marks its third race in as many years as co-primary sponsor of Danica Patrick and the No. 7.

HALLS KANSAS CITY & TISSOT SWISS WATCHES CELEBRATE DANICA PATRICK - Tissot and Halls Kansas City invites members of the media to attend a special red car-pet event featuring Danica Patrick at Hotel Nightclub (1300 Grand Blvd. Kansas City, Mo. 64106) on Thursday, Oct. 18, beginning at 7:30 p.m. local time. Unique photo op-portunities will be available, as Patrick arrives at the red carpet event in her No. 7 Tissot/GoDaddy.com Chevrolet after driving down Grand Avenue in the Power and Light District. She will be joined by Sharon Buntain, US President, Tissot Swiss Watches and local Kansas City celebrities. To register for the event and to submit interview requests, please contact Iya Bley-man, PR Manager, Tissot at iya.bleyman@swatchgroup.com. Media check-in will begin at 6:30 p.m. local time.

JRM AT INTERMEDIATE TRACKS - The JR Motorsports team’s best finish at 1.5-mile facilities this season came at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Kentucky Speedway, where Cole Whitt finished sixth. All totaled, the teams have five top-10s (Whitt with four and Patrick with one) and finished 14th or better in eight of the nine races at 1.5-mile tracks. Its average finish in those races is 12.3.

ADDITIONAL PRACTICE SESSION FOR NNS - Both JR Motorsports Chevrolets will join the Nationwide Series in participat-ing in an additional four hour practice session at Kansas Speedway on Thursday, Oct. 18, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. local time. The extensive practice will serve as a test session for teams, who will see track action for the first time since the speedway’s update added new pavement and variable banking in the corners.

88 TEAM CHASSIS INFO - The 88 team will race chassis 746 this weekend in Kansas. This chassis was previously used by the 7 team in the September races at Chicagoland and Kentucky. It also tested at Nashville earlier this month.

7 TEAM CHASSIS INFO - Patrick is scheduled to drive chassis 613 at Kansas Speedway this weekend. She is averaging a fin-ish of 12.6 with this chassis and piloted it to her season-best effort of eighth at Texas. It also raced at Atlanta, Charlotte, Chi-cago, and the second event in Dover.

JRM SOCIAL MEDIA - Keep up with JR Motorsports through the team’s @JRMotorsports Twitter account and JR Mo-torsports Facebook page. You can also follow JRM drivers Danica Patrick (@DanicaPatrick), Cole Whitt (@ColeWhitt) and general manager Kelley Earnhardt Miller (@EarnhardtKelley) via Twitter.

SAN FRANCISCO – October 10, 2012 –SEGA^® of America Inc. is thrilled to announce a unique partnership with Mattel, Inc. and the iconic Hot Wheels® brand offering consumers an exciting cross-platform experience for the upcoming release of Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. Within the video game, players who choose to race as Danica Patrick will be able to drive a custom transforming electric green Hot Wheels® vehicle, designed to navigate the dynamic land, sea and air environments. In addition to its in-game presence, the “Danicar” will also be available as an exclusive diecast vehicle available this holiday season with purchase of Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed at select retailers.

“Using Danica Patrick’s existing relationship with Mattel and Hot Wheels, we were able to extend our brand beyond the Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed game universe and into consumer products with the creation of this custom toy,” said Marcella Churchill, Senior Director of Marketing, SEGA of America. “The Hot Wheels brand has a reputation for developing beloved childhood toys and our partnership will undoubtedly ignite this nostalgia amongst fans when they get to race this transforming vehicle within the game.”

“We are incredibly excited to link two iconic brands like Hot Wheels and SEGA’s Sonic the Hedgehog together for the first time,” said Matt Petersen, Vice President of North America Boys and Games Marketing, Mattel. “The new ‘Danicar’ is a unique vehicle that combines style elements from Danica Patrick and Sonic the Hedgehog with the outrageous design that Hot Wheels is known for – resulting in an in-game vehicle and diecast toy that all of our fans will love.”

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed will be available November 18, 2012 on the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation^®3 computer entertainment system, and Nintendo’s Wii U™ system. On December 11, 2012 it will be available on PlayStation® Vita system and the Nintendo 3DS™ hand-held system. Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed races onto Windows PC via digital download this holiday season.

For more information about Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, please visit www.facebook.com/sonic; to download SEGA game assets, please visit www.sega-press.com.

About SEGA® of America, Inc. SEGA® of America, Inc. is the American arm of Tokyo, Japan-based SEGA® Corporation, a worldwide leader in interactive entertainment both inside and outside the home. The company develops, publishes and distributes interactive entertainment software products for a variety of hardware platforms including Windows PC, wireless devices, and those manufactured by Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony Computer Entertainment. SEGA® of America’s Web site is located at www.sega.com.

About the Hot Wheels Brand Since 1968, Hot Wheels has been passionate about creating thrilling vehicle experiences through innovative product and content. With a fan base of more than 41 million people, Hot Wheels is the No. 1 vehicle property in the United States producing the coolest cars imaginable. The Hot Wheels brand began as a line of 16 1:64-scale die-cast vehicles; today, it has evolved into a true, global lifestyle brand for boys of all ages with segments that range from aftermarket parts to licensed apparel to branded digital content from Team Hot Wheels, a real-life race crew of professional drivers performing over-the-top stunts. Check out the official Hot Wheels website for the hottest car games and racing videos, and be sure to visit the Hot Wheels Facebook page.

About Mattel Mattel, Inc. (Nasdaq: MAT) is the worldwide leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of toys and family products. The Mattel family is comprised of such best-selling brands as Barbie®, the most popular fashion doll ever introduced, Hot Wheels®, Matchbox®, American Girl®, Radica® and Tyco R/C®, as well as Fisher-Price® brands, including Thomas & Friends®, Little People®, Power Wheels® and a wide array of entertainment-inspired toy lines. In 2012, Mattel was named as one of FORTUNE Magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work For" for the fifth year in a row. Mattel also is ranked among Corporate Responsibility Magazine's "100 Best Corporate Citizens." With worldwide headquarters in El Segundo, Calif., Mattel employs approximately 28,000 people in 43 countries and territories and sells products in more than 150 nations. At Mattel, we are Creating the Future of Play. Visit us at www.mattel.com, www.facebook.com/mattel or www.twitter.com/mattel.

EVENT: Dollar General 300 (200 laps / 300 miles)
TRACK: Charlotte Motor Speedway
LENGTH: 1.5-mile quad-oval
DATE: Friday, Oct. 12, 2012
TV: ESPN (Coverage begins at 7 p.m. EST)
RADIO: PRN (7 p.m. EST)

Danica Patrick - GoDaddy.com/ .ORG Chevrolet
“I think that Ryan (Pemberton) and I will definitely be more comfortable with each other and more confident in what we’re doing based on these past couple weeks. In general, things like getting through those initial first meetings of how big the changes should be, what we should do going into the race and how we communicate. The first time is the hardest with all those things, so it should be better as we go. But it is another weekend and it will present different challenges. If we start further away from where we need to be with the car, it could be a little bit of a challenging weekend. We’ll face that chal-lenge if it happens, and we’ll be better for it. And we’ll be better prepared the next time it happens.”

Notes

JRM ANNOUNCES EXTENSION WITH TAXSLAYER - TaxSlayer.com, the online tax preparation service that has been a cornerstone partner of JR Motorsports since 2011, has renewed its partnership with a long-term sponsorship agreement, JRM general manager Kelley Earnhardt-Miller announced this week. As part of the new agreement, TaxSlayer.com will receive primary paint schemes in 17 Nationwide Series races in each year of its contract, beginning with the 2013 season-opening Daytona race with Dale Earnhardt Jr. behind the wheel. The complete JRM sponsor and driver line-up for 2013 is still in the final stages and will be announced soon.

“CHECK YOUR HEADLIGHTS” - To generate buzz around The National Breast Cancer Foundation and Breast Cancer Aware-ness Month, Go Daddy, JR Motorsports and Chase Authentics are collaborating on the pink-themed No. 7 car as part of the “Check Your Headlights” program, which works to raise money and awareness for breast cancer research and education. In conjunction with the program, there will also be an exclusive line of apparel and products available for purchase. A portion of the proceeds goes directly to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Go Daddy is also donating $50,000 to the National Breast Cancer Foundation as part of the program, along with the Public Interest Registry which manages .ORG domain names.

COLE GOES PINK - Cole Whitt’s familiar yellow and blue No. 88 Hellmann’s Chevrolet will feature a pink theme this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Whitt will join a number of other drivers, in-cluding teammate Danica Patrick, in recognizing the important cause of Breast Cancer Awareness.

QUALIFYING TIPS - Patrick’s third-place start at Charlotte in the spring event was her career-best qualifying effort on a non-restrictor plate track. She has earned seven top-five starts in her three-year NASCAR career, including a pole at Daytona, which made her the first woman in nearly 18 years to win a NASCAR pole award and was JRM’s first pole at the historic track.

CONSECUTIVE STREAK CONTINUES FOR WHITT - Whitt and the Hellmann’s team are coming off consecutive top-10s after sixth-place finishes at Kentucky and Dover. In the past six races the rookie holds four top-10 finishes, three of which were sixth-place efforts.

WHITT AND PATRICK PARTICIPATE IN NNS AUTOGRAPH SESSION - Danica Patrick and Cole Whitt will participate in the Nationwide Series driver autograph session on Friday, Oct. 12, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. local time at Charlotte Motor Speedway below the Ford grandstands.

JRM ANNOUNCES FALL RACE WEEK SCHEDULE - Beginning on Thursday, Oct. 11, and continuing through Sunday, Oct. 14, fans are invited to the JRM facility in Mooresville, N.C. for festivities surrounding Charlotte race week. The first 100 cus-tomers to make a purchase in the JR Nation Retail Store each day will receive free gifts valued at $40. Cars from Dale Earn-hardt Jr.’s personal collection will be on display. Additionally, JRM shop tours will be given at two-hour intervals on Thursday and Friday, with the first tour beginning at 9 a.m. and the final tour beginning at 4:30 p.m. Space is limited for the tours. To register please email shoptours@jrmracing.com.

JRM SOCIAL MEDIA - Keep up with JR Motorsports through the team’s @JRMotorsports Twitter account and JR Mo-torsports Facebook page. You can also follow JRM drivers Danica Patrick (@DanicaPatrick), Cole Whitt (@ColeWhitt) and general manager Kelley Earnhardt Miller (@EarnhardtKelley) via Twitter.

DON’T MISS THE CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY TRACK WALK - Just hours before the green flag drops for the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, The Dale Jr. Foundation and the Charlotte Chapter of Speedway Children’s Chari-ties will host a track walk on Saturday, Oct. 13, beginning at 1 p.m. EST. Fans of all ages may register for the walk online here or at the JR Motorsports facility and Charlotte Motor Speedway in the days leading up to the event. Registration costs $25 in the form of an advance donation or $35 after Oct. 10. Children 13 and under are free with a registered adult.

Date: Sept. 30, 2012
Event: AAA 400 (Round 29 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Dover (Del.) International Speedway (1-mile concrete oval)
Start/Finish: 38^th/28^th (Running, completed 393 of 400 laps)
Winner: Brad Keselowski of Penske Racing (Dodge)

Danica Patrick finished 28^th in the AAA 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at Dover (Del.) International Speedway.

Patrick, who drives the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet for Tommy Baldwin Racing via a collaborative agreement with Stewart-Haas Racing, was making her seventh Sprint Cup Series start and her first at the fast, challenging 1-mile concrete oval.

“I was a little bit slow to start,” said Patrick, who started 38^th. “The car was pretty tight to get going. That is a pattern, for sure, but it is better off that I start out a little tight and comfortable and we free it up rather than the other way around. We worked our way through it. The last run was decent. We made it better most every stop. That is a good starting place for next year when we get here, and that is the point of these races.”

It was an odd race because the first 70 laps were conducted under green, there were only five cautions for 28 laps, only six cars were on the lead lap at the end of the event, and only 11 cars completed 398 or more laps.

“It was just the way cautions fell,” said Greg Zipadelli, race strategist of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet. “It’s not our typical race lately. It was more like years ago. It was an odd day, for sure.”

Zipadelli was pleased with Patrick’s progress at one of the toughest tracks on the schedule, while noting areas that need improvement as she continues her preparation for a full-time Sprint Cup Series schedule in 2013.

“I think it was a typical day for us,” Zipadelli said. “We started off a little slow and then the longer we went, we made the car better and she a better job of figuring out where to make speed when she got around guys. She picked up a lot. We just really need to work on restarts. We gave up a lot of speed there. And that just takes time. It takes a lot of drivers a long time to learn that and how to make speed on the front side of a run. And this is a tough place to do it because the leaders are coming before you know it. Clean air is worth so much. That got us behind. Starting in the back and then not taking off, you give up a lot and spot a lot of time.”

Brad Keselowski won the AAA 400 to score his ninth career Sprint Cup victory, his fifth of the season and his first at Dover.

Jeff Gordon finished 1.078 seconds behind Keselowski in the runner-up spot, while Mark Martin, Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards rounded out the top-five. Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Clint Bowyer and Joey Logano comprised the remainder of the top-10.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule – the fourth race of the 10-race Chase – is the Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500 on Oct. 7 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. The race begins at 2 p.m. EDT, with live coverage provided by ESPN beginning with a pre-race show at 1 p.m.

Patrick, who is running only a 10-race Sprint Cup Series schedule in 2012, will next drive in NASCAR’s top division in the Hollywood Casino 400 on Oct. 21 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City.

KANNAPOLIS, N.C., (Sept. 26, 2012) – Danica Patrick has raced on concrete surfaces many times during her career, having done so in IZOD IndyCar Series, NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, NASCAR Nationwide Series and even NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition.

But she knows as well as anyone that her concrete starts in four different racing series can’t fully prepare her for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on the ultra-fast and ultra-challenging concrete mile oval at Dover (Del.) International Speedway.

Dover’s 24-degree banking in the turns and 9 degrees on the straightaways, and being surrounded by 42 other Sprint Cup machines each producing nearly 900 horsepower, equate to one challenging race for Patrick in Sunday’s AAA 400 at Dover.

Fortunately for Patrick, who drives the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, concrete has been good to her, at times.

In four IndyCar Series starts from 2005 to 2008 at 1.33-mile concrete Nashville Superspeedway oval in Lebanon, Tenn., Patrick never started or finished outside the top-10, and she scored three top-five results and two starts on the outside of the front row.

She led her first-ever laps in a stock car on the concrete surface at Dover in September 2010, holding the top spot for three circuits en route to a sixth-place finish in the Sunoco 150 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race.

And last month, at the .533-mile concrete oval at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, Patrick was in the top-20 and on the lead lap with 66 laps remaining in the Irwin Tools Night Race Sprint Cup Series event before her car was hit by another car and she contacted the SAFER Barrier on the inside retaining wall of the frontstretch. She finished 29^th.

That said, Patrick knows the Sprint Cup race at Dover is not like any other race she has contested on a concrete surface. But, just as it has been for her first six Sprint Cup Series starts, Patrick’s goal is to continue her education in preparation for a full-time Sprint Cup ride in 2013.

And part of that education is “Concrete 101” (a.k.a. Sunday’s AAA 400).

DANICA PATRICK, Driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet:

What are your overall thoughts on Dover?

“Dover is a race that’s going to be one of the tougher (Sprint) Cup races I’m going to do. I’m sure it’s going to be a difficult weekend, but the difficult weekends are what will make next year easier. Hopefully, it’s one of those tracks where it helps to run both cars (Nationwide and Sprint Cup) – they both help each other. I always like going to Dover. The track is pretty fun and, hopefully, we can make it to the end this time. I remember everyone telling me how unique and challenging Dover was prior to my first race. At the time, I didn’t have a whole lot to compare that track to. They said it was like a larger version of Bristol, but I hadn’t raced at Bristol yet, either. It’s nice to have more of a handle on what to expect heading in there this time. Dover is fun. It’s fast and it can make for a really long day of racing. I think that’s part of the appeal of it – how demanding it can be. We definitely want to stay out of trouble, which is easier said than done at these types of tracks.”

This will be your first Sprint Cup Series start at Dover, but you’ve driven three stock car races there, previously. Do you review previous races before going to an event?

“I look through notes at what the feel was from the time before. If I’ve got some in-car (video), I’ll look at that, too. That’s really all there is to do. Every weekend is its own weekend and sometimes I feel like it’s nice almost to come in a little bit fresh, too, and not have any preconceived ideas. I like to make notes from the races because there are so many that are similar, you almost can’t remember what you’re supposed to do. There are little tiny things about a track that are helpful to remember – just where the grip is and bumps and certain things. There’s general feel, like do you drive flat into the corner or do you lift early – just little things that help you get your rhythm quicker. That’s about all I do.”

GREG ZIPADELLI, Race Strategist of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet:

Darlington, Bristol and Atlanta were pinpointed as some of the most challenging races for Danica this year. But is Dover also one of the most challenging on the schedule?

“I think it will be, for sure. The good news is she’s running the Nationwide Series car there and she seems to like the place. That being said, we’ll go and attack just like every place else. We’ll try to give her a good solid racecar and be conservative on our changes and just work through the weekend, like we have. It’s kind of a crazy day because we have all of our practice on Friday and then we just come in and qualify on Saturday. I don’t think that does us any favors. If we can practice on Friday, go right into qualifying when it’s fresh in her mind and she has a good feel for how the racetrack is, that benefits us a little bit. But, we’ll do our best and go out there and have some fun.”

Notes of Interest:

• The AAA 400 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway will mark Danica Patrick’s seventh career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start and her first at the concrete mile oval. She has competed in two NASCAR Nationwide Series races at Dover and one NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race at the track.

• In September 2010, Patrick led her first laps in a stock car at Dover when she held the top spot for three circuits en route to a sixth-place finish in the Sunoco 150 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race.

• Patrick has career totals of one top-five finish, five top-10s, 55 laps led and one pole in 52 career NASCAR Nationwide Series races.

• In 2012 Nationwide Series competition, Patrick has one pole (Daytona) and a best finish of eighth, which came in April at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. She led once for a race-high 20 laps last month on the road course at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal until mechanical problems caused her to go to the garage for repairs. She finished 27^th, six laps down.

• Patrick started 34^th and finished ninth last month in the Nationwide race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway to score her second top-10 of 2012. One night later, in the Sprint Cup race, she was in the top-20 and on the lead lap with 66 laps remaining when her car was hit by another car and contacted the SAFER Barrier on the inside retaining wall of the frontstretch. She finished 29^th.

• The remaining races on Patrick’s Sprint Cup Series schedule after Dover are Kansas Speedway in Kansas City (Oct. 21), Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth (Nov. 4) and Phoenix International Raceway (Nov. 11).

• Four Score: In March 2011, Patrick finished fourth in the Nationwide race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the best-ever finish by a woman in a NASCAR national stock-car series, topping a fifth-place run by Sarah Christian in a Sprint Cup race in 1949 at Heidelberg (Pa.) Raceway.

• History Maker: Patrick became the first woman to win a major-league open-wheel race in a North American series in April 2009 by winning the IZOD IndyCar Series Indy Japan 300 at the Twin Ring Motegi oval in Japan.

• Point Taken: In 2009, Patrick finished fifth in IndyCar Series points, the best finish ever for a woman in the series.

• Big Stage: In seven Indianapolis 500 starts, Patrick finished in the top-10 six times, including a third-place result in 2009, the best finish ever for a woman in the historic race.

EVENT: OneMain Financial (200 laps / 200 miles)
TRACK: Dover International Speedway
LENGTH: 1-mile concrete oval
DATE: Saturday, Sept. 29, 2012
TV: ESPN (Coverage begins at 3 p.m. EST)
RADIO: MRN (3:15 p.m. EST)

Danica Patrick - GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
“In preparation for races, I do like to make notes. I find that helpful because there are so many tracks that are kind of similar. They tend to blend together in your mind, and you almost can’t remember the subtle differences. There are all these tiny things about a track that are help-ful to remember, like where the grip is and bumps and certain things. It’s just a general feel as to whether or not you drive flat into the corner or if you lift early. There are little things that help you get your rhythm quicker. If I have in-car video, I’ll watch that too. But ultimately every weekend is its own weekend. Sometimes I feel like it’s nice to just come in with a fresh perspective for the race and not have any preconceived ideas.”

Notes

PEMBERTON CONTINUES AS PATRICK’S INTERIM CREW CHIEF FOR DOVER - JR Motorsports director of competition, Ryan Pemberton, will serve as interim crew chief for Danica Patrick’s No. 7 GoDaddy.com team for the remainder of the 2012 season. Pemberton occupied the position last weekend at Kentucky Speedway where Patrick finished 14th.

CONCRETE STATS - In three races on concrete surfaces this year, the JRM teams have amassed one top-five and three top-10 finishes.

FIRST LAPS LED IN A STOCK CAR - Patrick led her first laps in a stock car at Dover International Speedway on Sept. 24, 2010. She made her K&N Pro Series East debut and led three laps en route to a sixth-place finish in the event.

DOVER VICTORY - JRM earned its fifth victory at Dover International Speedway on May 30, 2009, with Brad Keselowski. Starting third for the final green-white-checkered restart, the team took advantage of a tangle between the first and second-place cars, passing the pair for the lead and eventual win.

JRM ANNOUNCES FALL RACE WEEK SCHEDULE - Beginning on Thursday, Oct. 11, and continuing through Sunday, Oct. 14, fans are invited to the JRM facility in Mooresville, N.C. for festivities surrounding Charlotte race week. The first 100 cus-tomers to make a purchase in the JR Nation Retail Store each day will receive free gifts, valued at $40. Cars from Dale Earn-hardt Jr.’s personal collection will be on display. Additionally, JRM shop tours will be given at two-hour intervals on Thursday and Friday, with the first tour beginning at 9 a.m. and the final tour beginning at 4:30 p.m. Space is limited for the tours. To register please email shoptours@jrmracing.com.

TICKETS AVAILABLE UNTIL OCT. 1, 2012 IN WIN DALE JR.’S RIDE RAFFLE - As if a chance to win Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s very own 2011 Chevrolet Camaro wasn’t enough, The Dale Jr. Foundation just upped the stakes by offering a shot at a pair of VIP race experiences and monthly prizes with the purchase of a raffle ticket in the Win Dale Jr.’s Ride promotion. Tickets are only $25. For a complete rundown of the prizes or to purchase a ticket visit www.WinDaleJrsRide.com. The grand-prize winner will be invited to JR Motorsports where Dale Jr. will personally hand over the keys to the car. Follow the Foundation’s Twitter account @TDJF.

FALL FUNDRAISER “DRIVEN TO GIVE” RETURNS - The Dale Jr. Foundation’s fall fundraiser “Driven to Give” is returning this November. “Driven to Give” is a dinner and silent auction, which will be hosted by Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Nov. 7, 2012, in Mooresville, N.C., featuring special musical guest Kellie Pickler. Fans are being afforded the chance to attend the private charity event with the purchase of a $10 raffle ticket. Only 500 tickets will be sold and the four randomly selected winners will each receive two tickets to the event. Tickets can be purchased at http://www.thedalejrfoundation.org/ driven_to_give_.aspx

JRM SOCIAL MEDIA - Keep up with JR Motorsports through the team’s @JRMotorsports Twitter account and JR Mo-torsports Facebook page. You can also follow JRM drivers Danica Patrick (@DanicaPatrick), Cole Whitt (@ColeWhitt) and general manager Kelley Earnhardt Miller (@EarnhardtKelley) via Twitter.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (September 20, 2012) – Citizens of this great nation will have many decisions to ponder this fall. And as the calendar flips to November and voting booth curtains swing open, a vital choice must be made. Who’s it going to be? Who will you help win the popular vote?

Simply put, who’s your Most Popular Driver?

For the fifth consecutive year, fans can vote online on NASCAR.COM for the 2012 Most Popular Driver in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (Twitter hashtags: #NNSMPD, #NCWTSMPD).

Voting begins Sept. 21 and runs through Friday, Nov. 16, prior to the season finale for both national series at Homestead-Miami Speedway during Ford Championship Weekend.

New to this year’s campaign, two lucky fans and their guests will win an all-expense paid trip to the 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Awards on Nov. 19 at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel by registering for the Most Popular Driver Vote Sweepstakes after placing their vote on NASCAR.COM. The sweepstakes is open to fans 18 and older in the 48 continental states. Eligible fans may register once (1) per 24 hours. The sweepstakes entry period ends November 3, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. ET. The Most Popular Driver winners from both series will be announced at the combined gala event.

For the NASCAR Nationwide Series will the incumbent, Elliott Sadler, win again? Or will it be strong candidates like Danica Patrick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Brian Scott or newcomer Austin Dillon? In the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will rookie Ty Dillon follow in his brother’s footsteps and win the series’ Most Popular Driver vote? Or maybe Ron Hornaday Jr. can win his third MPD title? There are definitely plenty of options from which fans can to choose.

Each series has a dedicated page on NASCAR.COM for voting. Fans can go to www.NASCAR.COM/nnsmpd for the NASCAR Nationwide Series and to www.NASCAR.COM/ncwtsmpd for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Fans are encouraged to vote once per day leading up to the Nov. 16 deadline.

To be eligible to receive votes, drivers must have selected either the NASCAR Nationwide Series or NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for their 2012 driver championship points. Additionally, drivers must have attempted at least half of each series’ races this season.

EVENT: Kentucky 300 (200 laps / 300 miles)
TRACK: Kentucky Speedway
LENGTH: 1.5-mile D-shaped oval
DATE: Saturday, Sept. 22, 2012
TV: ESPN (Coverage begins at 3:30 p.m. EST)
RADIO: PRN (3:30 p.m. EST)

Danica Patrick - GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
“I think it’s safe to say it has been an eventful week for our Go Daddy team, and pretty much everybody at JR Motorsports for that matter. It’s going to be critical that we keep our focus going into this weekend. We still have seven races left on the schedule and getting solid finishes through the end of the year is important for our team.

I’m going to do my best to get acclimated with Ryan (Pemberton) this week. I think that will be easier said than done. There’s no doubt it will be challenging and we won’t have a lot of time to do it in. Chemistry is im-portant for a driver and crew chief, so I’m hopeful we can get adjusted to each other quickly. I don’t know a whole lot about him, but what I do know is that he has a wealth of experience and comes well recommended.”

Notes

PEMBERTON TO SERVE AS PATRICK’S INTERIM CHIEF FOR KENTUCKY - JR Mo-torsports director of competition, Ryan Pemberton, will serve as interim crew chief for Danica Patrick’s No. 7 GoDaddy.com team this weekend at Kentucky, as announced via team press release on Tuesday. A decision has not been made on the remaining races. The news comes on the cusp of Monday’s announcement that Tony Eury Jr. is no longer with the company. Eury Jr., who was Patrick’s only crew chief in her three-year Nationwide Series career, led Patrick to one top-five and five top-10 finishes with one pole in 51 career races.

FOUR OF FOUR FOR CLEAN COAL - Kentucky marks the fourth and final race for Clean Coal as primary sponsor of JRM’s No. 88 Chevrolet. Whitt tied his NNS career-best finish of fourth driving the Clean Coal Chevrolet at Michigan earlier this year. The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity is a non-profit, non-partisan partnership of companies involved in producing electricity from coal. ACCCE supports energy policies that balance coal’s vital role in meeting our country’s grow-ing need for affordable and reliable electricity with the need to protect the environment. For more information, visit www.americaspower.org.

JRM SEASON UPDATE - With only seven races remaining in the 2012 Nationwide Series schedule, the JR Motorsports team tally stands at eight top-five and 17 top-10 finishes. The teams earned one pole and have led 96 combined laps.

BACK IN HER WHEELHOUSE - Patrick’s finishes at 1.5-mile tracks continue to show her knack for racing at intermediate fa-cilities this year. Her season-best finish of eighth came at Texas Motor Speedway in April. Of her 13 top-15 efforts this year, more than half were earned at 1.5-mile tracks. Patrick’s average finish in seven starts at 1.5-mile facilities this season is 12.0.

NO. 7 TEAM CHASSIS INFO - The 7 team brings chassis 746 to Kentucky Speedway this weekend. 746 made its debut at Chicagoland last week with a 12th-place finish.

WHITT DRIVING CHASSIS 626 - The 88 unloads chassis 626 at Kentucky. Whitt piloted 626 in six races this year, earning one top-five and four top-10s with an average finish of 10.0 in those events.

MEET COLE WHITT AT THE CLEAN COAL DISPLAY - Cole Whitt will appear at the Clean Coal Display to sign autographs for fans and give away prizes on Friday, Sept. 21, at 1 p.m. local time. The Clean Coal display is located in the Kentucky Speedway fan concourse area.

FALL FUNDRAISER “DRIVEN TO GIVE” RETURNS - The Dale Jr. Foundation’s fall fundraiser “Driven to Give” is returning this November. “Driven to Give” is a dinner and silent auction, which will be hosted by Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Nov. 7, 2012, in Mooresville, N.C., featuring special musical guest Kellie Pickler. Fans are being afforded the chance to attend the private charity event with the purchase of a $10 raffle ticket. Only 500 tickets will be sold and the four randomly selected winners will each receive two tickets to the event. Tickets can be purchased at http://www.thedalejrfoundation.org/driven_to_give_.aspx

MORE PRIZES OFFERED IN WIN DALE JR.’S RIDE RAFFLE - As if a chance to win Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s very own 2011 Chev-rolet Camaro wasn’t enough, The Dale Jr. Foundation just upped the stakes by offering a shot at a pair of VIP race experi-ences and monthly prizes with the purchase of a raffle ticket in the Win Dale Jr.’s Ride promotion. Tickets are only $25. For a complete rundown of the prizes or to purchase a ticket visit www.WinDaleJrsRide.com. The grand-prize winner will be invited to JR Motorsports, where Dale Jr. will personally hand over the keys to the car. Follow the Foundation’s Twitter account @TDJF.

JRM SOCIAL MEDIA - Keep up with JR Motorsports through the team’s @JRMotorsports Twitter account and JR Mo-torsports Facebook page. You can also follow JRM drivers Danica Patrick (@DanicaPatrick), Cole Whitt (@ColeWhitt) and general manager Kelley Earnhardt Miller (@EarnhardtKelley) via Twitter.

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Sept. 17, 2012) – The following is a statement from Dale Earnhardt Jr., founder and owner of JR Motorsports, regarding the departure of crew chief Tony Eury Jr.: “Unfortunately Tony Jr. is no longer with the company. I had hoped he would be here for a long time, but as we’ve discussed the direction of JR Motorsports moving forward, it was clear our differences in ideas were too vast to overcome. I love him like a brother, and you’ll never hear me say a bad thing about him. I know he’ll have much success in anything he does going forward. As for our No. 7 team, no decision has been made on who will crew chief that team this weekend at Kentucky Speedway. We will discuss our options and make a decision very soon.”

ABOUT JR MOTORSPORTS: Based in Mooresville, N.C., JR Motorsports is the management company and racing operation for Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR’s nine-time Most Popular Driver and winner of more than 40 NASCAR-sanctioned races. JR Motorsports competes in multiple racing divisions, including the NASCAR Nationwide Series where the team owns 10 victories. To learn more about the organization and its stable of drivers which include Earnhardt Jr., Danica Patrick and Cole Whitt, visit www.jrmracing.com. The JR Motorsports facility also houses the JR Nation retail store, Hammerhead Entertainment and JRM Licensing.

Date: Sept. 16, 2012
Event: Geico 400 (Round 27 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. (1.5-mile oval)
Start/Finish: 41^st/25^th (Running, completed 265 of 267 laps)
Winner: Brad Keselowski of Penske Racing (Dodge)

Danica Patrick’s continued her NASCAR Sprint Cup Series education with a career-best 25^th-place finish in the Geico 400 on Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill.

Patrick, who drives the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet for Tommy Baldwin Racing via a collaborative agreement with Stewart-Haas Racing, was making just her sixth Sprint Cup Series start and her first at the 1.5-mile oval.

“I think we made a lot of progress in the race,” said Patrick, who grew up in nearby Roscoe, Ill. “I think Zip (Greg Zipadelli, race strategist) did a good job of changing the car and making good changes each time. We got a little bit loose toward the end, and I feel like we lost a little bit of ground in that run. But then in the last run, I felt like we got a little bit of that back, and, if anything, we were a little tight. So be careful what you ask for, I guess. Ultimately I think it was generally a big improvement on overall lap time throughout a run, and that is the kind of stuff we need to be doing.”

Patrick started 41^st but ran a smooth, clean race as she steadily rose through the field. Her spotter, Tab Boyd, worked with her to find different lines on the racetrack to provide more speed, while Zipadelli massaged the car’s handling through a series of chassis and tire pressure adjustments. Both efforts produced progress throughout the day.

Near the end of the race, Jeff Burton, Juan Pablo Montoya and Patrick were the only drivers one lap down in the field. In the closing laps, Patrick was catching both of them with a chance to gain one or two more positions. Unfortunately, time ran out, and the checkered flag flew before she was able to work her way past the veteran drivers.

While every track where Patrick races is important to her development, intermediate tracks (1.5 and 2 miles in length) like Chicagoland are critical as they comprise 14 of the 36 races on the Sprint Cup Series schedule as Patrick prepares for a full-time schedule in 2013.

Brad Keselowski won the Geico 400 to score his eighth career Sprint Cup victory, his fourth of the season and his first at Chicagoland.

Jimmie Johnson, who led four times for a race high 172 laps, finished 3.171 seconds behind Keselowski in the runner-up spot. Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch and Ryan Newman rounded out the top-five. Tony Stewart, Joey Logano, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Martin Truex Jr. and Clint Bowyer comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were four caution periods for 23 laps, with 11 drivers failing to finish the 267-lap race.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule – the second race of the 10-race Chase – is the Sylvania 300 on Sept. 23 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon. The race begins at 2 p.m. EDT, with live coverage provided by ESPN beginning with a pre-race show at 1 p.m.

Patrick, who is running only a 10-race Sprint Cup Series schedule in 2012, will next drive in NASCAR’s top division in the AAA 400 on Sept. 30 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway.

KANNAPOLIS, N.C., (Sept. 11, 2012) – It wasn’t quite planned this way, but it was close.

Danica Patrick will finally make a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start during the day – unless Mother Nature once again decides to change things, of course.

Patrick has made five Sprint Cup starts – all under the bright lights – as her races in February at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, in May at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway and Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, in August at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway and in September at Atlanta Motor Speedway were all night races.

Darlington, Charlotte, Bristol and Atlanta were scheduled night races while Daytona went from a Sunday-afternoon start to NASCAR’s version of Monday Night Football due to heavy rains that forced the event to be delayed more than 24 hours.

So, weather permitting, Patrick’s first daytime race will be Sunday’s Geico 400 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. And it will also be a homecoming of sorts as Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, grew up in Roscoe, Ill., about 116 miles to the north and west.

The 1.5-mile oval is a place Patrick has driven at nine times throughout her career – six times in IZOD IndyCar Series competition and three times in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. In September 2005, she qualified on the pole for the IndyCar Series race at 215.970 mph and finished sixth. She also scored a 10^th-place result in Nationwide Series competition in June 2011.

With each of her Sprint Cup starts, Patrick has continued to learn the ropes of succeeding in NASCAR’s top division. And this week (again, weather permitting) the education will involve something as simple as Sprint Cup racing during the day.

DANICA PATRICK, Driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet:

Is it helpful for you that your last Sprint Cup start was two weeks ago at the 1.5-mile oval at Atlanta as you’re now headed to another 1.5-mile oval at Chicagoland?

“To be honest, I feel like the grip levels are sort of similar. At Chicago, you can definitely hustle around there, but it’s a slippery track. I feel like it will translate. Some of the tougher ones are the slippery ones, for me, but that was the point. We didn’t pick places like Texas or (Las) Vegas where I enjoy hustling around those tracks. We picked the ones that are hard, that have day-to-night transitions, things like that.”

You grew up in Roscoe, Ill., about 116 miles northwest of Chicagoland Speedway. Will you have a lot of family and friends at the race this weekend?

“There are going to be 10 or so people out there, which is a lot for me. We don’t normally have a lot because we don’t exactly volunteer tickets because it’s a lot of work and there’s a lot going on during the weekend. For people who come out to the track, you want them to have a good time and, if you don’t feel like you can help them have a good time, then there’s not much point. But I think, more than anything, the fact it’s the second time at Chicagoland is more why there are people coming. They’re reminded that I go to the Chicago racetrack the first time and then, the second time, they’re coming because they remember me being there a little while ago and missing the opportunity to get the tickets (laughs). It’s going to be busy with the (Sprint) Cup weekend but, I have to say, a lot of times on the weekends, when there are people there and it’s a busy weekend, I don’t have to do anything, quite honestly. My husband is a real trooper and he takes care of anyone who comes out to the track. Other than that, I don’t see any difference at Chicago compared to going to Richmond or Atlanta or any other place. It only matters if there are people out there who we’re entertaining. Or, I should say, people my husband is entertaining (laughs).

How important was it for you that Stewart-Haas Racing recently re-signed Ryan Newman?

“I really like Ryan. He’s a really good guy and he’s pretty damn funny. And I think it’s very beneficial for someone like me to have experience on the team. Tony and Ryan drive quite differently and it’s good for me as a driver to see those different styles on the (engineering) traces for every lap we run, so I’m excited about that and I’m sure the team is excited to get that out of the way. It’s always tricky and tough in this sport – it’s the chicken and the egg. You have to have a driver to get a sponsor, but you’ve got to have the sponsor to get the driver. So, hopefully, this gets them to the point where sponsors pull the trigger.”

Notes of Interest:

• The Geico 400 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., will mark Danica Patrick’s sixth career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start and her first at the 1.5-mile oval. She has competed in three NASCAR Nationwide Series races at Chicagoland and has two top-15 finishes, including a 10^th-place result in 2011.

• Sunday’s race at Chicagoland Speedway marks the first time Patrick will compete in a Sprint Cup race at a track where she previously raced in the IZOD IndyCar Series. Among her six IndyCar starts at the 1.5-mile oval, she won the pole and finished sixth in 2005 while driving for Rahal Letterman Racing.

• Patrick has career totals of one top-five finish, five top-10s, 55 laps led and one pole in 50 career NASCAR Nationwide Series races.

• In 2012 Nationwide Series competition, Patrick has one pole (Daytona) and a best finish of eighth, which came in April at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. She led once for a race-high 20 laps last month on the road course at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal until mechanical problems caused her to go to the garage for repairs. She finished 27^th, six laps down.

• Patrick started 34^th and finished ninth three weeks ago in the Nationwide race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway to score her second top-10 of 2012. One night later, in the Sprint Cup race, she was in the top-20 and on the lead lap with 66 laps remaining when her car was hit by another car and contacted the SAFER Barrier on the inside retaining wall of the frontstretch. She finished 29^th.

• The remaining races on Patrick’s Sprint Cup Series schedule after Chicagoland are Dover (Del.) International Speedway, Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth and Phoenix International Raceway.

• Four Score: In March 2011, Patrick finished fourth in the Nationwide race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the best-ever finish by a woman in a NASCAR national stock-car series, topping a fifth-place run by Sarah Christian in a Sprint Cup race in 1949 at Heidelberg (Pa.) Raceway.

• History Maker: Patrick became the first woman to win a major-league open-wheel race in a North American series in April 2009 by winning the IZOD IndyCar Series Indy Japan 300 at the Twin Ring Motegi oval in Japan.

• Point Taken: In 2009, Patrick finished fifth in IndyCar Series points, the best finish ever for a woman in the series.

• Big Stage: In seven Indianapolis 500 starts, Patrick finished in the top-10 six times, including a third-place result in 2009, the best finish ever for a woman in the historic race.

EVENT: Dollar General 300 (200 laps / 300 miles)
TRACK: Chicagoland Speedway
LENGTH: 1.5-mile D-shaped oval
DATE: Saturday, Sept. 15, 2012
TV: ESPN2 (Coverage begins at 3 p.m. EST)
RADIO: MRN (3:15 p.m. EST)

Danica Patrick - GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
“I’ve said before that I’m still learning. Each and every week is something new. So as far as last week goes, you try learn from it, put it behind you and go on to the next race weekend.

“Once again, I’m sure it will be a busy weekend pulling double duty. But nothing is better than getting some solid seat time and turning laps around the track. I think it certainly benefits me being able to run both series through the course of a weekend. On the Nationwide side, I think I’m getting a better understanding of how the races will progress. And the fact that you’re not al-ways going to have the car comfortable at that exact mo-ment, but it needs to have adjustability in order to adapt to the changing track conditions.”

Notes

BREEZING THROUGH THE WINDY CITY - Chicagoland Speedway continues to be one of JRM’s strongest tracks. In its past six organizational start at the facility, JRM Chevrolets have earned two top-five and five top-10 finishes. The company’s average finish at the track during that span is 8.0.

HOMETOWN FAVORITE - Danica Patrick will race in front off her hometown crowd this weekend in Chicagoland. The 30-year-old hails from nearby Roscoe, Ill., a 90-mile trip northwest of downtown Chicago. In three Nationwide Series starts at the track, Patrick holds one top-10 finish.

STARTING INFO - When the green flag drops for Saturday’s Dollar General 300 at Chicagoland Speedway, Patrick will have four starts at the facility, making it the 1.5-mile track where she holds the most NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) starts. She also owns four (NNS) starts at Phoenix International Raceway. But Patrick’s five starts at Daytona International Speedway tops the list.

GODADDY.COM TEAM BRINGS NEW CHASSIS - The 7 team unloads a new chassis at Chicagoland Speedway this week, numbered 746.

WHITT DRIVING CHASSIS 743 - The 88 team brings chassis 743 to Chicagoland this weekend. Whitt piloted 743 to a ninth-place finish in Atlanta two weeks ago, and also drove it at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

JRM SOCIAL MEDIA - Keep up with JR Motorsports through the team’s @JRMotorsports Twitter account and JR Mo-torsports Facebook page. You can also follow JRM drivers Danica Patrick (@DanicaPatrick), Cole Whitt (@ColeWhitt) and general manager Kelley Earnhardt Miller (@EarnhardtKelley) via Twitter.

FALL FUNDRAISER “DRIVEN TO GIVE” RETURNS - The Dale Jr. Foundation’s fall fundraiser “Driven to Give” is returning this November. “Driven to Give” is a dinner and silent auction, which will be hosted by Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Nov. 7, 2012, in Mooresville, N.C., featuring special musical guest Kellie Pickler. Fans are being afforded the chance to attend the private charity event with the purchase of a $10 raffle ticket. Only 500 tickets will be sold and the four randomly selected winners will each receive two tickets to the event. Tickets can be purchased at http://www.thedalejrfoundation.org/ driven_to_give_.aspx

MORE PRIZES OFFERED IN WIN DALE JR.’S RIDE RAFFLE - As if a chance to win Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s very own 2011 Chev-rolet Camaro wasn’t enough, The Dale Jr. Foundation just upped the stakes by offering a shot at a pair of VIP race experi-ences and monthly prizes with the purchase of a raffle ticket in the Win Dale Jr.’s Ride promotion. Tickets are only $25. For a complete rundown of the prizes or to purchase a ticket visit www.WinDaleJrsRide.com. The grand-prize winner will be invited to JR Motorsports, where Dale Jr. will personally hand over the keys to the car. Follow the Foundation’s Twitter account @TDJF.

EVENT: Virginia 529 College Savings 250 (250 laps)
TRACK: Richmond International Raceway
LENGTH: .75-mile D-shaped oval
DATE: Friday, Sept. 7, 2012
TV: ESPN (Coverage begins at 7 p.m. EST)
RADIO: MRN (7:15 p.m. EST)

Danica Patrick - GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
“When you’re going from practice in the daytime to rac-ing at night the most important thing is finding balance in the car, especially front to rear when it’s slippery. Then hopefully that balance will translate into the evening. I’ve heard that the balance doesn’t shift too much from day to night. So we’ll work to achieve that.”

Tony Eury Jr., crew chief “Right now Danica is at the point where she understands how the races are going to play out. She knows what kind of car she needs and knows you have to start off a little free to be there at the end. We’re at the point where if we had one more year, I think you’d see some top-fives and wins. She is still learning every week, learn-ing something new. It’s just a matter of putting every-thing together. Plus, you’ve got to remember this is really her first fulltime season running stock cars.”

Notes

JR MOTORSPORTS TO MAKE 400TH START THIS WEEKEND - JRM will make its 400th start this weekend at Richmond International Raceway. Since the company’s debut at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2005, 28 different drivers have piloted JRM Chevrolets. The team’s tally currently stands at nine wins, 77 top-fives and 162 top- 10s. Additionally, JRM has earned seven poles and led 1,397 laps in Nationwide Series competition.

HISTORY WITH HELLMANN’S – Richmond marks JRM’s third of four races with Hell-mann’s as a primary sponsor in 2012. In the team’s two previous starts with the popu-lar brand, Whitt drove to a fourth-place finish in the season opener at Daytona, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. earned a fifth-place effort at Talladega. The team is averaging a finish of 4.5 in a Hellmann’s-branded Chevrolet in 2012.

.COM DECAL FEATURED ON GO DADDY CHEVROLET - The No. 7 Go Daddy Chevrolet will feature a .com decal on its hood this weekend in Richmond. A top-level domain and the most recognized domain worldwide, .com was one of the original domains introduced in 1985. Currently, there are more than 100 million registered .com names worldwide. Register a .com domain at accredited registrars like GoDaddy.com.

CAREER-BEST SHORT TRACK FINISH - Danica Patrick and the Go Daddy team are only two races removed from a ninth-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway, a career-best short track effort for the Roscoe, Ill. native and her second top 10 of 2012. Patrick improved 25 positions from her starting spot and capitalized on a pit stop for four fresh tires to crack the top 10 in the waning stages of the race.

WHITT AND COOK COMBO - On the cusp of his second consecutive top-10 finish, Whitt’s season tally now stands at 10 top -10 finishes. This weekend will mark Whitt’s 20th race with crew chief Bruce Cook. Since Cook moved into the crew chief role on the 88 team, Whitt has amassed two top-five and eight top-10 finishes.

WHITT TO MAKE TWO APPEARANCES IN RICHMOND MARKET - Whitt will make a pair of autograph appearances on Thursday, Sept 6., beginning at Walmart, located at 7430 Bell Creek Rd, Mechanicsville, Va. at 3 p.m. to EST. He will then sign autographs at Kroger, located at 9351 Atlee Rd, Mechanicsville, Va. at 4:30 p.m. EST.

JRM DRIVERS PARTICIPATING IN RICHMOND AUTOGRAPH SESSION - Fans can meet JRM drivers Danica Patrick and Cole Whitt at the Nationwide Series autograph session from 2 to 3 p.m. EST on Friday, located outside of turn one in the Amphitheater behind the Commonwealth Tower.

JRM SOCIAL MEDIA - Keep up with JR Motorsports through the team’s @JRMotorsports Twitter account and JR Mo-torsports Facebook page. You can also follow JRM drivers Danica Patrick (@DanicaPatrick), Cole Whitt (@ColeWhitt) and general manager Kelley Earnhardt Miller (@EarnhardtKelley) via Twitter.

MORE PRIZES OFFERED IN WIN DALE JR.’S RIDE RAFFLE - As if a chance to win Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s very own 2011 Chev-rolet Camaro wasn’t enough, The Dale Jr. Foundation just upped the stakes by offering a shot at a pair of VIP race experi-ences and monthly prizes with the purchase of a raffle ticket in the Win Dale Jr.’s Ride promotion. Tickets are only $25. For a complete rundown of the prizes or to purchase a ticket visit www.WinDaleJrsRide.com. The grand-prize winner will be invited to JR Motorsports, where Dale Jr. will personally hand over the keys to the car. Follow the Foundation’s Twitter account @TDJF.

FALL FUNDRAISER “DRIVEN TO GIVE” RETURNS - The Dale Jr. Foundation’s fall fundraiser “Driven to Give” is returning this November. “Driven to Give” is a dinner and silent auction, which will be hosted by Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Nov. 7, 2012, in Mooresville, N.C., featuring special musical guest Kellie Pickler. Fans are being afforded the chance to attend the private charity event with the purchase of a $10 raffle ticket. Only 500 tickets will be sold and the four randomly selected winners will each receive two tickets to the event. Tickets can be purchased at http://www.thedalejrfoundation.org/ driven_to_give_.aspx

Date: Sept. 2, 2012
Event: AdvoCare 500 (Round 25 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Atlanta Motor Speedway (1.54-mile oval)
Start/Finish: 23^rd/29^th (Running, completed 321 of 327 laps in a green-white checkered finish)
Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Danica Patrick’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series education continued Sunday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where she finished 29^th in the AdvoCare 500.

Patrick, who drives the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet for Tommy Baldwin Racing via a collaborative agreement with Stewart-Haas Racing, never had raced at Atlanta until the Nationwide Series event Saturday night, in which she finished 13^th.

So her weekend goal was to get familiar with the treacherous 1.54-mile oval and complete as many laps as possible, continuing the transition from INDYCAR to NASCAR.

She completed 321 of 327 laps while learning how drive on Atlanta’s worn pavement that causes even veteran drivers to slip and slide around due to a lack of grip. And as she has throughout her very brief Sprint Cup Series career, she got better throughout the weekend, with lap times improving right to the end of the race.

“I think we picked up overall throughout the race and we were learning about the car,” Patrick said. “I was a lot tighter than I thought I would be, but I was pretty afraid after last night at how loose I was in the Nationwide car to come tonight where I was in practice far looser in the Cup car than in the Nationwide car. I was afraid it was going to be just tank-slapping the whole time. Zippy (Greg Zipadelli, race strategist) said that we were running a pretty conservative setup, and the changes he was making were not huge changes so it didn’t step over.

“We are just in that phase of get the laps done, feel it out, run different lines, bring the car home, finish the race and try and learn a bit as we go. He said that, I don’t know if it was the whole time or some of the time, but (we were) running top-20 lap times. I think that is a good step for me. This is definitely a challenging track. I struggle most on tracks where there is low grip or they are flat. I would consider this a low grip feeling track. So we did what we meant to do.”

Zipadelli was pleased with Patrick.

“I thought she did great,” Zipadelli said. “At the end of the day, if you look at our speed and compared to where we were in practice yesterday, we picked up a lot of speed. We had to tune our race car quite a bit because we tightened it up so much yesterday in the sun (during final practice), and tonight we were pretty tight.

“It’s certainly a very hard racetrack. There’s no grip. It’s a handful for the best of them. And this year it seems like this racetrack took a big turn with grip. It’s the same tire we’ve had for a couple of years. Every year this racetrack sits in the sun for a year, and you come back and race on it and it continues to lose grip.”

Denny Hamlin won the AdvoCare 500 to score his 21^st career Sprint Cup victory, his series-high fourth of the season and his first at Atlanta. It was his second consecutive trip to victory lane as he also won last week at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.

Jeff Gordon finished .378 of a second behind Hamlin in the runner-up spot, while Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top-five. Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Paul Menard, Matt Kenseth and Mark Martin comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were six caution periods for 31 laps, with 11 drivers failing to finish the 327-lap race, which was extended two laps beyond its scheduled distance by a green-white-checkered finish.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Federated Auto Parts 400 on Saturday, Sept. 8 in the series’ return to Richmond. The race starts at 7:30 p.m. EDT, with live coverage provided by ABC beginning with its pre-race show at 7 p.m.

Patrick, who is running only a 10-race Sprint Cup Series schedule in 2012, will next drive in NASCAR’s top division in the GEICO 400 on Sept. 16 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (Sept. 1, 2012) -- Danica Patrick's GoDaddy.com No. 7 Chevy is going "pink" in honor of the Breast Cancer Awareness campaign next month. The hot pink car is set to be revealed today in Atlanta. It's the car Danica plans to drive in NASCAR's upcoming Nationwide Series race in Charlotte October 12.

The idea is to generate buzz for The National Breast Cancer Foundation and it's a team effort. Go Daddy and JR Motorsports are sponsoring the pink-themed car as part of the Chase Authentics' "Check Your Headlights" program, which works to raise money and awareness for breast cancer research and education. Each year some 200,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer. Of those, 40,000 succumb to the disease, according to The National Breast Cancer Foundation.

"I love the idea of a pink car to help raise awareness about breast cancer. The No. 7 Chevy is known for its iconic Go Daddy green color ... I think the pink car will pop and attract attention for a good cause," Danica said. "We all know someone who has been impacted by this disease and NASCAR fans are so passionate, I know they'll step up to help the cause."

Go Daddy, the world's largest provider of Web hosting and domain name registrations, is also donating money to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, along with the Public Interest Registry which manages .ORG domain names. A $50,000 donation is planned as part of the program in Charlotte next month.

"We are fortunate to be in a position to help others -- awareness and prevention are keys to 'beating breast cancer,'" said Go Daddy's Marketing Vice President Teri D'Hooge, whose own family is dealing with the devastating disease. "Women's health has been a cornerstone of Go Daddy's charity work over the years. We think this campaign is especially powerful because it plays off of Danica and NASCAR in a fun, non-conventional way. Now we hope NASCAR fans will help get more people talking about the breast cancer battle, which unfortunately has touched so many families."

In conjunction with Breast Cancer Awareness month, Chase Authentics and JR Motorsports will feature a "Check Your Headlights" line of apparel and products. A portion of the proceeds go directly to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. To learn more about the "Check Your Headlights" campaign, visit: www.NASCAR.com/CheckYourHeadlights.

You can watch Danica drive her hot pink No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet October 12 in the NASCAR Nationwide race presented by GoDaddy.com on ESPN2 at 6:30 p.m. ET.

To learn more about Go Daddy and how to get online easily and affordably, visit www.GoDaddy.com.

To donate to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, visit: www.NationalBreastCancer.org.

Connect with Go Daddy on Facebook & Twitter.

EVENT: NRA American Warrior 300 (195 laps/300.3 miles)
TRACK: Atlanta Motor Speedway
LENGTH: 1.5-mile quad oval
DATE: Saturday, Sept. 1, 2012
TV: ESPN2 (Coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. EST)
RADIO: PRN (6:30 p.m. EST)

Danica Patrick - GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
“I’ve heard lots of great things about Atlanta. It’s good racing. The tires definitely fall off with the surface being old. The line moves around a lot and you can search for the best line. For me, it’s going to be a big weekend, run-ning both Nationwide and Cup. I’m going to be really busy. But nothing is better than going to a new track and having lots of track time.

We’re always looking for good results. The 7 team has been working extremely hard. That doesn’t change if we finish first or last. But it’s nice to get rewarded with a good finish sometimes. I think we’re all looking forward to trying and accomplishing that again this weekend in Atlanta. There is a rhythm to these races and the only way you can get a feel for that is to do the whole thing. It will be important to finish all the laps.”

Cole Whitt - NASCAR Bashers Chevrolet
“It has taken us a couple weeks, but following the top 10 at Bristol we finally feel like we’ve got some momentum to build on. I like the mile-and-a-half tracks, so I’m anxious to get to Atlanta and get some laps under my belt.

Atlanta is a cool place because it gives you a lot of options as far as where to run. There are several different lines you can take around that place. But you’ve got to be prepared for the tires to drop off. Typically, you’ll see the tires start to give up about 15 laps into a run. The track is just really abrasive. Then you’ll see guys start slipping and sliding around. It can be challenging and quite a workout at times.”

JOIN DANICA PATRICK FOR SPECIAL PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENT - Media mem-bers are invited to join Danica Patrick, Teri Dhooge, Go Daddy vice president of mar-keting and Chris Williams of Motorsports Authentics in the Atlanta Motor Speedway infield media center on Saturday, Sept. 1, at noon for a special program announce-ment.

ATLANTA IN-RACE REPORTER - Whitt will serve as the ESPN In-Race reporter for this weekend’s NRA American Warrior 300 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Crew chief Bruce Cook will also give his thoughts from atop the No. 88 team’s pit box.

NASCAR BASHERS ON THE 88 CAR - The NASCAR Bashers brand is featured as primary sponsor of the No. 88 Chevrolet this weekend in Atlanta. NASCAR Bashers is a line of toys produced by SpinMaster and styled like an actual NASCAR race car. These cars actually crash, featuring multiple different dramatic crash transformations. NASCAR Bashers are available at major toy retailers like Walmart, Target, Toys R Us, Kmart and more.

ATLANTA VICTORY - Jamie McMurray and the 88 team secured a win at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2010. McMurray took the lead on lap 172 and cruised through the next 23 laps to earn JRM it’s ninth overall series victory.

PATRICK’S FINAL NNS DEBUT - After this weekend, Patrick can add another item to her NASCAR resume. Atlanta Motor Speedway remains the only track where Patrick has yet to make a stock car start. Following this race, she will have made at least one start on every track on the Nationwide Series schedule.

INTERMEDIATE UPDATE - Patrick earned her season-best finish of eighth at the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway earlier this season. Of her 17 career top-15 finishes, all but two have come at tracks 1.5-miles in length or larger. Patrick’s average finish in five starts at 1.5-mile facilities this year is 11.8.

MEET COLE WHITT AT ATLANTA WALMART - Fans can meet JRM driver Cole Whitt at Walmart (#3201) located at 135 Wil-low Lane in McDonough, Ga., on Friday, Aug. 31, from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. local time. Whitt will be signing autograph and meeting fans on behalf of the NASCAR Bashers brand.

JRM SOCIAL MEDIA - Keep up with JR Motorsports through the team’s @JRMotorsports Twitter account and JR Mo-torsports Facebook page. You can also follow JRM drivers Danica Patrick (@DanicaPatrick), Cole Whitt (@ColeWhitt) and general manager Kelley Earnhardt Miller (@EarnhardtKelley) via Twitter.

MORE PRIZES OFFERED IN WIN DALE JR.’S RIDE RAFFLE - As if a chance to win Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s very own 2011 Chev-rolet Camaro wasn’t enough, The Dale Jr. Foundation just upped the stakes by offering a shot at a pair of VIP race experi-ences and monthly prizes with the purchase of a raffle ticket in the Win Dale Jr.’s Ride promotion. Tickets are only $25. For a complete rundown of the prizes or to purchase a ticket visit www.WinDaleJrsRide.com. The grand-prize winner will be invited to JR Motorsports, where Dale Jr. will personally hand over the keys to the car. Follow the Foundation’s Twitter account @TDJF.

KANNAPOLIS, N.C., (Aug. 28, 2012) – Atlanta Motor Speedway is considered one of the fastest tracks on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series circuit, and for good reason. Geoff Bodine set the track record in November 1997 when he qualified in the top spot at 197.478 mph. And, in March 2010, Dale Earnhardt Jr., hit 192.761 mph en route to winning the pole.

Danica Patrick will be making her first career appearance at Atlanta this weekend when she competes in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events at the 1.54-mile oval. When she drives onto the track for practice Friday in the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet to prepare for Sunday night’s AdvoCare 500 Sprint Cup Series race, the speed – at least to some degree – won’t be new to her.

Coming from the INDYCAR world, Patrick is no stranger to going well over 200 mph. In 2005, during her rookie IZOD IndyCar Series season, she set the tone early at the Indianapolis 500 when she posted the fastest lap on the opening day of practice at 221.463 mph. She went on to set the fastest practice lap five times throughout the month – more than any other driver – including Pole Day and Carb Day.

Patrick’s practice lap of 229.880 mph on Pole Day was the fastest of any driver during the month and the fastest turned by any woman in the history of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. During her qualification attempt, Patrick made an impressive save as her car bobbled in turn one on her first lap, earning her rave reviews for her car control by longtime Speedway observers. She ended up qualifying with a four-lap average of 227.004 mph, good for the fourth spot on the grid and the best-ever starting position for a woman in the historic race.

Patrick then found victory lane in the IZOD IndyCar Series in April 2008 at the 1.5-mile Twin Ring Motegi oval in Japan, where speeds often hit the 200-mph mark.

That said, Patrick’s numerous moments above 200 mph came in a 1,500-pound, rear-engine car with downforce provided by front and rear wings. The No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet she will drive this weekend in Atlanta is a front-engine, 3,500-pound, stock car that couldn’t be more different from an Indy car.

So while she’ll be used to the speed that Atlanta Motor Speedway is known for, the sensory input from that high speed will be vastly different from what she’s used to.

Patrick heads to Atlanta after a solid weekend at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway that saw her finish ninth in the Nationwide Series event Friday night at the tricky .533-mile concrete oval, then run a respectable race in the Sprint Cup event Saturday night. Patrick was on the lead lap and in the top-20 in just her fourth career Sprint Cup Series start and first at Bristol when her GoDaddy.com Chevrolet was hit by Regan Smith’s car, spinning her into the SAFER Barrier on the inside retaining wall of the frontstretch. Her night was done after 434 laps and she was credited with 29^th place, but the experience and confidence taken away from the event were extremely valuable.

She’ll look to take that experience and confidence from Bristol into Atlanta and “speed” up her ongoing NASCAR education.

DANICA PATRICK, Driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet:

What are your overall thoughts on Atlanta?

“I’ve heard lots of great things about Atlanta. It’s good racing. The tires definitely go off with the surface and the line moves around a lot. For me, it’s going to be a big weekend not only from the standpoint that there’s Cup and Nationwide with the GoDaddy.com cars, but it’s a big Coca-Cola weekend, so I’ll be really busy. I think nothing is better than going to a new track and having lots of track time.”

Tony Stewart said he picked the toughest tracks for you for your 10-race Sprint Cup schedule this year. Do you think it’s beneficial?

“I don’t think that being able to know whether or not it’s beneficial at this point is really possible. The part that we’ll know if it’s beneficial will come next year, when either I feel much more comfortable coming back to those tracks or I have better results. At this point and time, it’s about gaining the experience. There is a saying, ‘What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.’ So I’m sure that it will help in the long run. But, until we get to next year and actually know how I feel, that will decide whether or not these races helped or not. As long as I can keep my head up and stay confident and stay looking forward and upbeat, I think they will serve that purpose. But, there’s always that chance these are humbling moments, especially being at the tough tracks they are at and the tough races they are. I’ve just got to focus on staying positive.”

What did you learn last week at Bristol?

“I learned a ton. I learned how the track changes. I learned how the track gets looser and looser as it goes. We were just tightening the car up all night. We learned a lot about that and, while we didn’t get to the very end, we got really close and that’s a good thing. I felt all night I was being smart and Tab (Boyd), my spotter, was being smart about observing what kind of cars were around me and would tell me, ‘Just let them go, we’ve got our race to run.’ I would do it and have no problem with that. You just have to look around, sometime, and see the cars that are beat up and those are the one you have to be a little leery about.”

You struggled in practice on Friday and then were in the top-20 and on the lead lap late in the race at Bristol. On race morning, how would you have gauged your chances of doing that?

“To be honest, to come from 34^th to a top-10 (in the Nationwide Series) Friday night after the terrible practice we had, and then being last in practice to being in the top-20 and on the lead lap (in the Sprint Cup race) was an example of what you need to do as a team and as a group. And that’s to just stay focused and know that the race is a whole different thing and just be smart and never get down. That’s what we did. We were just smart with everything and just tried to stay out of trouble and, unfortunately, trouble found me.”

Notes of Interest:

• The AdvoCare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway will mark Danica Patrick’s fifth career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start and her first at Atlanta Motor Speedway. She has never competed in a NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Atlanta.

• Patrick has career totals of one top-five finish, five top-10s, 55 laps led and one pole in 48 career NASCAR Nationwide Series races.

• In 2012 Nationwide Series competition, Patrick has one pole (Daytona) and a best finish of eighth, which came in April at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. She led once for a race-high 20 laps two weeks ago on the road course at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal until mechanical problems caused her to go to the garage for repairs. She finished 27^th, six laps down.

• Patrick started 34^th and finished ninth in last week’s Nationwide Series race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway to score her second top-10 of 2012. In Saturday night’s Sprint Cup Series race, she was in the top-20 and on the lead lap with 66 laps remaining when her car was hit by another car and contacted the SAFER Barrier on the inside retaining wall of the frontstretch. She finished 29^th.

• The remaining races on Patrick’s Sprint Cup Series schedule after Atlanta are at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., Dover (Del.) International Speedway, Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth and Phoenix International Raceway.

• Four Score: In March 2011, Patrick finished fourth in the Nationwide Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the best-ever finish by a woman in a NASCAR national stock-car series, topping a fifth-place run by Sarah Christian in a Sprint Cup race in 1949 at Heidelberg (Pa.) Raceway.

• History Maker: Patrick became the first woman to win a major-league open-wheel race in a North American series in April 2009 by winning the IZOD IndyCar Series Indy Japan 300 at the Twin Ring Motegi oval in Japan.

• Point Taken: In 2009, Patrick finished fifth in IZOD IndyCar Series points, the best finish ever for a woman in the series.

• Big Stage: In seven Indianapolis 500 starts, Patrick finished in the top-10 six times, including a third-place result in 2009, the best finish ever for a woman in the historic race.

Date: Aug. 25, 2012
Event: Irwin Tools Night Race (Round 24 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway (.533-mile oval)
Start/Finish: 43^rd/29^th (Accident, completed 434 of 500 laps)
Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Danica Patrick saw a potential top-20 finish end in a heartbreaking accident less than 70 laps from the finish in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Irwin Tools Night Race Saturday at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.

Patrick, who drives the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet for Tommy Baldwin Racing via a collaborative agreement with Stewart-Haas Racing, was running 20^th on lap 434 when the right front of Regan Smith’s car hit the left rear of her machine.

The contact sent Patrick out of control, and the nose of her GoDaddy.com Chevrolet slammed into the SAFER Barrier on the inside retaining wall.

The damage was too extensive for the GoDaddy team to fix with so few laps left in the race, and Patrick’s night was done.

It was a tough end to what had been a positive outing for Patrick, who was making just her fourth career Sprint Cup Series start and her first at the .533-mile oval.

After starting 43^rd, Patrick stayed out of trouble and, with the help of spotter Tab Boyd, methodically climbed the standings while learning how to compete at one of NASCAR’s toughest tracks. She was as high as 17^th on lap 325 and was in the top-20 and on the lead lap in the closing portion of the race. A solid finish was within reach until the contact with Smith ended her day.

“I haven’t seen the replay,” said Patrick, who finished ninth in the Food City 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race Friday night at Bristol. “We’re all racing hard. This is Bristol, and this is why people love this track is because you see a lot of that, and you see tempers flare. It’s usually part of the broadcast and when they describe what’s going to happen. It was just a bummer because I really felt like the GoDaddy Chevrolet was going to get a solid, maybe a top-20, finish and on the lead lap. And that wouldn’t have been something that I thought would happen tonight. The team did a great job, and everything was running really smoothly. So it’s a shame that we lost that. But you know, Bristol is a place where you find out who’s playing fair and who’s not.”

Patrick’s race strategist, Greg Zipadelli, was impressed with her continued education in NASCAR’s top division.

“Every place we’ve gone – when she gets around people, she really learns what she needs to do, and we’re able to adjust on the car and get her better,” Zipadelli said. “She gained a lot of speed. I would say by far this is her best effort.”

Denny Hamlin won the Irwin Tools Night Race to score his 20^th career Sprint Cup victory, his third of the season and his first at Bristol.

Jimmie Johnson finished 1.103 seconds behind Hamlin in the runner-up spot, while Jeff Gordon, Brian Vickers, and Marcos Ambrose rounded out the top-five. Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer, Joey Logano, Kasey Kahne and Paul Menard comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were 13 caution periods for 87 laps, with 11 drivers failing to finish the 500-lap race.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the AdvoCare 500 on Sunday, Sept. 2 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The race starts at 7:30 p.m. EDT, with live coverage provided by ESPN beginning with its pre-race show at 6:30 p.m.

KANNAPOLIS, N.C., (Aug. 22, 2012) – The last time Danica Patrick competed in a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, Memorial Day weekend was in full swing and kids around the United States were preparing for the annual summer break from school.

Now entering late August, kids are heading back to the classroom and Patrick is heading back to Sprint Cup competition as her “summer break” from NASCAR’s top series is over. She’ll return to the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet for Saturday’s Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.

It will mark Patrick’s fourth career Sprint Cup race and her first since the Coca-Cola 600 in May at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, where she started 40^th and finished 30^th after completing 395 of 400 laps.

Patrick will compete in seven of the final 13 Sprint Cup events in preparation for a full-time Sprint Cup schedule in 2013. And while she and the GoDaddy.com Chevrolet team will look to achieve the best possible results, it’s what they will learn and be able to use in the future that will be most important during this final stretch of the 2012 season.

This week’s race at Bristol will be Patrick’s first Sprint Cup outing on a concrete surface and, while she will look to build a database of information for her return trips to Bristol, there is also the goal of learning something useful for the upcoming AAA 400 Sprint Cup event at the concrete “Monster Mile” oval at Dover (Del.) International Speedway.

With two previous NASCAR Nationwide Series starts at Bristol, Patrick is familiar with the .533-mile concrete oval. But in addition to competing in a Sprint Cup car for the first time, Patrick will also learn to drive the “new” surface at Bristol.

The top lane will not be usable through the turns after track officials had it milled following the NASCAR weekend in March. So, instead of three racing lanes, the track now has only two grooves in the turns, creating tighter confines for the 43 competitors and the intended result of added bumping and banging throughout the night.

It’s all part of the continuing education for Patrick as she makes the difficult transition from INDYCAR to NASCAR.

And with limits on testing, there is nothing more important than getting seat time and turning as many laps as possible. And, with 18 races in the next three months in NASCAR’s top two series (11 Nationwide, seven Sprint Cup) the education will be accelerated.

DANICA PATRICK, Driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet:

What are your overall thoughts on Bristol?
“I’m looking forward to going to Bristol. I’ve look forward to going there every single time. It’s been a track I’ve enjoyed because of the banking in the corners. It’s going to be more challenging now without the top line. It’s going to make it a little more bump-and-go kind of racing, which could still be fun as long as I’m the one bumping (laughs). I’m looking forward going there with the Cup car because, every time I run the Cup car, I feel like the Nationwide car stuff goes better. So, hopefully, we can get our first really great result on a short track.”

Your luck has not been great the last few weeks in the Nationwide Series. How do you overcome that?
“It’s part of it. It’s frustrating. It definitely can get you down and it does get you down a little bit. I feel like, with the very consistent schedule that keeps coming at you, you need to have a positive attitude and look at each weekend as the weekend it could turn around and the weekend that you could have great luck and come back from the last one. It’s really easy. I did it at the beginning of the year. You get down and get a little negative and that carries over to next weekend and things just get worse. And it can really spiral in a pretty bad direction pretty quickly and easily in NASCAR, with how many races there are and how often you’re on track. You just have to keep at it. If we were just slow everywhere, then I think that would almost be worse than being knocked out or having issues or making mistakes. Once you can get on a good, consistent pace, where you’re making good decisions not making mistakes and luck comes your way, you’re ready to go.”

Can you assess the 2011 Nationwide Series season for you thus far?
“One thing I’m always pleased to see is how much overall speed we’ve picked up from last year and the year before. In practice, I would struggle to get in the top-20, and now I feel like we’re almost always inside the top-10, if not top-five, sometimes. That’s a very positive sign moving forward for me because I’m figuring out how to get speed out of the car and work on the car. Qualifying has improved. That was another thing, just getting that race experience. I really feel like a lot of stuff has gone in the right direction. Now, I feel like I’ve definitely made mistakes, for sure. There’s definitely been a hefty amount of bad luck. At the end of the day, I find it far more important – of course I’d love to get results – but as the whole, looking long-term into the future, the most important thing I can do this year is learn, get experience and be prepared for next year.”

Notes of Interest:

• The Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway will mark Danica Patrick’s fourth career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start. Her first came in February’s rain-delayed 54th Daytona 500 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, where she finished 38^th, having completed only 138 of 202 laps after being involved in a multi-car accident not of her making on lap three.

• Patrick has career totals of one top-five finish, four top-10s, 55 laps led and one pole in 47 career NASCAR Nationwide Series races.

• In 2012 Nationwide Series competition, Patrick has one pole (Daytona) and a best finish of eighth, which came in April at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. She led once for a race-high 20 laps last week at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal until mechanical problems caused her to go to the garage for repairs. She finished 27^th, six laps down.

• Patrick has never competed at Bristol in a Sprint Cup car, but she has two starts in the Nationwide Series. She finished 19^th in March at the .533-mile oval.

• Four Score: In March 2011, Patrick finished fourth in the Nationwide Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the best-ever finish by a woman in a NASCAR national stock-car series, topping a fifth-place run by Sarah Christian in a Sprint Cup race in 1949 at Heidelberg (Pa.) Raceway.

• History Maker: Patrick became the first woman to win a major-league open-wheel race in a North American series in April 2009 by winning the IZOD IndyCar Series Indy Japan 300 at the Twin Ring Motegi oval in Japan.

• Point Taken: In 2009, Patrick finished fifth in IZOD IndyCar Series points, the best finish ever for a woman in the series.

• Big Stage: In seven Indianapolis 500 starts, Patrick finished in the top-10 six times, including a third-place result in 2009, the best finish ever for a woman in the historic race.

EVENT: Food City 250 (250 laps / 133.24 miles)
TRACK: Bristol Motor Speedway
LENGTH: .533-mile concrete oval
DATE: Friday, Aug. 24, 2012
TV: ESPN (Coverage begins at 7 p.m. EST)
RADIO: PRN (7 p.m. EST)

Danica Patrick

“I’ve always prided myself in not tearing up equipment on the IndyCar side. In stock cars though, sometimes these crashes are unavoidable. You do crash cars in this sport, it’s that simple. You go to places like Talladega, Daytona and Bristol and you’re lucky to come out unscathed. It’s just that style of racing, when you’re running that tight. In stock car racing you’ve got to be close to your competitors. You use the air to sometimes push others up the track and make them chase it. You run extremely close, and when you run that close, there’s just a higher likelihood of collecting more cars. The smoke these cars have when they spin out, you can’t see the track sometimes. So you get collected in things that you just don't’ know your way through, that you can’t see. And you can use fenders, which is a contributor to a lot of accidents.”

Notes

SPY OPTIC ON BOARD 88 CAR AT BRISTOL – Spy Optic will be featured as the primary sponsor of Whitt’s No. 88 Chevrolet this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. Spy is revving up its support of JR Motorsports and its Dale Jr. Signature 88 Sunglasses Collection with a Spy-branded black, orange and white paint scheme. Check out the entire Dale Earnhardt Jr. Signature 88 Collection here.

JRM UNDER THE LIGHTS – JR Motorsports’ fourth series victory came at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2008. The organization holds one pole and has led 91 laps at the facility. Additionally, four of the team’s seven top-five finishes at Bristol were earned under the lights.

SHORT TRACK RECAP – Patrick’s 11th-place finish at Iowa Speedway earlier this month marked the 30-year-old’s best short track effort of her NASCAR career. The No. 7 Go Daddy Chevrolet spent the bulk of the race inside the top 10, but when lap traffic came into play, the team concluded the race in 11th position.

WHITT’S SHORT TRACK PROFILE – According to NASCAR Statistical Services, Whitt and the 88 team are ranked seventh in the Nationwide Series for most points earned on short tracks this season. Whitt has earned 116 points in the year’s four short track events, notching one top-10 finish (Iowa) and leading four laps.

CHASSIS 740 FOR PATRICK – The 7 team unloads chassis number 740 this weekend. Patrick drove this chassis to her career-best short track finish at Iowa Speedway in August. It also raced at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July. Patrick’s average finish with this chassis is 12.5.

CHASSIS 705 FOR WHITT – The 88 team brings chassis 705 to Bristol this weekend. Whitt piloted 705 to a sixth-place finish at Las Vegas earlier this year, and drove it in races at Charlotte, New Hampshire and Texas.

PATRICK’S MEDIA AVAILABILITY – Patrick will be available to members of the NASCAR media on Friday, Aug. 24, at 8:15 a.m. EST in the Bristol Motor Speedway deadline room.

MEET COLE WHITT AT JR NATION MERCH HAULER – Fans can meet JRM driver Cole Whitt on Friday, Aug. 24, beginning at 5 p.m. EST at the JR Nation hauler in the fan concourse area.

JRM SOCIAL MEDIA – Keep up with JR Motorsports through the team’s @JRMotorsports Twitter account and JR Motorsports Facebook page. You can also follow JRM drivers Danica Patrick (@DanicaPatrick), Cole Whitt (@ColeWhitt) and general manager Kelley Earnhardt Miller (@EarnhardtKelley) via Twitter.

MORE PRIZES OFFERED IN WIN DALE JR.’S RIDE RAFFLE – As if a chance to win Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s very own 2011 Chevrolet Camaro wasn’t enough, The Dale Jr. Foundation just upped the stakes by offering a shot at a pair of VIP race experiences and monthly prizes with the purchase of a raffle ticket in the Win Dale Jr.’s Ride promotion. Tickets are only $25. For a complete rundown of the prizes or to purchase a ticket visit www.WinDaleJrsRide.com. The grand-prize winner will be invited to JR Motorsports, where Dale Jr. will personally hand over the keys to the car. Follow the Foundation’s Twitter account @TDJF.

EVENT: NAPA Auto Parts 200 (74 laps / 200.46 miles)
TRACK: Circuit Gilles Villeneuve
LENGTH: 2.71-mile 14-turn road course
DATE: Saturday, Aug. 18, 2012
TV: ESPN (Coverage begins at 2 p.m. EST)
RADIO: MRN (2:15 p.m. EST)

Danica Patrick - GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
“Every weekend is its own weekend. Things can change and you are presented with different obstacles every time you show up at the track. We put last week behind us and this is a brand new week for our Go Daddy team. “It’s been great working with Ron (Fellows) as a teammate. He has been nice to me from the start. I have a lot of respect for him, and I feel like I get the same in return. He is very generous with information when I ask him questions. It’s always nice to have somebody on the team with such a great amount of experience. When I feel something on the track, I’m not always sure of it, especially at this point in time running road courses in these cars. It’s good to be able to have Ron’s terminology and experience to lean on with that.”

Notes

THINK YOU KNOW RACING? PROVE IT WITH THE FELLOWS FIVE CHALLENGE - This is the final week to enter the “Fellows 5 Challenge”. Fans can log on here and pre-dict five scenarios for Ron Fellows at Montreal. Get one question right, and you’re eligible for an autographed prize. Get all five questions right, and you might win a three-day trip to Ron Fellows Performance Driving School at Spring Mountain Motor Resort near Las Vegas.

HISTORIC VICTORY AT CIRCUIT GILLES VILLENEUVE - Fellows is a past winner of the Montreal event in 2008. With the win, he was part of NASCAR history, as he be-came the first Canadian to win a NASCAR event on Canadian soil. He qualified sixth and led seven laps en route to his fourth series victory. The win was also the first road-course victory for JRM. In five starts at the facility, Fellows has one win and two top-five finishes. He holds the additional distinction of being the oldest winner of the race at 48 years, 10 months and five days old.

FELLOWS UP FRONT - Fellows is ranked third on NASCAR Statistical Service’s list of laps led at Montreal over the past five races with 20, trailing only Jacques Villeneuve and Carl Edwards in that category. The Ontario native has led 5.7 percent of the 350 laps during those five events.

DANICA AT MONTREAL 2011 RECAP - In last season’s event at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Patrick drove the GoDaddy.com Chevrolet to 13th prior to the halfway mark. The team was forced to pit for brakes issues shortly after, but rebounded to 14th before a broken axle in the final laps relegated Patrick to a 24th-place finish.

WHITT TO APPEAR AT MONTREAL WALMART - On behalf of the NASCAR Bashers brand, Cole Whitt will appear at

Walmart, store number 3007, located at 9000 Boulevard Leduc Brossard, Montreal, Quebec from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. EST on Thursday, Aug. 16, to sign autographs for fans.

SEASON FINALE FOR FELLOWS - Montreal will mark Fellows’ last Nationwide Series race of the season with JR Motorsports in the No. 5 Canadian Tire Chevrolet. In his two previous starts for the team this year at Road America and Watkins Glen, he earned two top-five finishes. Fellows’ average finish in a JRM Chevrolet this season is 4.0.

FELLOWS AND WHITT SLATED FOR NNS AUTOGRAPH SESSION - Ron Fellows and Cole Whitt will join a number of other Nationwide Series drivers for a series autograph session on Friday, Aug. 17, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., located in the Beer Garden at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

FELLOWS IN NNS COMPETITION - Fellows’ Nationwide Series history goes back 15 years to 1997. In his 23 career races, he scored four wins, 11 top five and 14 top-10 finishes. Fellows earned two poles, led 219 laps, and had an average finish of 14.0.

JACK OF ALL TRADES - A longtime sports car and road-racing veteran, Fellows is credited with three class championships in the American Le Mans Series, two class wins in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and 19 overall victories in the Sports Car Club of America's Trans-Am Series as a member of the Corvette Racing Team. His NASCAR credentials include six overall wins (two in the Camping World Truck Series), and two runner-up finishes in Sprint Cup competition.

JRM SOCIAL MEDIA - Keep up with JR Motorsports through the team’s @JRMotorsports Twitter account and JR Mo-torsports Facebook page. You can also follow JRM drivers Danica Patrick (@DanicaPatrick), Cole Whitt (@ColeWhitt) and general manager Kelley Earnhardt Miller (@EarnhardtKelley) via Twitter.

MORE PRIZES OFFERED IN WIN DALE JR.’S RIDE RAFFLE - As if a chance to win Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s very own 2011 Chev-rolet Camaro wasn’t enough, The Dale Jr. Foundation just upped the stakes by offering a shot at a pair of VIP race experi-ences and monthly prizes with the purchase of a raffle ticket in the Win Dale Jr.’s Ride promotion. Tickets are only $25. For a complete rundown of the prizes or to purchase a ticket visit www.WinDaleJrsRide.com. The grand-prize winner will be invited to JR Motorsports, where Dale Jr. will personally hand over the keys to the car. Follow the Foundation’s Twitter account @TDJF.

EVENT: Zippo 200 at The Glen (82 laps / 200.9 miles)
TRACK: Watkins Glen International
LENGTH: 2.45-mile 11-turn road course
DATE: Saturday, Aug. 11, 2012
TV: ABC (Coverage begins at 2 p.m. EST)
RADIO: MRN (1:45 p.m. EST)

Danica Patrick - GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
“After the race Road America, (ran top-five all day before last-lap incident with Jacques Villeneuve) I’m looking forward to turning right again. I feel like Watkins Glen has a lot of the same rhythm as Elk-hart. It’s a little smaller, but we’ll just take it one corner at a time. I’ve been there before and driven the full circuit. The short circuit won’t offer any new corners.

I feel like we have the ability to buckle down and do some good stuff the next few weeks. It’s definitely an interesting mindset for me, to be looking forward to road courses, since that was part of why I wanted to leave IndyCar. A lot of the NASCAR drivers don’t have a lot of experience on road courses. IndyCar had a lot of focus on road racing, so that type of racing is where I came from.”

Notes

THINK YOU KNOW RACING? PROVE IT WITH THE FELLOWS FIVE CHALLENGE - With Ron Fellows’ return to the No. 5 Chevrolet at Watkins Glen and Montreal, JRMracing.com is featuring the “Fellows Five Challenge”. Fans can log on here and answer five questions based on Ron’s performance at Watkins Glen and Montreal. Get one question right, and you’re eligible for an autographed prize. Get all five questions right, and you’ll be entered to win a three-day trip to Ron Fellows Performance Driving School near Las Vegas.

JRM WECOMES BACK CANADIAN TIRE - Canadian Tire returns to the No. 5 Chevro-let for its third year of partnership with JR Motorsports and driver Ron Fellows. The retailer will be primary sponsor of the No. 5 at Watkins Glen International and Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Canadian Tire is the largest automotive retailer in Canada with more than 480 stores.

IMPECCABLE STATS - Fellows has enjoyed immense success in NNS competition at Watkins Glen. He has three victories in 11 starts with five top-fives, eight top-10s and 189 laps led. He still holds the distinction of being the senior victor at the fa-cility, winning at the age of 41 years, nine months and 10 days old on July 8, 2001. Additionally, he is tied with Marcos Ambrose for second on the all-time NNS wins list at The Glen with three victories to his credit.

A NATURAL AT THE GLEN - In addition to Fellows’ impressive career stats at Watkins Glen, he has one top-five and three top-10 finishes in his three races driving for JR Motorsports. Over the past three years of competition at the track, Fellows holds respective finishes of fifth, sixth and seventh, giving the Canadian native an average finish of 6.0.

TOPPING THE CHART IN GREEN-FLAG PASSES - Fellows is ranked first at Watkins Glen in the green-flag passes category with 277, according to NASCAR Statistical Services. The green-flag pass category tracks the number of passes a driver com-pletes under green-flag conditions over the past seven races at a respective track. Fellows has completed 45 more passes than the second-place competitor.

DANICA IMPRESSIVE IN LAST ROAD RACE - Patrick was a frontrunner from the drop of the green flag at Road America in June, piecing together a strong outing in the No. 7 Chevrolet. She was racing hard for fourth position on the final lap when Jacques Villeneuve made contact with Patrick’s bumper, sending the Go Daddy Chevrolet careening off course and into a gravel trap, deflating her solid effort and relegating the team to a 12th-place finish.

WHITT’S 2012 LAP PERCENTAGE - Whitt is ranked sixth on the list of Nationwide Series regulars in laps completion per-centage for 2012. The rookie has completed 3,503 of 3,570 laps on the year, leading to a completion percentage of 98.12.

FELLOWS AND POPS COMBO - Fellows and veteran crew chief Tony Eury Sr. are off to a solid start after racing to a third-place finish in their most recent outing Road America. This weekend they’ll compete in their second of three scheduled races in 2012. The duo also worked together in 2010, racing the No. 88 Chevrolet to one top-five and two top-10 finishes in three races. Their average finish together in four events is 10.3.

FELLOWS IN NNS COMPETITION - Fellows’ Nationwide Series history goes back 15 years to 1997. In his 22 career races, he scored four wins, 10 top five, and 13 top-10 finishes. Fellows earned two poles, led 219 laps, and had an average finish of 14.4.

MORE PRIZES OFFERED IN WIN DALE JR.’S RIDE RAFFLE - As if a chance to win Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s very own 2011 Chev-rolet Camaro wasn’t enough, The Dale Jr. Foundation just upped the stakes by offering a shot at a pair of VIP race experi-ences and monthly prizes with the purchase of a raffle ticket in the Win Dale Jr.’s Ride promotion. Tickets are only $25. For a complete rundown of the prizes or to purchase a ticket visit www.WinDaleJrsRide.com. The grand-prize winner will be invited to JR Motorsports, where Dale Jr. will personally hand over the keys to the car. Follow the Foundation’s Twitter account @TDJF.

EVENT: U.S. Cellular 250 (250 laps / 218.75 miles)
TRACK: Iowa Speedway
LENGTH: .875-mile oval
DATE: Saturday, Aug. 4, 2012
TV: ESPN2 (Coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. EST)
RADIO: MRN (7:15 p.m. EST)

Danica Patrick - GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
“Last time we raced at Iowa it was probably the most complete short-track weekend that we’ve had as a team. We had a great car and we were confident heading in to the race. But we didn’t get the finish we wanted. The fact that we practiced well, qualified well and raced in the top 15 - until the cut tire - was a real positive sign for the Go Daddy team, especially at a short track.

I don’t think it will make a huge difference racing at night versus our previous race there in the daytime. Obviously, you’ll see the speeds increase. The car does transition through some changes as it’s get cooler and darker. You just need to keep up with it. It’s usually not so far out of the ballpark that you can’t maintain with little adjustments.”

Cole Whitt - Clean Coal Chevrolet
“I think it’s safe to say that everyone on this 88 team has a bit of a fire under them right now. We haven’t had the best luck over the past few weeks. Iowa is a track that we all enjoy, so this will be a great weekend to get our season pointed back in the right direction. We get to race in the evening, and you’ll see the speeds come up once the sun goes down. Once you have a lot of grip, you’ll see guys start putting down fast times. Iowa is a place where you can run hard and race your car, not the track. Plus, final practice is in the early evening, so those conditions will be close to what we’ll race in. That will help a lot. Typically, that’s not how the schedule works. We will do our best to utilize that and make it work to our advantage.”

Notes

PROVE YOU KNOW RACING WITH THE FELLOWS FIVE CHALLENGE - In prepara-tion for Ron Fellows’ return to JRM to drive the No. 5 car at Watkins Glen and Mont-real, JRMracing.com has unveiled an exciting contest dubbed the “Fellows Five Chal-lenge”. Fans can log on here and answer five multiple-choice questions based on Ron’s performance at Watkins Glen and Montreal. Get one question right, and you’re eligible for an autographed prize. Get all five questions right, and you’ll be entered to win a three-day trip to Ron Fellows Performance Driving School in Las Vegas.

ROUND TWO AT IOWA FOR JRM - JR Motorsports returns to Iowa Speedway for the second of its biannual trips to the .875-mile oval. Cole Whitt led four laps and drove to a seventh-place finish in the last out-ing at Iowa. Danica Patrick showcased one of her best short-track efforts of the season before falling victim to a cut tire that ended the team’s day 137 laps early.

IMPROVED QUALIFYING EFFORTS - Patrick posted her best effort qualifying on a short track at Iowa Speedway earlier this season. She drove the Go Daddy Chevrolet to a ninth-place start, eclipsing her previous mark on a short track of 16th at Richmond International Raceway.

THREE OF FOUR FOR CLEAN COAL - The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) is back on board Whitt’s No. 88 Chevrolet in its third of four races as primary sponsor this season. In his most recent start with the Clean Coal Chevrolet at Michigan, Whitt raced to a fourth-place finish. The effort tied his career best in the Nationwide Series. ACCCE is a non-profit, non-partisan partnership of companies involved in producing electricity from coal. ACCCE supports energy policies that bal-ance coal’s vital role in meeting our country’s growing need for affordable and reliable electricity with the need to protect the environment. For more information, visit www.americaspower.org.

ACCCE LAUNCHES AD CAMPGAIN WITH DALE EARNHARDT JR. - On July 30, ACCCE unveiled its new ad campaign fea-turing JRM Co-Owners Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kelley Earnhardt Miller. The ads will run nationally on ESPN and SPEED. Visit ACCCE’s YouTube Channel here to view the spot.

THE COLE AND COAL DISPLAY - Fans at Iowa Speedway will have twice the opportunity to meet Cole Whitt this weekend. He will appear at the Clean Coal Display located in the Iowa Speedway fan concourse area on Friday, Aug. 3, from 2:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. and again on Saturday, Aug. 4, from 5:15 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. local time. Whitt will be signing autographs for fans.

JRM SOCIAL MEDIA - Keep up with JR Motorsports through the team’s @JRMotorsports Twitter account and JR Mo-torsports Facebook page. You can also follow JRM drivers Danica Patrick (@DanicaPatrick), Cole Whitt (@ColeWhitt) and general manager Kelley Earnhardt Miller (@EarnhardtKelley) via Twitter.

CHECK OUT THE RELAUNCHED COLE WHITT WEBSITE - For everything Cole Whitt visit his newly redesigned website at www.colewhitt.com. The expanded site features updated photos, news and videos. View recaps on Cole’s most recent races and learn about his beginnings in go-karts and Sprint Cars, to his transition up the NASCAR ladder as driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports.

MORE PRIZES OFFERED IN WIN DALE JR.’S RIDE RAFFLE - As if a chance to win Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s very own 2011 Chev-rolet Camaro wasn’t enough, The Dale Jr. Foundation just upped the stakes by offering a shot at a pair of VIP race experi-ences and monthly prizes with the purchase of a raffle ticket in the Win Dale Jr.’s Ride promotion. Tickets are only $25. For a complete rundown of the prizes or to purchase a ticket visit www.WinDaleJrsRide.com. The grand-prize winner will be invited to JR Motorsports, where Dale Jr. will personally hand over the keys to the car. Follow the Foundation’s Twitter account @TDJF.

EVENT: Indy 250 (100 laps / 250 miles)
TRACK: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
LENGTH: 2.5-mile oval
DATE: Saturday, July 28, 2012
TV: ESPN (Coverage begins at 4 p.m. EST)

Danica Patrick - GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
“It’s going to feel great to head back to Indian-apolis. I love that place, I really do. I enjoy being there and being inside the track. The one thing that remains the same when I’m driving around Indy is that you always take it seriously. No matter what type of car you’re in. I have so much respect for that place and I always feel ex-tremely focused when I’m there.

I’m looking forward to driving Indianapolis in a stock car. It’s obviously going to be a little slower than in an IndyCar. I have such good memories there, and I feel so good when I come into the track and see the facility. So I think those good and positive emotions can translate into a good weekend. I look forward to seeing the Indi-anapolis fans, too. It should be a fun weekend.”

Cole Whitt - TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet
“Being part of this first Nationwide race at the Brickyard is going to be amazing. I know a lot of peo-ple like the short track, but when it comes to prestige, the two biggest tracks in my book are Indianapolis and Daytona. I lived in Indy for several years when I was running Sprint Cars, so going back there feels a little like a trip home for me.

Winning at Indy would be huge. I want to win everywhere we go, but if I had to pick one, I want to win at Indy more than anywhere. It would be the ultimate. I’ve been to the track a lot but I’ve never had the opportunity to race on it. It’s going to be exciting and a pretty big deal for me to go out there and turn those first few laps during practice.”

INAUGURAL NATIONWIDE SERIES RACE AT THE BRICKYARD - It’s a historic weekend in Nationwide competition as the series turns to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for its inaugural event at the Brickyard. The Sprint Cup Series has been turning laps at the Brickyard since 1994, but this marks the first weekend that Nationwide cars will take to the track.

BREAKING RECORDS AT INDY - Patrick owns a pair of records at the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In 2005, she became the first woman to ever lead the Brickyard’s prestigious event, after leading 19 laps. Patrick also earned the distinc-tion of being the highest-placing female in the Indianapolis 500 with a fourth-place finish in 2005. She would later snap that same record when she crossed the bricks in third-place in 2009.

INDYCAR STATS FOR PATRICK - With seven IndyCar starts to her credit at Indy, Patrick holds an average finish of 8.7 with 29 laps led. Her highest finish was third in 2009 and she placed in the top-10 in all but one of her starts.

A WEALTH OF EXPERIENCE - Despite it being the first race for the Nationwide Series at the Brickyard, Patrick and crew chief Tony Eury Jr. combine to bring the experience of 10 races at the track to the GoDaddy.com team. Eury Jr. has been crew chief in three Sprint Cup Series races, while Patrick has driven seven IndyCar races. The two have completed 1,817 combined laps and 4,542 miles of competition.

SECOND HOME - Whitt’s return to Indianapolis this week will be a bit of a homecoming for the Nationwide Series rookie. Whitt moved from his hometown of Alpine, Calif. to Indianapolis early in his career to drive Sprint Cars. He maintained resi-dence in Indy until he made the trek to North Carolina in an effort to break into NASCAR.

CHEVROLET PRESS CONFERENCE - JR Motorsports co-owners Kelley Earnhardt Miller and Tony Eury Jr., along with drivers Danica Patrick and Cole Whitt will attend a press conference for Chevrolet on Thursday, July 26, 2012, at 10 a.m. EST in the Hospitality Village North Chalet in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway infield.

LIVE NATIONWIDE CHAT FROM INDY INFIELD - Patrick will be featured in this week’s Nationwide chat live from the Indi-anapolis Motor Speedway infield on Friday, July 27, at 2 p.m. EST. Visit NASCAR.com to submit questions for the chat and then watch it live on NASCAR Nationwide Series.com.

PATRICK AND WHITT TO ATTEND NNS AUTOGRAPH SESSION - Patrick and Whitt will participate in the Nationwide Se-ries driver autograph session on Saturday, July 28, from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. EST in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in-field.

MEET COLE WHITT AT JR NATION MERCH HAULER - Beginning at 2:30 p.m. EST on Saturday, July 28, fans can meet Cole Whitt at the JR Nation merchandise hauler at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

JRM SOCIAL MEDIA - Keep up with JR Motorsports through the team’s @JRMotorsports Twitter account and JR Mo-torsports Facebook page. You can also follow JRM drivers Danica Patrick (@DanicaPatrick), Cole Whitt (@ColeWhitt) and general manager Kelley Earnhardt Miller (@EarnhardtKelley) via Twitter.

CHECK OUT THE RELAUNCHED COLE WHITT WEBSITE - For everything Cole Whitt visit his newly redesigned website at www.colewhitt.com. The expanded site features updated photos, news and videos. View recaps on Cole’s most recent races and learn about his beginnings in go-karts and Sprint Cars, to his transition up the NASCAR ladder as driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports.

SECOND CHANCE TO WIN DALE JR.’S RIDE - The Dale Jr. Foundation is raffling off Dale Jr.’s 2011 Chevrolet Camaro. Raf-fle tickets are $25 and only 8,888 will be sold. The winner will be invited to JR Motorsports, where Dale Jr. will personally hand over the keys of the car to the winner. Visit www.WinDaleJrsRide.com for more information and follow the Foundation’s Twitter account @TDJF.

EVENT: STP 300 (200 laps / 300 miles)
TRACK: Chicagoland Speedway
LENGTH: 1.5-mile tri-oval
DATE: Sunday, July 22, 2012
TV: ESPN (Coverage begins at 2 p.m. EST)
RADIO: MRN (2:45 p.m. EST)

Danica Patrick - GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
“I’m definitely getting better overall. My pace is getting faster every weekend. I remember hoping that I would be in the top 20 in practice. Now, I’m in the top 10 and hop-ing I can be top five or quickest. Practice and qualifying are getting much better. Good qualifying results help a lot during the race. I like seeing improvement.

I think we just need to transition from a car that’s com-fortable for me, to a car that I deal with and can be fast through the whole run. Right now, it feels like I can be fast at the beginning or end of a run. I just need to put all three parts of the run together - beginning, middle and end.

Our season is coming along. We’re working on things like qualifying, restarts and getting faster all the time. Everything is about finding improvement.”

Cole Whitt - TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet
“I’m glad to be getting back to a mile-and-a-half track. I don’t have a ton of experience at Chicagoland, but I think our TaxSlayer team has put a lot of work into the mile-and-a-half program. At Kentucky a couple weeks ago, we had a good piece but had to pit for fuel right before the end because we were off pit sequence. The car was fast though and that’s the car we are bringing to Chicago.

The guys have done a solid job at the shop and we have unloaded well over the past few weeks. That’s really important. The better your car when you unload, the more time you have to fine tune on it dur-ing practice. If you don’t unload well, you end up chasing the car a lot and spending a lot of time trying to get it right.”

Notes

HOME SWEET HOME - Danica Patrick will race in front off her hometown crowd this weekend in Chicagoland. The 30-year-old hails from nearby Roscoe, Ill., a 90-mile trip northwest of downtown Chicago. The track was the site of Patrick’s third-career pole in IndyCar competition, where she holds six starts with an average finish of 10.8.

PATRICK’S TOP 10 UPDATE - Patrick is currently ranked ninth in Nationwide Series driver points. Patrick’s position makes her the all-time highest ranked female in NNS competition this late into the season. She has retained a top-10 position in points during seven of the season’s first 17 races.

PATRICK LOOKS TO CONTINUE 1.5-MILE SUCCESS - Patrick earned her second career top-10 finish in the Chicagoland event last summer. Additionally, all but one of her career top-10 efforts have come at high-banked 1.5-mile facilities (Chicagoland, Las Vegas, Texas). She is averaging a finish of 11.3 at 1.5-mile tracks in 2012.

RECENT SUCCESS IN THE WINDY CITY - JR Motorsports rides a streak of success into Chicagoland Speedway. In the two Nationwide Series races at the 1.5-mile facility in 2011, JRM team cars amassed two top-five and four top-10 finishes. The company’s average finish at the track last year was 6.3.

CHECK OUT THE RELAUNCHED COLE WHITT WEBSITE - For everything Cole Whitt, visit his newly-redesigned website at www.colewhitt.com. The expanded site features updated photos, news and videos. View recaps on Cole’s most recent races and learn about his beginnings in go-karts and Sprint Cars, to his transition up the NASCAR ladder as driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports.

PATRICK AND WHITT TO ATTEND NNS AUTOGRAPH SESSION - Patrick and Whitt will participate in the Nationwide Se-ries driver autograph session on Saturday, July 21, from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. local time in Champion’s Park located in the fan con-course area.

JRM SOCIAL MEDIA - Keep up with JR Motorsports through the team’s @JRMotorsports Twitter account and JR Mo-torsports Facebook page. You can also follow JRM drivers Danica Patrick (@DanicaPatrick), Cole Whitt (@ColeWhitt) and General Manager Kelley Earnhardt Miller (@EarnhardtKelley) via Twitter.

SECOND CHANCE TO WIN DALE JR.’S RIDE - The Dale Jr. Foundation is raffling off Dale Jr.’s 2011 Chevrolet Camaro. Raf-fle tickets are $25 and only 8,888 will be sold. The winner will be invited to JR Motorsports, where Dale Jr. will personally hand over the keys of the car to the winner. Visit www.WinDaleJrsRide.com for more information and follow the Foundation’s Twitter account @TDJF.

NASHVILLE, TN -- As her new single "Fastest Girl In Town" is racing up the charts, Miranda Lambert recently called on some new friends to join her in the music video which was shot a few weeks ago.

Miranda's partner in crime is NASCAR driver Danica Patrick. "Danica was the person I thought of immediately when I envisioned the video. We had so much fun playing two bad ass chicks up to no good," she laughs. "Danica has a really busy schedule, and I'm thrilled she was able to take time to come to Tennessee and be a part of this."

Also along for the ride is famed actor W. Earl Brown, co-star of HBO's Deadwood and upcoming film The Lone Ranger with Johnny Depp. Among over 90 films to his credit, he is well-known for his role as the brother of Cameron Diaz in There's Something About Mary. "Earl is a true character, and he brings so much charisma and authenticity to his scenes," tells Miranda.

Directed by CMA Award winner Trey Fanjoy, "Fastest Girl In Town" is completely narrative; it's the first Miranda video with no vocal performance scenes. "I really get to act in the video. We have live sound and action scenes which feel more like a mini-movie than a music video," shares Miranda.

EVENT: F.W. Webb 200 (200 laps / 211.6 miles)
TRACK: New Hampshire Motor Speedway
LENGTH: 1.058-mile oval
DATE: Saturday, July 14, 2012
TV: ESPN (Coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. EST)
RADIO: PRN (3:30 p.m. EST)

Danica Patrick - GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
“It’s kind of amazing to think that I don’t even notice it has been half a year of racing already. It does go quick. I like racing every weekend, actually. A weekend off makes me feel like I’ve been away for a really long time, even though that’s what I was used to IndyCar. I enjoy the schedule. To be honest, it’s everything else that keeps me really busy. It’s the stuff outside of the car that gets a little relentless at times.

I feel good on the year thus far. I think that the last two years served as a good starting ground for a busier schedule. I did 30 races through the past two years and now I’m doing 34 weekends. It’s not that much more, so I feel like it’s been a good transition.”

Cole Whitt - TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet
“Last week I had one of the best superspeedway cars I’ve ever driven. It’s disappointing we didn’t have any-thing to show for it at the end of the race. But it does show how much our team is coming together. We’ve had some bad luck over the past couple weeks, but we know we’re a top 10 team and we’re working on be-coming a top five team, so that’s our goal moving for-ward.

Loudon really isn’t one of my favorite tracks. I’m much more comfortable on the faster tracks with more banking. But that’s what makes the Nationwide schedule unique, the fact that you go to a variety of tracks. I do have some experience there in the trucks and the K&N Series, so the track’s not new to me, it’s just not one of my favorites.”

Notes

A PAIR OF TOP-FIVES - JR Motorsports finished last year’s race in New Hampshire by placing both its No. 88 and 7 team cars inside the top five. The effort marked the first time JRM teammates earned top fives in the Loudon event.

SITE OF SECOND POLE - JR Motorsports earned its second organizational pole at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on June 28, 2008, with the No. 5 team. It was the second of the company’s seven career poles.

PATRICK RETURNS TO LOUDON - Patrick takes to New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the first time since her 13-race rookie campaign in 2010. She made only her fourth Nationwide start at the track, where she finished 30th after tangling with a competitor on the race’s seventh circuit.

WHITT’S K&N EFFORTS AT THE MAGIC MILE - Whitt owns one top-five and one top-10 finish in two K&N Pro Series East starts at New Hampshire. His average start is 7.0 and he’s led 15 laps in those two events.

DASH 4 CASH ROUND ONE - If drivers Danica Patrick and Cole Whitt are among the four highest finishing Nationwide Se-ries regulars at Loudon, they could be eligible for the second round of the Dash 4 Cash program. Dash 4 Cash is an on-track bonus program that rewards the highest finishing Nationwide Series regular in each of the next four consecutives races (New Hampshire, Chicagoland, Indianapolis and Iowa) with $100,000 bonus. It creates the potential for a $1 million payout to a single driver should they sweep all four of the program’s events. For a complete breakdown on the program and eligibility requirements visit www.nascar.com/dash4cash.

WHITT AUTOGRAPH SESSION - Whitt will sign autographs at the JR Nation merchandise hauler, located in the fan con-course area, beginning at 1 p.m. EST on Saturday, July 14.

JRM SOCIAL MEDIA - Follow everything JR Motorsports through the team’s @JRMotorsports Twitter account and JR Mo-torsports Facebook page. You can also follow JRM drivers Danica Patrick (@DanicaPatrick), Cole Whitt (@ColeWhitt) and General Manager Kelley Earnhardt Miller (@EarnhardtKelley) via Twitter.

SECOND CHANCE TO WIN DALE JR.’S RIDE - The Dale Jr. Foundation is raffling off Dale Jr.’s 2011 Chevrolet Camaro. Raf-fle tickets are $25 and only 8,888 will be sold. The winner will be invited to JR Motorsports, where Dale Jr. will personally hand over the keys of the car to the winner. Visit www.WinDaleJrsRide.com for more information and follow the Foundation’s Twitter account @TDJF.

KANNAPOLIS, N.C., (July 10, 2012) – Danica Patrick will compete in the Oct. 21 Hollywood Casino 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at the newly-paved Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan.

Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet for Tommy Baldwin Racing via a collaborative agreement with Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), will benefit from an extra day of practice, scheduled for the Thursday before the race weekend due to the 1.5-mile oval being resurfaced since the Sprint Cup Series’ last visit to Kansas in April.

“With the testing rules the way they are, we can’t test with her at tracks where NASCAR’s top three series compete,” said Greg Zipadelli, SHR competition director and race strategist for Patrick. “That extra day of testing will be huge for her. With the amount of 1.5-mile ovals on the schedule, it made sense to have her compete at Kansas to better prepare her for 2013.”

The addition of Kansas Speedway completes Patrick’s 10-race Sprint Cup schedule for 2012, which includes upcoming races at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway Aug. 25, Atlanta Motor Speedway Sept. 2, Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., Sept. 16, Dover (Del.) International Speedway Sept. 30, Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth Nov. 4 and Phoenix International Raceway Nov. 11.

Patrick made her Sprint Cup debut in the season-opening Daytona 500 Feb. 27 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway and has since competed in the Southern 500 May 12 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway and the Coca-Cola 600 May 27 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway.

Patrick is no stranger to Kansas Speedway. She scored her first career IZOD IndyCar Series pole in July 2005 and qualified third or better in three of her six starts at Kansas. She also had three top-10 finishes at Kansas in IndyCar Series competition. Her lone NASCAR Nationwide Series start at Kansas came in October 2011 when she started 15^th and finished 15^th.

“I’ve always liked racing at Kansas Speedway,” Patrick said. “I think the extra day of testing will be very beneficial, not only to prepare for the race weekend, but to learn for the rest of 2012 and looking ahead to 2013 with Stewart-Haas Racing. The more track time I can get, the better, so I’m happy to be driving the GoDaddy.com Chevy at Kansas.”

Race 16 of 33: Subway Jalapeno 250 at Daytona International Speedway
Track Specs: 2.5-mile tri-oval / 100 laps
Weather: Clear; 81 deg.
Race Winner: Kurt Busch
Whitt’s finish: 29th
Patrick’s finish: 31st

After a strong start misfortune found Danica Patrick and Cole Whitt in the form of separate accidents, which took both JR Motorsports cars out of contention in Friday night’s Subway Jalapeno 250 at Daytona International Speedway. Whitt drove a steady race in the No. 88 Degree MEN Chevrolet, leading once for three laps. He was caught in a massive 14-car pileup on lap 66 that sent the team to the garage for extensive repairs. Whitt returned his damaged car to the track and limped home to a 29th-place finish. Patrick saw another solid showing in the GoDaddy.com/ NASCAR Unites – An American Salute Chevrolet disappear. Rarely falling outside the top five, she led five times for 13 laps before making evasive maneuvers to avoid a wreck on lap 83. The reaction sent her across a competitor’s front bumper and resulted in hard impact with the inside retaining wall, abruptly ending the No. 7 team’s night with a finish of 31st.

Cole Whitt, driver No. 88 Degree MEN team
“This certainly wasn’t the finish we hoped for with our Degree MEN Chevrolet. I felt like we had a good race going up to that point. We got shuffled around a little bit, but we led laps. These types of races are just a wildcard sometimes. It’s unfortunate we got caught up in someone else’s wreck. There was just nowhere for us to go, running in a pack like that. I’ve got to thank all the guys on this 88 team. They worked real hard to get us back out after the wreck and they did a great job.”

Danica Patrick, driver No. 7 GoDaddy.com / NASCAR Unites – An American Salute team
“It’s just a bummer. The Go Daddy car was really fast. I feel bad for (crew chief) Tony Jr. I was disappointed and I could hear the disappointment in his voice after the accident. I thought we were going to win tonight. It felt like the IndyCar days when you’re close to a win and it’s frustrating when it doesn’t happen. There was an accident happening in front of me and the best thing you can do is try to get around it. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out for us tonight.”

EVENT: Subway Jalapeno 250 (100 laps / 250 miles)
TRACK: Daytona International Speedway
LENGTH: 2.5-mile tri-oval
DATE: Friday, July 6, 2012
TV: ESPN (Coverage begins at 7 p.m. EST)
RADIO: MRN (7:15 p.m. EST)

Danica Patrick - GoDaddy.com / NASCAR Unites - An American Salute
“I’m just glad I can go to a place like Daytona in a stock car and have it be a place where I run competitively and run well. I think for me at this point, Daytona is the first track that I’m going to have a good opportunity at. It’s pack racing. It’s very fast. You don’t lift off the throt-tle and it’s also the most like IndyCar racing. That is what IndyCar racing is like at anything bigger than one-mile.

It’s going to be a fun weekend of racing sur-rounding the Fourth of July. We’re changing up the Go Daddy car a bit for this race and you won’t see the typical Go Daddy green. We’re going with a red, white and blue theme as part of the NASCAR Unites program. The Go Daddy car will look a lot different under the lights. It’s for a great cause and our way of saying thank you to all the service members and their families.”

Cole Whitt - Degree MEN Chevrolet
“We’ve done a good job staying out of trouble during the first two restrictor-plate races so hopefully we can keep that going this weekend. More so than with other tracks, luck has a lot to do with where you finish at Daytona. You’ve got to have a good, strong car, but the wrecks can happen anywhere. I’m of the opinion that if you’re trying to position yourself to avoid the big wreck, you’re overthinking it.

I think we just try to get to the front and stay there. Typically if you can lead laps and position your-self in the top five, the rest will take care of itself. Plus we’re going to do our best to qualify for the Dash 4 Cash program, and you’re going to have to be up front to do that. It really is a cool program and great incentive for the series regulars. It’ll be fun.”

Notes

PATRIOTIC COLORS FOR DANICA AND GO DADDY - The familiar green Go Daddy Chevrolet will take on a special patriotic look this weekend at Daytona. The No. 7 car is part of the “NASCAR Unites - An American Salute” program, a six-week patriotic initiative uniting the NASCAR industry and fans this summer to celebrate America and support U.S. military families. The paint scheme features the American flag and is pre-dominately white with red and blue detailing. Visit www.nascar.com/unites for more details on the program.

GREEN FLAG FOR NATIONWIDE’S DASH 4 CASH PROGRAM - The Dash 4 Cash program begins this weekend with the Daytona event being used as a qualifier for the four-week shootout. Dash 4 Cash is an on-track bonus program that rewards the highest finishing Nationwide Series regular in each of the next four consecutive races (New Hampshire, Chicagoland, Indianapolis and Iowa) with a $100,000 bonus. It creates the potential for a $1 million payout to a single driver should they sweep all four events. For a complete breakdown on the program and eligibility re-quirements visit www.nascar.com/dash4cash.

JRM AT DAYTONA 2011 RECAP - Patrick worked well in the tandem draft at Daytona last summer, with both the 7 and the 88 Chevrolets clear-cut contenders throughout the evening. Patrick took the lead with two laps to go with a push from the 88 car, but her chance for victory was ruined by a multi-car accident within sight of the checkered flag. As a result, the 88 and 7 machines finished ninth and 10th, respectively.

EARNHARDT JR. AND WHITT ON ESPN’S COUNTDOWN SHOW - Don’t miss an exclusive sit-down interview with JRM Co -Owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. and driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet Cole Whitt during the NNS Countdown show, airing at 7 p.m. EST on Friday, July 6, on ESPN.

PATRICK LEADS AT DAYTONA - Of Patrick’s laps led in Nationwide Series competition, 73% (16 of 22) have come at Day-tona International Speedway. It was also the site of her first NASCAR pole last spring.

WHITT’S RESTRICTOR PLATE RECORD - With only two restrictor-plate races to his credit this season, Whitt has top-five finishes in both events. He finished fourth at both Daytona and Talladega earlier this year.

WHITT TO APPEAR ON TRACKSIDE - Cole Whitt will be a guest on SPEED’s “Trackside” on Thursday, July 5, at 8 p.m. EST. Whitt will join host Krista Voda along with Kyle Petty and Rutlege Wood on SPEED’s at-track variety talk show.

COLE WHITT TO VISIT WINN DIXIE IN ORMOND BEACH - Whitt will sign autographs for race fans on behalf of the Degree MEN and Hellmann’s brands from 10-11 a.m. EST on Thursday, July 5, at the Winn Dixie (store #2309), located at 353 West Granada Blvd., Ormond Beach, Fla. The event is open to the public.

AT-TRACK AUTOGRAPH SESSIONS - Whitt will sign autographs at the JR Nation merchandise hauler, located in the fan concourse area, beginning at 5:30 p.m. EST on Friday, July 6.

JRM SOCIAL MEDIA - Follow everything JR Motorsports through the team’s @JRMotorsports Twitter account and JR Mo-torsports Facebook page. You can also follow JRM drivers Danica Patrick (@DanicaPatrick), Cole Whitt (@ColeWhitt) and General Manager Kelley Earnhardt Miller (@EarnhardtKelley) via Twitter.

SECOND CHANCE TO WIN DALE JR.’S RIDE - The Dale Jr. Foundation is raffling off Dale Jr.’s 2011 Chevrolet Camaro. Raf-fle tickets are $25 and only 8,888 will be sold. The winner will be invited to JR Motorsports, where Dale Jr. will personally hand over the keys of the car to the winner. Visit www.WinDaleJrsRide.com for more information and follow the Foundation’s Twitter account @TDJF.

Race 15 of 33: Feed the Children 300 at Kentucky Speedway
Track Specs: 1.5-mile tri-oval / 200 laps
Weather: Clear; 85 deg.
Race Winner: Austin Dillon
Patrick’s finish: 12th
Whitt’s finish: 14th

Danica Patrick’s 12th-place finish led the JR Motorsports teams to a pair of top-15 finishes in Friday night’s Feed the Children 300 at Kentucky Speedway. Making her stock car debut at the track, Patrick settled into a spot in the top half of the field and solidly maintained until the checkered flag fell. Patrick’s effort in the Go Daddy Chevrolet netted the team its seventh top 15 of the season. Cole Whitt saw a sure top 10 fizzle when the Degree MEN team pitted for fuel 12 laps shy of the finish. The team struggled through radio issues early in the race that forced the 88 off pit sequence with the leaders and created the shortage on its fuel window.

Danica Patrick, driver No. 7 GoDaddy.com team
“We made the most of our weekend. Our qualifying run was a little better than where we had practiced. But in the race it was one thing or another. When the balance was okay, our Go Daddy car didn’t seem like it was down in the track. It made the night a little frustrating. I felt like I couldn’t get any more out of it. I guess we just have a few things to work on and think about for next week.”

Cole Whitt, driver No. 88 Degree MEN team
“Things didn’t end up the way we had hoped tonight. Our Degree MEN car was a little loose for the start of the race. We were going to take two tires on that first pit stop, but Bruce (Cook) called for four. We were having radio problems and I didn’t hear him change the call, so I took off after they changed two. That’s what put us off pit sequence with everyone else.

“Even after all that we still had a chance at a top-10 finish. We just needed a caution in the last 25 laps. It didn’t happen. It’s a shame, but we’ll learn and move on to Daytona next week.”

EVENT: Feed the Children 300 (200 laps / 300 miles)
TRACK: Kentucky Speedway
LENGTH: 1.5-mile tri-oval
DATE: Friday, June 29, 2012
TV: ESPN2 (Coverage begins at 7 p.m. EST)
RADIO: PRN (7 p.m. EST)

Danica Patrick - GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
“For me, I feel like as my speed has come up and the fact that I’m racing further up the grid, I’m racing against new people now. I’ve said it from the very begin-ning when I first came into NASCAR, you’ve got to earn the respect from the folks you’re driving around. I feel like I’m racing against different drivers now. It’s just a matter of finding the limits with each other and earning that respect. That’s what I’m working on doing.

I’m far more interested in overall pace and learn-ing at this point than I am about the exact result. The results will end up coming when I put it all together. We were almost able to do that last weekend at Road Amer-ica. We were poised for a strong finish and it just didn’t happen. We’ll keep on trying. Overall, pace and learning are what the focus is right now.”

Cole Whitt - Degree MEN Chevrolet
“We’ve put together some good points races over the past couple of weeks. Looking ahead to Ken-tucky, that’s something our Degree Men team wants to continue doing. We came out in those first few races of the season and ran well. Then from around Bristol through Richmond we really struggled. I think our team is at the point now where we can consis-tently run in the top 10, so we want to improve on that. It’s cool to see us gaining some ground and see-ing growth in the team. I think there is a lot of posi-tive chemistry within our group. We have some great guys on the team and I really enjoy working with them. Bruce (Cook) and I are on the same page with the feel we need in the car and that’s a good place to be.”
 

Notes

RED, WHITE AND BLUE FOR DEGREE MEN - Degree Men is on board Cole Whitt’s Chevrolet this weekend at Kentucky for the first of three races with the 88 team in 2012. The car will feature patriotic-themed colors in conjunction with the “NASCAR Unites - An American Salute” program, a six week patriotic initiative uniting the NAS-CAR industry and fans this summer to celebrate America and support U.S. military families.

KENTUCKY IN-RACE REPORTER - Whitt will serve as the ESPN In-Race reporter for this weekend’s Feed the Children 300 at Kentucky Speedway. Crew chief Bruce Cook will also give his thoughts from atop the No. 88 team’s pit box.

WHITT TO MAKE KENTUCKY WALMART APPEARANCE - Whitt will appear at the Walmart in Carrollton, Ky. to sign auto-graphs for fans on Thursday, June 28, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. EST on behalf of Unilever, Degree Men and the Hellmann’s brands.

TEAM JRM SEASON STATS - The JRM teams have combined to score six top-five and 11 top-10 finishes to date in 2012 with drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ron Fellows, Danica Patrick and rookie Cole Whitt. The teams have also earned one pole and led 58 laps on the season.

STRONG SEVEN FOR WHITT - Two of Whitt’s three top-fives and five of his seven top-10s on the year have been earned in the past seven races (Talladega through Road America). During that time, Whitt has secured an average finish of 10.9 and accumulated 235 points.

ONE OF FOUR FOR PATRICK - Kentucky Speedway is one of only four tracks on the current 33-race Nationwide Series schedule where Patrick has yet to make a stock car start. The other three facilities include Atlanta Motor Speedway, Indian-apolis Motor Speedway and Watkins Glen International.

INDYCAR STRENGTH - Patrick is making her stock car debut at Kentucky, but she has raced there seven times in IndyCar competition, with top-10 finishes in four of those events. The speedway was also the site of her second-career pole. Patrick’s average finish at the facility is 11.1.

INTERMEDIATE UPDATE - Patrick earned her season-best finish of eighth at the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway earlier this season. Of her 12 career top-15 showings, all but one have come at tracks 1.5-miles in length or larger.

JRM SOCIAL MEDIA - Follow everything JR Motorsports through the team’s @JRMotorsports Twitter account and JR Mo-torsports Facebook page. You can also follow JRM drivers Danica Patrick (@DanicaPatrick), Cole Whitt (@ColeWhitt) and General Manager Kelley Earnhardt Miller (@EarnhardtKelley) via Twitter.

SECOND CHANCE TO WIN DALE JR.’S RIDE - The Dale Jr. Foundation is raffling off Dale Jr.’s 2011 Chevrolet Camaro. Raf-fle tickets are $25 and only 8,888 will be sold. The winner will be invited to JR Motorsports, where Dale Jr. will personally hand over the keys of the car to the winner. Visit www.WinDaleJrsRide.com for more information and follow the Foundation’s Twitter account @TDJF.

Race 14 of 33: Sargento 200 at Road America
Track Specs: 4.058-mile road course / 50 laps
Weather: Cloudy; 75 deg.
Race Winner: Nelson Piquet, Jr.
Fellows’ finish: 3rd
Whitt’s finish: 9th
Patrick’s finish: 12th

Ron Fellows’ third-place finish in the No. 5 AER Manufacturing Chevrolet capped a strong effort by all three JR Motorsports teams in Saturday’s Sargento 200 at Road America. Fellows overcame a flat tire on lap nine, which forced him down pit road, and relegated the team to 25th-place. Fellows quickly gained ground, drove back inside the top-10 and methodically picked off positions until he claimed third place. He mounted a charge on the second-place car of Michael McDowell on the last lap, but ran out time to complete the pass. Danica Patrick was a frontrunner from the drop of the green flag, piecing together a strong showing in the No. 7. She was racing hard for fourth position with the 22 of Jacques Villeneuve on the last lap, when Villeneuve made contact with the bumper of the Go Daddy machine. The incident sent Patrick careening off course and into a gravel trap. She finished 12th. Cole Whitt had a solid but quiet race in his Road America debut. Whitt drove as high as fourth in the VooDoo Ride Chevrolet and finished the day in ninth.

Ron Fellows, driver No. 5 AER Manufacturing team
“My heart sank when I knew we had that flat tire. Fortunately, I was able to limp the car around, but I thought for sure we were going to go a lap down. Somehow we managed to stay on the lead lap and work our way back up toward the front. We had a good race there with Michael (McDowell) at the end and that was a lot of fun. But neither of us had anything for Nelson (Piquet, Jr.).

“I’ve got to thank AER, Canadian Tire and everyone at JR Motorsports. It has been great fun driving for Dale Jr. and Rick Hendrick at Road America. This is a great facility and it’s neat to come here and be able to run so well.”

Cole Whitt, driver No. 88 VooDoo Ride team
“We did what we came here to do. We didn’t get caught up in anyone else’s mess, kept all VooDoo Ride Chevrolet on the track and out of trouble for the entire day. At the end of it, we managed a top-10 finish. That’s what we were hoping for today.”

Danica Patrick, driver No. 7 GoDaddy.com team
“I’ll start with the positive. We ran in the top-five all day. I took the lead for a brief moment. Then I learned my lesson down in turn five when you try to get a little more out of the brake zone. The bummer is that we weren’t able to finish that off and finish with a top-five like we all deserved. The guys did a great job in the pits. They were awesome. Tony Jr. gave me a great Go Daddy car. We’ve been running better, we just haven’t been able close the deal.

“I think everyone saw what happened with the 22. You can make a decision for yourself. I wasn’t going to just give him the position. He was going to have to race me for it and he wasn’t able to do that cleanly. So it is what it is.”

EVENT: Sargento 200 (50 laps / 202.4 miles)
TRACK: Road America
LENGTH: 4.048-mile 14-turn road course
DATE: Saturday, June 23, 2012
TV: ESPN (Coverage begins at 3 p.m. EST)
RADIO: MRN (3:15 p.m. EST)
 

Danica Patrick - GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
“I’m of the opinion that expectations shouldn’t always equal results. It’s not about what everyone thinks should be done. It’s about how my team and I are working together, what we hope for and what our goals are. Expectations are just a point of conversation.

Obviously, we want to keep improving on the things we’ve done, and we will. That’s just going to take time. I could go through all the things that I think have been better over the years - and there are quite a few of them. Instead of getting upset about the individual weekends and results, it’s better to think about what you’ve improved on, and the things you need to improve on moving forward, so your results keep getting better.”

Cole Whitt - VooDoo Ride Chevrolet
“I’m not sure what to expect this week-end. Sometimes it’s difficult to establish clear goals when it’s track new to me. I know we want to have a strong finish. A lot of the guys say that half the battle is just keeping all four tires on the track.

Our team was lucky to go testing last month with Ron (Fellows). He is a great road course racer and an excellent teacher. As a rookie, I’m very thankful that he is running for our team this weekend. He is very open and willing to help. All you have to do is ask.

It’s neat to be running the VooDoo Ride paint scheme on our car this weekend. It’s probably one of the coolest looking cars I’ve driven. I think the matte black finish looks good and what’s not to like about a green skull on the hood?”

Ron Fellows - AER Manufacturing Chevrolet
“I have been fortunate enough to finish second at both Road America races over the last two years. But it is no secret that last year was much more disappointing (see RA 2011 recap note).

Given the situation in hindsight, I know NASCAR made the right call with the finish. We don't have to like it, but it's over and done with. My wife had joked that I wasn't going to be able to keep the Harley Davidson motorcycle for winning last year anyway.

But we're back with yet another oppor-tunity with JRM and AER Manufacturing. I’m hopeful that the third time really is a charm. If we can improve one position from our finish last year, we’ll have this thing won. That sounds a lot easier than it’s going to be.”

Notes

FELLOWS BACK WITH JRM FOR THREE RACES - Accomplished road racer Ron Fel-lows will return to the seat of the No. 5 Chevrolet this weekend at Road America. A native of Windsor, Ontario, Canada, Fellows has scored one win (Circuit Gilles Ville-neuve 2008), four top-five and six top-10 finishes in nine career races with JRM. Fellows will also drive JRM’s third entry in races at Watkins Glen International (Watkins Glen, N.Y.) on Aug. 11, and Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (Montreal, Quebec, Can-ada) on Aug. 18.

ROAD AMERICA 2011 RECAP - Ron Fellows had a win in hand in the final laps of last year’s event at Road America. But a NASCAR ruling after the race was over forced Fellows to surrender the victory since his pass of Reed Sorenson happened just as the caution came out. Sorenson was declared the winner and Fellows finished sec-ond.

FELLOWS AT ROAD AMERICA - Fellows has finished second in both of his career Nationwide starts at the 14-turn road course. His average start is 8.5 and he has led six laps at the facility.

FELLOWS AND POPS COMBO - Fellows will be paired with veteran crew chief Tony “Pops” Eury Sr. for his three road course races with JR Motorsports this season. The duo worked together in 2010, racing the No. 88 Chevrolet to one top-five and two top-10 finishes in three races. Their average finish was 12.6.

FELLOWS IN NNS COMPETITION - Fellows’ Nationwide Series history goes back 15 years to 1997. In his 21 career races, he scored four wins, nine top-five, and 12 top-10 finishes. Fellows earned two poles, led 215 laps, and had an average finish of 15.0 with an average start of 8.0.

JACK OF ALL TRADES - A longtime sports car and road-racing veteran, Fellows is credited with three class championships in the American Le Mans Series, two class wins in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and 19 overall victories in the Sports Car Club of America's Trans-Am Series as a member of the Corvette Racing Team. His NASCAR credentials include six overall wins (two in the Camping World Truck Series), and two runner-up finishes in Sprint Cup competition.

HAPPY 21ST BIRTHDAY TO WHITT - Whitt turns 21 on Friday, June 22, 2012 and will spend the day participating in a pair of practice sessions leading up to the 50-lap race at Road America on Saturday. Impressively, Whitt has earned the following racing accolades prior to turning 21: one of the few drivers to have raced in all three of NASCAR’s top touring series (Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World) before the age of 21...became the youngest USAC National Champion in history in 2008...named Hoosier Sprint Car rookie of the year in 2006...earned eight International Karting Federation champion-ships...drove to two World Karting Association Grand National Championships.

NNS FIRST FOR WHITT - Rookie Cole Whitt is preparing for his first Nationwide Series start at a road course. He competed in one road course race at Lime Rock Park in the K&N Pro Series East during the 2010 season. Whitt qualified second and led 12 laps prior to earning a second-place finish.

VOODOO ON THE 88 CHEVROLET – Whitt’s No. 88 Chevrolet features the VooDoo Ride paint scheme this weekend at Road America. The black scheme showcases VooDoo Ride’s chilling skull logo on its hood and quarter panels. VooDoo Ride is a car care and lifestyle company co-founded by Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2007. Visit its website at www.voodooride.com to see its vast array of car care products.

AER MANUFACTURING BACK FOR THIRD YEAR WITH JRM - AER Manufacturing, a world leader in the engine remanufac-turing industry for more than 60 years, will serve as the primary sponsor of the No. 5 Chevrolet this weekend. The company has been a supporter of Fellows for 22 years in the Trans Am Series, NASCAR and the American Le Mans Series. Fellows drove an AER-branded JRM Chevrolet at Road America in 2010 and 2011.

SECOND ATTEMPT FOR DP - Patrick makes her second NASCAR start at a road course, but first at Road America this week-end. Her previous start came at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in 2011, where she qualified 25th. Patrick looked to be on the cusp of a top-15, but succumbed to brake issues and finished 24th.

Race 13 of 33: Alliance Truck Parts 250 at Michigan International Speedway
Track Specs: 2-mile oval / 125 laps
Weather: Sunny; 88 deg.
Race Winner: Joey Logano
Whitt’s finish: 4th
Patrick’s finish: 18th

Cole Whitt led twice for 10 laps and finished fourth to pace the JR Motorsports teams in Saturday’s Alliance Truck Parts 250 at Michigan International Speedway. Whitt took his starting spot from the outside pole and positioned the No. 88 Clean Coal Chevrolet solidly among the top-10 through the 125-lap race. With a car that was strong on restarts, Whitt took advantage of two late-race cautions and cracked the top-five, earning the team’s third top-five of the season and rookie of the race honors. Danica Patrick’s GoDaddy.com / KickStartAmerica.US machine was fast from the time it unloaded. Patrick also led a lap during green-flag pit stop cycles and drove the No. 7 to eighth until a spin with 12 laps remaining relegated the team to an 18th-place finish.

Cole Whitt, driver No. 88 Clean Coal team
“It was definitely a good race for our Clean Coal team. We were fast all weekend and I felt like we had our car trimmed out for good speed. It paid off. We were real fast by ourselves, but we struggled a little bit in the pack. It was a little wild out there at the end and it was a lot of fun. We were able to run up front until Austin (Dillon) got me loose down in turn one when we were leading. He figured out real quick that was the easy way to get around people.

“We had good restarts all day, too. Our car was strong on restarts. The last [restart], I just didn’t get the best start I could and gave up a spot. It would have been awesome to be up there fighting for the win, but for our team, we’re still seeing progress. Hopefully if we keep going at this rate we’ll be up there contending for wins.”

Danica Patrick, driver No. 7 GoDaddy.com / KickStartAmerica.US Chevrolet team
“I got up a little bit into the gray on that first lap down in turns three and four. I got too high and the car came around on me. We just continued logging laps after that. Those restarts were tough. When I was in traffic I was getting tight and loose, so I was chasing it a lot. On my own I was okay and the car was really fast.

“I’m bummed about the finish. The positive note is that we qualified well. We were a top-10 car from the spin on lap one. At one point, we drove back up to eighth. So there are a lot of positives today.”

EVENT: Alliance Truck Parts 250 (125 laps / 250 miles)
TRACK: Michigan International Speedway\
LENGTH: 2-mile oval
DATE: Saturday, June 16, 2012
TV: ABC (Coverage begins at 3:30 p.m. EST)
RADIO: MRN (3:15 p.m. EST)

Danica Patrick - GoDaddy.com / KickStartAmerica.US Chevrolet
“It was nice to have a weekend off before we get into the thick of the races during these summer months. We haven’t been able to put a string of solid finishes to-gether with our Go Daddy car this year. It seems like one week we’ll have a good run, and then the next we’ll have some bad luck or get caught up in something. You can’t always avoid things like that. It’s racing so sometimes things are going to happen that are out of your control.

The guys do a great job of bringing good cars to the track. And I’ve seen a lot of improvement in myself through practice and qualifying. I think it’s just a matter of putting together an entire weekend. Practice, qualify-ing and the race.”

Cole Whitt - Clean Coal Chevrolet
“We’re coming off a couple of races where our results could have been a lot better. Fortunately, we had a week to get everything in order and we’re look-ing forward to turning our performance around at Michigan this weekend. This is the beginning of a long stretch of races, so it’s going to be important that we start putting consistent finishes together again.

I’m excited about our car this week. It’s the same car we had a Darlington and it was a good piece. It had a lot of speed during practice but we had a mis-hap in qualifying and had to roll out the backup car, so we never got to see how it raced.”

Notes

JRM AT MICHIGAN - JR Motorsports teams have scored top-10 finishes in half of its races at Michigan International raceway (five top-10s in 10 events). The team also led its first laps in Nationwide Series competition at the facility in 2006 (Robby Gordon) and scored its seventh career victory there in 2009 (Brad Keselowski).

STRING OF SUCCESS – In its first seven races at Michigan (2006-10), JR Motorsports finished seventh or better in all but two events (and no worse than 13th). It was a hot start for the upstart company at the two-mile facility, and it was capped with a victory in 2009 by Brad Keselowski in the No. 88 GoDaddy.com car. Keselowski, a Michigan native, was in third on the last lap when he made a three-wide pass of Brian Vickers and Kyle Busch to win. Vickers and Busch had combined to lead 110 of 125 laps that day. Keselowski led only three but was the driver to hoist the trophy.

CHASSIS INFO FOR WHITT - The 88 team brings chassis number 626 for Whitt at Michigan. Whitt drove this chassis at Bris-tol and the team unloaded it Darlington earlier this year.

THE COAL AND COLE SHOW - Michigan is the second of four races with The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) as primary sponsor of Cole Whitt’s No. 88 Chevrolet. ACCCE is a non-profit, non-partisan partnership of companies involved in producing electricity from coal. ACCCE supports energy policies that balance coal’s vital role in meeting our coun-try’s growing need for affordable and reliable electricity with the need to protect the environment. ACCCE will sponsor JRM’s No. 88 team in races at Iowa (Aug. 4) and Kentucky (Sept. 22). For more information, visit www.americaspower.org.

JUNIOR FOR CLEAN COAL - Clean Coal’s YouTube channel — which features a wide selection of educational and informa-tive videos — now features videos from Dale Earnhardt Jr. You can find ACCCE’s YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/user/americaspower. Videos can also be found on its Facebook page: www.Facebook.com/americaspower.

A RACE TO REMEMBER – The 2006 season marked the first full-time campaign for JR Motorsports in the Nationwide Series, and the Aug. 19th race at Michigan was one to remember. In his first of two races with JRM, Robby Gordon led 11 laps and could’ve earned the company its first victory if not for one competitor — Dale Earnhardt Jr. The JRM owner drove a Chevro-let for Dale Earnhardt Inc. (DEI) that day and was racing Gordon, Casey Mears and Carl Edwards for the victory on a restart with two laps to go. Contact from Earnhardt Jr. spun Edwards while Gordon and Mears scattered to take evasive action. Jun-ior crossed the line first, while Gordon finished third for JR Motorsports.

DANICA’S RETURN TO THE IRISH HILLS – Michigan was the sixth race of a 13-race NASCAR introductory schedule for Danica Patrick in 2010, and this weekend will mark her first trip back to the Irish Hills since that day. Patrick has four total appearances at MIS, three of which came with IndyCar from 2005-07. The Aug. 5, 2007, IndyCar race saw Patrick lead five laps and earn her career-best finish at the Brooklyn, Mich. facility by finishing seventh.

GO DADDY CHEVROLET FEATURING KICK START AMERICA .US DECAL - Patrick’s familiar Go Daddy Chevrolet will fea-ture a special hood decal this weekend at Michigan to drive awareness around Kick Start America, a website dedicated to helping small businesses conquer the internet by offering .US addresses. To learn more visit KickStartAmerica.US.

CHASSIS INFO FOR PATRICK - Patrick will drive chassis number 687 this weekend. 687 finished 12th at Las Vegas in March. The team also raced this chassis at California and tested it at Nashville Superspeedway in the offseason.

WHITT VISITS CLEAN COAL DISPLAY - Whitt will visit the Clean Coal display, located in the Michigan International Speed-way fan concourse area, on Friday, June 15 at 4:30 p.m. EST and again on Saturday, June 16 at 1:30 p.m. EST. Whitt will be signing autographs and participating in question and answer sessions with fans.

SECOND CHANCE TO WIN DALE JR.’S RIDE - The Dale Jr. Foundation is raffling off Dale Jr.’s 2011 Chevrolet Camaro. Raf-fle tickets are $25 and only 8,888 will be sold. The winner will be invited to JR Motorsports, where Dale Jr. will personally hand over the keys of the car to the winner. Visit www.WinDaleJrsRide.com for more information.

ROSSBURG, Ohio (June 6, 2012) – After knocking on the door to victory lane countless times in his five previous runs in the Prelude To The Dream at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, Kyle Busch finally broke through Wednesday night to score his first win in the all-star dirt Late Model race benefiting Feed The Children.

“This is cool,” said Busch, who outlasted strong challenges from Kasey Kahne and Clint Bowyer before finishing 2.283 seconds over runner-up Tony Stewart. “This is what it’s all about when you go dirt racing. It’s a lot of fun. I can’t say enough about (team owner) Scott Bloomquist and all these guys. They give me great racecars every time we come here and I’ve torn them up a few times, including tonight (in qualifying). We were able to come back through, get a good heat race, get a good starting spot for the main event and run up front there with the leaders all night.”

Busch started the 40-lap feature event in second place and dueled with Kahne and Bowyer, who together led the first 24 laps (Kahne 1-12; Bowyer 13-21; Kahne 22-24) before Busch took over the lead on lap 25 when Kahne crashed into Bobby Labonte. Busch then checked out, beating three-time Prelude winner Stewart to nab his first career victory at Eldora.

“When Kahne had his mishap, we inherited the lead and just were able to set sail from there,” Busch said. “I felt like Kahne had a fast car tonight. He was probably the class of the field. Bowyer was really hustling hard and making it work through traffic and got by him. Then we caught the lapped cars and everybody just slowed down, the pace slowed up and everybody got loose trying to slide each other. Crazy, freak deal there with Kahne sliding (into the No. 44 car of Labonte) in (turn) three. I don’t know if he didn’t see him, or what. They called the caution a little late and I bet he didn’t even have time to react. From there, we had 16 laps to go and it felt like the longest 16 laps of my career here at Eldora.”

Finishing third was Austin Dillon in just his second Prelude start. Four-time World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series champion Donny Schatz finished fourth in his dirt Late Model debut. Stewart’s NASCAR teammate at Stewart-Haas Racing, Ryan Newman, finished fifth. Aric Almirola, Cruz Pedregon, Dave Blaney, Ty Dillon and Justin Allgaier completed the top-10, all of whom will get a tractor-trailer filled with food from Feed The Children delivered to their hometown or city of choice.

Stewart, owner of Eldora Speedway, took great pride in seeing the sixth different winner take the checkered flag in the charity race he created back in 2005.

“We had another first-time winner tonight. That’s what the fun part is,” said Stewart, the three-time and reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion who like the rest of his Sprint Cup counterparts had to commute between a test at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway and the Prelude To The Dream at Eldora. “There’s a lot of stuff going on. Five days in a row at Pocono, and for these guys to leave practice at the end of the day today, fly here and race, and then fly back to Pocono tonight and be back in cars at Pocono at nine in the morning, I think that speaks volumes to what this event is all about and what it means for these guys to be here. I know as a promoter and a fellow driver in the Cup series, I’m honored they were that committed to doing this with us tonight to benefit such a good cause as Feed The Children. Really, ‘honored’ is the best word I can think of to describe it. It’s truly an honor with the week we’ve got this week at Eldora and Pocono.”

Complete event information can be found in the Prelude to the Dream online media kit at www.TrueSpeedMedia.com.

KYLE BUSCH, (2012 Prelude to the Dream Winner):

What are your overall thoughts about winning your first Prelude to the Dream?

“This is cool. This is what it’s all about when you go dirt racing. It’s a lot of fun. I can’t say enough about (team owner) Scott Bloomquist and all these guys. They give me great racecars every time we come here and I’ve torn them up a few times, including tonight (in qualifying). We were able to come back through, get a good heat race, get a good starting spot for the main event and run up front there with the leaders all night. And then, when Kahne had his mishap, we inherited the lead and just were able to set sail from there. We were pretty fast. At the beginning, I was just trying to pick the start as best I could. (Kasey) Kahne obviously had the preferred line at the bottom there to slide in and get in front of me. I kept trying the get my momentum around the top but I just couldn’t get to him from there. But I did feel once we did get the lead that we were pretty fast and we could hold it.”

The race got off to a rough start with several incidents and yellow-flag laps. Was that any cause for concern in the early going?

“I was a little concerned. I felt like (Kasey) Kahne had a fast car tonight. He was probably the class of the field. (Clint) Bowyer was really hustling hard and making it work through traffic and got by him. Then we caught the lapped cars and everybody just slowed down, the pace slowed up and everybody got loose trying to slide each other. Crazy, freak deal there with Kahne sliding (into the 44 car of Bobby Labonte) in three. I don’t know if he didn’t see him, or what. They called the caution a little late and I bet he didn’t even have time to react. From there, we had 16 laps to go and it felt like the longest 16 laps of my career here at Eldora.

Does it feel particularly special beating Tony Stewart, who owns this track and puts on this event?

“Tony’s the best here. He loves this place. It’s cool whether you beat Tony Stewart or whether you beat Jimmie Johnson, it’s a lot of fun to race these races for a good cause. Tony’s turned this into a huge deal. It takes a lot of people to do this, so we appreciate them, and HBO for all their support.”

TONY STEWART, (Finished 2^nd; Three-Time and Reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion; Three-Time Prelude Winner):

First off, you almost pulled out another win in your own event. Talk about the racing effort.

“I think we had a great run. We were a lot better in the main event than we were in qualifying and the heat race. So, I was pretty happy with our run. It was a shame to see Kasey (Kahne) crash out of the lead like that. But it was fun. I think if it would’ve stayed green instead of having that caution, I think we would’ve had a little something for him. We had a pretty good racecar and I was pretty happy with it.

What are your thoughts about the 2012 Prelude to the Dream, in general?

“I think it went great. I don’t know what it was like to watch but I know how much fun we had in the cars. When I was out of the car, I was watching the crowd and it looked like everybody was having a good time.”

Getting your fellow NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers here this year was a bit more of a challenge than in previous years with pre-race testing already underway at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway today and Thursday, but you had as strong of a field as ever. How does that make you feel about the popularity of the Prelude?

“Really, ‘honored’ is the best word I can think of to describe it. It’s truly an honor with the week we’ve got this week at Eldora and Pocono. There’s a lot of stuff going on. Five days in a row at Pocono, and for these guys to leave practice at the end of the day today, fly here and race, and then fly back to Pocono tonight and be back in cars at Pocono at 9 in the morning, I think that speaks volumes to what this event is all about and what it means for these guys to be here. I know as a promoter and a fellow driver in the Cup series, I’m honored they were that committed to doing this with us tonight.”

AUSTIN DILLON, (Finished 3^rd; 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Champion):

You got a top-three finish in just your second Prelude to the Dream. You’ve got to be happy about your performance tonight.

“I got to do this last year and had a blast. Tonight was a really good night for us. It was tough racing out there, really. You had to slide – you had to make that move. We were a little loose for the feature. Actually, it wasn’t loose so much as I just couldn’t get a lot of speed coming off the corner. We’re going to work on that. I’m glad we qualified up front and got to run up front. We did our work early in the night and it paid off for the feature. And it was a good test session for the Dream coming up this weekend. I can’t wait to run it. Our car’s clean, and we had a chance to raise a lot of money for Feed the Children. It had to be a great show. I hope all the people here and at home enjoyed it. It had to be a wild show.”

DONNY SCHATZ, (Finished 4^th; Four-Time World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Champion):

For your first Prelude, finishing inside the top-five had to be something you are happy about.

“It’s a good thing they are stock cars and they’ve got fenders. I think I hit everything there was and I was bouncing off guys. If you did that in a Sprint car, you’d be laying out in the weeds. It was a fun race. I wish I could’ve had a restart there at the end. When you drive Darrell Lanigan’s racecar, you know you’ve got something really good underneath you. It took me all night to figure out what to do with it when the track finally cleaned off. It was really fun to drive. I didn’t know the STP car was this beat up but, hopefully, we can try again next year.”

You were involved in an accident during the early part of the race. What happened, and how were you able to run up through the field?

“Someone was spinning down the backstretch and I tried not to get into him and someone got me from behind. I got bounced around a few times, but that’s what happens in stock car racing. The crazy thing is that I didn’t get to see much of it that happened, so I can’t fault anyone. I kept my cool and the racecar really came to me. The track cleaned off. I was really decent around the bottom on one end (one and two). When I got to Cruz (Pedregon), he was on the bottom, so I had to get off it and it really helped me get more speed through three and four. It was fun. It was a great opportunity for me to drive this car. Darrell Lanigan and his guys did a great job. I’m glad we got it in the top-five. Maybe if we get to come back again, we’ll be able to get up there and fight for a win.”

CRUZ PEDREGON, (Finished 7^th; Two-time NHRA Funny Car Champion):

You started 18^th but, with 15 laps to go you were at the front fighting for the win. How did you get there?

“We had a plan coming into the feature. (Crew chief) Rodney Dehaven Jr., said we are going to tighten the car up. I asked if we could run the bottom where it was moist and he said, ‘Yes.’ I just started running down there, got comfortable and started picking guys off. As I kept coming up on guys, I started seeing good cars that started way in front of me. I just kept my rhythm. The red (flag) certainly broke my rhythm and I had to restart on the top. My car was working so good on the bottom, I just couldn’t back down there fast enough. By the time I did, I had lost a few spots. It was all I could do to salvage a seventh. I really wanted a second or a win so bad. I think, had we not had the red, I really felt like we had a shot at it. I tied my career-best finish, so I’m pretty happy with that.”

JIMMIE JOHNSON, (Finished 11^th; Five-Time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion; 2010 Prelude Winner):

You looked like one of the early contenders for the win tonight. How was your night, and what happened in the closing laps?

“I worked my way up to fourth pretty quickly. But they’re telling me I pretty much destroyed the tires. We went too soft on tires. I’m not used to having compound options and all that kind of stuff. The first half of the race, I started 14^th and shot up to fourth. That was cool and, overall, it was a lot of fun. I’m happy to support Tony and I feel like I get better every time I run one of these things. Any time there’s an engine running, I have fun, and I had a lot of fun tonight.”

DANICA PATRICK, (Finished 15^th; 2005 Indy 500 Rookie of the Year; 2008 IZOD IndyCar Series winner at Twin Ring Motegi):

You’ve finished your first Prelude. What did you learn from start to finish?

“I realized early that I wasn’t really in the mix, so I figured I would take the chance to get comfortable driving sideways a little bit more as I’ve found that that helps in driving a stock car. I was just feeling it out and I really wanted to bring the car home without balling it up. I sort of did that. It was a good experience for me but, more than anything, I’m proud to be a part of this event. Tony is definitely my role model for charity work. This is a big deal. It’s very cool that he puts this on, and it’s obviously his party, but he invites all of his friends and that’s cool.”

KASEY KAHNE, (Finished 16^th; 13-time Winner in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series):

You started on the pole and it looked like you had the car to beat. What happened out there?

“I just had a really, really good car. I got battling with Clint (Bowyer). He got by me in lapped traffic and then I got back by him in lapped traffic and, every time I looked up, the 44 car (Bobby Labonte) was backwards and, that time, he was up against the wall in the preferred line. I saw him but there was no slowing down. That far down the backstretch, it’s like you’re on ice. I just slid across and nailed him. It was actually a pretty hard hit. I was surprised how hard it was. It’s discouraging because I thought we had a good shot at winning. But, I’m still glad I was here. We had a great crowd. Everybody enjoyed the Prelude. It’s a great night and we get the chance to help a lot of children.”

CLINT BOWYER, (Finished 19^th; Defending Prelude to the Dream Winner and Two-Time Prelude Winner as a Car Owner):

It looked for a while like you were going to make it back-to-back Prelude victories. How disappointed are you that a mid-race incident put you out of the race?

“I just kind of got used up there. It is what it is. I hate it for these guys (crew). I’m here for fun, but these guys work so hard on this car. It was brand new and now it’s pretty much destroyed right there – at least the body, it’s all pretty much cosmetic on these things. I guess karma caught up with us a little bit, which is a little disappointing. But, oh well, it was fun.”

STEVE KINSER, (Finished 25^th; 20-Time World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Champion):

Your first Prelude ended more quickly than you probably could have imagined. How was the experience for you?

“It was a good time. I hated tearing up a racecar. I’m not sure what happened there, if I got loose and someone got into me or what. All I knew is that I was spinning down the frontstretch the wrong way. After that, it was all over. It was a lot of fun to be part of something that is put on for such a great cause. I’d love to come back and give it another shot.”

ROSSBURG, Ohio (June 5, 2012) – The following are pre-race quotes from select drivers participating the eighth annual Prelude To The Dream on Wednesday, June 6 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.

Racing stars representing NASCAR, NHRA, INDYCAR and the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series will battle for dirt supremacy on Eldora’s half-mile clay oval where HBO Pay-Per-View® will present the event LIVE in high-definition to the entire nation. Net proceeds from the telecast will support Feed The Children, a U.S.-based charity thatdomestically has helped more than 365,000 families since 2009 through its Americans Feeding Americans Caravan.

The 2012 edition of the Prelude To The Dream includes hot laps, qualifying, heat races and a 40-lap feature with double-file “shootout-style” restarts.

For the top-10 finishers in the Prelude To The Dream, Feed The Children will send a food truck to each driver’s hometown or city of choice.

The live, commercial-free, high-definition broadcast of the Prelude To The Dream will begin at 8 p.m. EDT (5 p.m. PDT) with an immediate replay. The Prelude To The Dream has a suggested retail price of $24.95 and is available to more than 92 million pay-per-view homes. HBO Pay-Per-View is the leading supplier of event programming in the pay-per-view industry. Ordering information and up-to-the minute racing information is available at either www.PreludeToTheDream.org or www.HBO.com. Updates can also be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PreludeToDream and on Twitter at

Tony Kanaan of the IZOD IndyCar Series will again compete against Danica Patrick, who in 2012 has made the full transition from IndyCar to NASCAR. They’ll rub fenders with straight-liners Ron Capps and Cruz Pedregon of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series and World of Outlaws stars Steve Kinser and Donny Schatz, who will both make their Dirt Late Model debuts. All will join NASCAR stars including Eldora owner Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Clint Bowyer, Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, Bobby Labonte, Aric Almirola and many others, including a band of brothers: the Busch brothers – Kurt and Kyle – and the Dillon brothers – Austin and Ty.

Stewart, Capps, Pedregon, Kenny Wallace and Kenny Schrader have participated in every Prelude To The Dream since 2005, when Wallace was the inaugural winner.

With no points and no pressure, the Prelude To The Dream is a throwback race, allowing drivers to step back in time and compete for the reasons they all went racing in the first place – pride and a trophy. And they’ll do it on the same surface racing legends A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti competed on nearly 50 years ago.

For those who want to see the Prelude To The Dream in person, tickets are available online at www.EldoraSpeedway.com or by calling the track office (937) 338-3815. Act fast – the race has sold out in previous years.

Complete event information can be found in the Prelude To The Dream online media kit at www.TrueSpeedMedia.com.

TONY STEWART (Three-Time and Reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion & Three-Time Prelude Winner):

What are your overall thoughts on the Prelude To The Dream?

“It’s great for us as competitors because we get a chance to go out and do something that we don’t get the chance to do all season long with each other. There are a lot of us drivers who get a chance to race at dirt tracks or run at Late Model pavement tracks across the country, but we never get to do it together as a group. So, to go to Eldora Speedway, to run Late Models on dirt, and to have a night where we can do this all for charity and for kids – it’s just an unbelievable night for us.”

The charity aspect has always been a huge part of the Prelude To The Dream. Talk about supporting Feed The Children this year.

“Having Feed the Children on board, and the fact that we’re trying to feed 16 million children and keep them from feeling hungry each day, is a great, great cause, and it’s a great goal for us and motivation to know why we’re here. And, and as much as we want to have fun, there’s a lot bigger cause here and we’re excited to do this for Feed the Children.”

Danica Patrick will make her Dirt Late Model debut in the Prelude To The Dream. Talk about that.

“She’s never driven anything like this and I don’t think she’s really been on dirt, ever. So I’ll tell her the same thing we’ve told everybody else who comes – try to go out and follow somebody who’s been around there before, and they can show you how to do it. You’re going to be able to learn something by following them, and you’ll get an idea of the rhythm and the pace of how to get around there. But it’s a tricky place to learn, so we’ll see how she adapts.”

The drivers in the 2012 Prelude To The Dream have combined for 60 championships in all forms of racing. How big are the bragging rights for the driver winning the Prelude?

“Yeah, it’s big bragging rights amongst each other. I mean, it’s not so much that we worry about how everybody else thinks about it. But, internally amongst each other in the garage area and from the different series, we want to be the guy who has beat the rest of them. So it’s very important. It’s something these guys take a lot of pride in and, like we say when we get to the Cup weekend after that, that’s what we talk about the first two days until we race on Sunday.”

ARIC ALMIROLA (Two-Time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series winner):

Overall thoughts on the Prelude?

“It’s awesome. To be able to go and run that race and to compete against the best guys in our business, but to do it on a totally different platform, is a lot of fun. I’m going on my sixth year. Every year is more and more fun, and I enjoy it that much more because I’m getting better at it.”

What has helped you improve each year at the Prelude?

“It’s just track time. We show up there, we get just a few minutes of hot laps, then we’re expected to go qualify, and heat race, and race. And, next thing you know, the night’s over and you had a lot of fun, but you didn’t really get to learn that much. So, every year I go back, I feel like I learn a little bit more. Equipment’s always a big deal. This past year, I drove Clint Smith’s car, which he’s got top-notch equipment on the World of Outlaws circuit. So, I’ve had a lot of fun the last few years I’ve done it. I can’t wait. I mark the date off on my calendar at the beginning of every year. Circle it really big. That’s an event I look forward to all year.”

JIMMIE JOHNSON (Five-Time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion & 2010 Prelude Winner):

There are an extra 10 laps this year in the feature race. Talk about that.

“It will give you some more time to get through the field if you have a bad qualifying effort, which was my case last year. I didn’t qualify all that well. But we don’t want it (the race) to end, unless you’re the leader. We all enjoy coming out and participating in this event. We love driving these cars. We all love Eldora. And we all kind of like Tony, too (laughs). So it’s a great event. We want to be a part of it. And the more laps the better.”

It seems like you and other drivers are becoming more and more comfortable with running on dirt. Why is that?

“We’re all getting a heck of a lot better at it. In the past, some of us would test and now we all just show up and get in the car and throw down laps from the beginning. I also see where we’re getting much more comfortable without having spotters. For a lot of us, it’s been quite some time since we’ve been in a car with no spotters. So the whole flow on the track is getting better. We’re all leaving each other room and making sure we know we’re handling that right. And then, everybody’s fast now. I mean, there’s no way you can just come in and expect to beat up on the guys and take a trophy home. You’ve got to show up ready to go from a driver’s standpoint and the team because we’re all driving great equipment. So it’s an important race.”

DONNY SCHATZ (Four-Time World of Outlaws Champion):

What are your thoughts about competing in your first Prelude To The Dream and your first Dirt Late Model race?

“I can only hope I can get the hang of driving a Dirt Late Model just as fast as Tony got the hang of driving a Winged Sprint car. I might be asking a lot for my first race ever in a Dirt Late Model. One night isn’t much time, but Steve (Kinser) and I both have a really good idea of how dirt changes through the night. Once we get a feel for how to run the car, I think we’ll be OK. It’s such a great opportunity and something I’ll remember for the rest of my career. We love to compete, so that’s why this is going to be so much fun. We’ll be out of our comfort zone for a while, but just about everyone else will be, too. I’m sure Steve and I will bounce some things off each other during the night and try to get each other up to speed.”

KYLE BUSCH (2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series Champion):

You’ve come close to winning the Prelude before. What are your thoughts heading into the 2012 Prelude To The Dream?

“Yeah, I’ve been close a few years. It’s been fun to race the Prelude. Tony puts on a great show, and it’s always cool. The first year, I remember it was really tacky and you could move all over the place. And then it kind of glazed over and you still raced all over the place. The last couple years it’s been more single-file. You know, you get up along the outside and it’s kind of only one-groovish. I’m trying to make the bottom work and make ground, but momentum is just so important around the top side. You try to pull some slide jobs on some guys and get down low and then slide up in their groove. And they’ll come back and they’ll slide you in the next corner. So it’s fun racing and it’s just a part of what you’ve got to do in order to get up front.”

What are your thoughts on double-file restarts for this year’s race?

“I think double-file restarts are going to be interesting. At first they would have a single-file and they’d lay the cone out there and you couldn’t pass until the cone. So, now it’s definitely going to be a handful, having cars on your outside or inside or wherever you might be, and trying to figure out what to do. Do you slide that guy, do you let him go in front of you, or do you try to fill that hole? How hard do you have to run? It’s just so much that goes on at a dirt race and we don’t do it every week. It’s certainly something new to us and you kind of have to get a feel for it as you get there and you only get a couple of practice sessions, so there’s not much time to explore and experience.”

How would you describe the Prelude to someone?

“This event is fun. It takes you through a whole night of short-track racing at a local dirt track. You get some practices in, you get the local show that comes out and still participates. But then you also get all your stars. All the big players you see racing in the Camping World Truck Series, the Nationwide Series, NHRA guys come out, Sprint car guys come out. Sprint Cup guys, of course, and it’s all thrown together and we’re racing on dirt, in something we all don’t really race very often. And it’s just a fun show. It’s great, and it’s for charity, with the money raised through the HBO Pay-Per-View going to Feed The Children.”

KURT BUSCH (2004 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion):

What are your thoughts about competing in the Prelude To The Dream for the first time since 2006?

“Just going to Eldora is a treat in itself. And then racing on the dirt, pulling tear-offs, you know, just hanging out with the fraternity of drivers, doing something like this is fun. But then, doing it for charity, making a difference, that’s what Tony Stewart’s always been about.”

Is it going to be an adjustment after being away from the dirt for so long?

“Oh, it takes a while. I mean, I’m the guy who wants to just wants to pitch it sideways and be 99-percent throttle all the way around. But I’m used to tracks out in the Desert Southwest that go dry-slick. So, a lot of throttle control has to be played with these Dirt Late Models. The toughest part is they’re so wide. The next thing you know is, you’re rubbing the right rear on the fence when you’re going down the straightaway.”

If you finish in the top-10, Feed the Children will send a food truck to your hometown or a city of your choice. That must make the event even more special.

“Well, we’re all there to make a difference. It’s a great incentive to make it a competition where you can make a difference with your charity, or through this Feed the Children program. We all want to win it, now. We all want to be in that top-10, so, whatever it takes. If I’m running 11^th, if someone else is 10^th, I’m wanting my dish to go to Las Vegas.”

DANICA PATRICK (2005 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year; 2008 IZOD IndyCar Series race winner at Twin Ring Motegi):

What are your thoughts about competing in your first Prelude To The Dream and your first Dirt Late Model race?

“I think it’s a really great format for a bunch of drivers, unique drivers, to be able to get together and race it out, and raise money for Feed The Children. It will be fun to be able to bump and bang and get out there and just have fun. It counts for everything and it counts for nothing. It’s very important, but it’s a time to have a good time.”

Have you ever been to Eldora before?

“I’ve heard of Eldora. My dad used to race Midgets. So I’ve heard of all these dirt tracks all over the place. And I’ve been to some of them. But I don’t think I’ve been to Eldora before. I have been to a dirt track before. My sister and I, when we were kids, which was probably kind of why we got into racing, we would go and we’d hang out in the stands and my dad would be working down in the pits because we weren’t old enough to be down there.”

Have you ever raced on dirt before?

“I raced on dirt one time in my life in a Go-Kart. It was at Charlotte, actually. There’s a little dirt track outside of the back straightway. I was probably 14 years old, so, you know we’re talking about 15 years ago, so I don’t even remember. I just remember that I didn’t suck, so that’s good. But it’s definitely not something I have a lot of experience with. My dad used to race on dirt and, in the winter when it would snow, he’d call it rallying. He’d say, ‘Let’s go rallying,’ and he would drive sideways around the neighborhood. And it wasn’t my thing. So, I hope I’ve got some genetics for racing on dirt. And getting it sideways.”

What advice will you seek?

“I’m sure I’ll just kind of ask general questions – when to lift, when not to lift. Things like that. But when I heard that you get sideways when you get out of the throttle, I thought, ‘Well, that just sounds like fun.’ So I think it’s just going to come from running it. And, at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how I do. It just matters that we’re all there, and that we’re putting on a good show, and that we’re generating attention and everybody’s going and purchasing the event on HBO Pay-Per-View and making a lot of money for Feed The Children.”

STEVE KINSER (20-Time World of Outlaws Champion):

What are your thoughts about competing in your first Prelude To The Dream and your first Dirt Late Model race?

“I’ve made a lot of laps around Eldora the last 30 years but I’ve never done it in a Dirt Late Model. Heck, I’ve never even raced one anywhere, let alone at Eldora. I’m really not sure what to expect, but Tony will be a pretty big asset. He’s been in a Late Model and a Winged Sprint Car there, before, so I’m sure he can translate some of the similarities. It’s going to be something different, that’s for sure.”

June 05, 2012 -- SEGA(R) of America Inc. is thrilled to announce that Danica Patrick will be appearing alongside Sonic the Hedgehog in Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed(TM), the new racing game where players speed across land, air and water in fully transforming vehicles. Known for her talents behind the wheel, Danica will be a playable character with customized vehicles in Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. Gamers will get the chance to test their racing abilities as Danica against an All-Star cast of SEGA characters including Sonic, Knuckles, AiAi and others.

"It's a very exciting experience since I'll be sharing the screen with such an iconic character," said Danica Patrick. "I cannot wait for gamers to jump into my customized, transformable vehicles and give Sonic a run for his rings this holiday season!"

"Danica Patrick is one of the most popular athletes in the world and her accomplishments both on and off the track make her the perfect partner for Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed," said Masanao Maeda, President and COO, SEGA of America. "Danica's involvement showcases the broad appeal of this title -- everyone from casual gamers to hard core racing fans will be able to enjoy the fun."

To further enhance this partnership, Danica will be racing in a custom No. 7 Sonic the Hedgehog/GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, fielded by JR Motorsports, during the O'Reilly Auto Parts Challenge on November 3rd at the Texas Motor Speedway (to be televised live on ESPN). The race, part of NASCAR's Nationwide Series, marks Sonic the Hedgehog's NASCAR debut. The customized race car will be unveiled today at the SEGA booth at e3 (the Electronic Entertainment Expo) in the Los Angeles Convention Center. Additionally, Danica will be integrated into the national marketing campaign for Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed.

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed will be available on the Xbox 360(R) video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation(R)3 computer entertainment system, PlayStation(R)Vita system, the Nintendo 3DS(TM) hand-held system, Nintendo's Wii U(TM) system and PC Digital Download this holiday season.

For more information, please visit www.facebook.com/sonic

Race 12 of 33: 5-Hour Energy 200 at Dover International Speedway
Track Specs: 1-mile oval / 200 laps
Weather: Sunny; 75 deg.
Race Winner: Joey Logano
Whitt’s finish: 14th
Patrick’s finish: 30th

Cole Whitt’s 14th-place finished topped the JR Motorsports teams in Saturday’s 5-Hour Energy 200 at Dover International Speedway. Debuting the No. 88 Clean Coal Chevrolet, Whitt rebounded from a starting spot deep in the field after the No. 88 team was issued a penalty for replacing its air filter following qualifying. Whitt still raced his way inside the top-10, but lost a lap when an untimely caution came after a green-flag pit stop, trapping the team a lap down. Despite its best efforts, the team never gained its lap back and concluded the day in 14th. In only her second Nationwide Series race at Dover, Danica Patrick took the Go Daddy car as high as 13th before a pit road speeding penalty dropped her to 26th. Patrick muscled her way back inside the top-15 until contact from the No. 12 car sent her crashing into another competitor on lap 134. The resulting damage sent Patrick to the garage to finish 30th.

Cole Whitt, driver No. 88 Clean Coal team
“We started this race way behind the eight ball. We had to give up our qualifying spot and go to the rear of the field for the start after we replaced the air filter. Give our Clean Coal team credit though, we came back nicely. We had a heck of a car and worked our way back inside the top-10. We caught some bad luck when the caution came after our green-flag pit stop. It put us a lap down and we worked all race to try and get it back. We were close to the lucky dog position. We just needed another caution and it never came.”

Danica Patrick, driver No. 7 GoDaddy.com team
“I’d have to see a replay to know for sure what happened. We were all going gangbusters on the restart. The tires are so good so you try to use them. I was racing the car in front of me and the car behind me is racing me. I’d have to go back and watch it to know exactly, but more than anything it was just kind of a bummer because I was just starting to get into the rhythm. I struggled a lot at the beginning. The slower you go, the looser it is because the car is up off the track. Once I finally just stopped using the brakes so much, I got going a little bit faster.

“I really hate it for the team. I never like to see them in the garage working their butts off like that. It’s a bummer for Go Daddy, too. I would have liked a nice result for them. We’ll learn from this and come back better.”

ROSSBURG, Ohio (June 1, 2012) – If you can’t make the drive to Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, on Wednesday, June 6 to see the eighth annual Prelude To The Dream in person, don’t worry. Beginning today, race fans across the nation will have their first opportunity to order the charity all-star race on pay-per-view.

The event will feature stars from the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, the IZOD IndyCar Series, the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series and the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series . All will join two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Tony Stewart in piloting 2,300-pound dirt Late Model stock cars capable of putting out more than 800 horsepower around Eldora’s half-mile oval.

HBO Pay-Per-View® will present the event LIVE in high-definition to the entire nation. Net proceeds from the telecast will support Feed The Children , a U.S.-based charity that domestically has helped more than 365,000 families since 2009 through its Americans Feeding Americans Caravan.

The 2012 edition of the Prelude To The Dream includes hot laps, qualifying, heat races and a 40-lap feature with double-file “shootout style” restarts. It is One Perfect Night.

Tony Kanaan of the IZOD IndyCar Series will again compete against Danica Patrick, who in 2012 has made the full transition from IndyCar to NASCAR. They’ll rub fenders with straight-liners Ron Capps and Cruz Pedregon of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. Dirt regulars Steve Kinser and Donny Schatz, who have collectively won 24 World of Outlaws championships, will race for the first time in dirt Late Models. All will join NASCAR stars such as Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Clint Bowyer, Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, Bobby Labonte, Aric Almirola and many others, including a band of brothers: the Busch brothers – Kurt and Kyle – and the Dillon brothers – Austin and Ty.

For the top-10 finishers in the Prelude To The Dream, Feed The Children will send a food truck to each driver’s hometown or city of their choice.

HOW TO ORDER:

The live, commercial-free broadcast will begin at 8 p.m. EDT (5 p.m. PDT) with an immediate replay following.

All that is necessary to order the event is a digital cable box or satellite service. You do not need HBO to order.

The suggested retail price is $24.95. Ordering information and up-to-the minute racing information is available at either www.PreludeToTheDream.org or www.HBO.com.

Updates can also be found on Twitter at @PreludetoDream and follow the hashtag#OnePerfectNight, or become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PreludetoDream.

If you have Cable, Verizon FiOS, AT&T U-verse, DIRECTV or DISH, fans can order the Prelude To The Dream beginning today.

The following are step-by-step instructions to help place an order for the Prelude To The Dream on Pay-Per-View:

• Cable, AT&T U-verse and Verizon FiOS Customers: All that is necessary to order the event is a digital cable box on your TV. If you are not sure about the kind of box you have, contact your cable company and ask if you have a digital cable box that gets Pay-Per-View (PPV). Once you know you have a digital cable box, scroll through the Pay-Per-View channels on your electronic program guide for Wednesday, June 6 at 8 p.m. ET, and look for “ Auto Racing: Prelude to the Dream.” Once you see the entry, click it and follow the on-screen instructions to order. If your cable system does not accept orders from your remote control, contact a customer service representative either the day before or the day of the race. Make sure you tell the representative that you are looking to order “Auto Racing: Prelude to the Dream.” Some cable systems have a short window available to order Pay-Per-View events. The more specific you are with the customer service representative, the easier it will be to place your order.
• DIRECTV Customers: All DIRECTV customers can order now. You can find the event on Channel 123 HD or Channel 124. Go to the programming guide for those channels for Wednesday, June 6 at 8 p.m. ET, and look for “Prelude to the Dream.” Once you see the entry, click the event and follow the on-screen instructions to order. Or you can order online at directv.com/events or text EVENT to 223322. Standard data and messaging rates may apply in accordance with your wireless carrier.
• DISH Network Customers: All DISH Network customers can order the event now by going to Channel 473 or Channel 474 HD. Follow the on-screen instructions to order. On Wednesday, June 6, the event will be shown on Channel 455 or Channel 468 HD.

If any problems are encountered during ordering, contact a customer service representative anytime on Wednesday, June 6 to make sure the order is processed and the race can be viewed. Once it is ordered, sit back and enjoy the ride.

EVENT: 5-Hour Energy 200 (200 laps / 200 miles)
TRACK: Dover International Speedway LENGTH: 1-mile concrete oval
DATE: Saturday, June 2, 2012
TV: ESPN (Coverage begins at 1:30 p.m. EST)
RADIO: MRN (1:45 p.m. EST)

Danica Patrick - GoDaddy.com Chevrolet

“I remember everyone telling me how unique and challenging Dover was prior to my first race. At the time, I didn't have a whole lot to compare that track to. They said it was like a larger version of Bristol, but I hadn’t raced at Bristol yet, either. It’s nice to have more of a handle on what to expect heading in there this time.

Dover is fun. It’s fast and it can make for a really long day of racing. I think that’s part of the appeal of it, how demanding it can be. We got into the wall with our Go Daddy car after we cut a tire in my last race there, so our end result didn’t look great. We definitely want to stay out of trouble, which is easier said than done at these types of tracks. There are just a lot of different vari-ables you have to look at when preparing for the close-quarters racing you’ll see this weekend.”

Cole Whitt - Clean Coal Chevrolet

“To be honest, I’d say the Nationwide Series has been more of a challenge this year than I ex-pected. Obviously, as you come up the ladder the tal-ent keeps getting deeper. But I didn’t expect the cars to drive so much differently than the trucks. With the trucks, you have a lot more downforce.

Here in Nationwide, you run on the big tracks, the same tracks as the Cup cars. There are a lot more teams that are capable of running up front and winning on any given week. It seems like almost every-one has good equipment, which makes your margin for error a lot smaller. You have to be on your game. It’s a lot tougher than I had anticipated, but I feel like our JR Motorsports team is up to the challenge.”

Notes

FIRST LAPS LED IN A STOCK CAR - Patrick led her first laps in a stock car at Dover International Speedway on Sept. 24, 2010. She made her K&N Pro Series East debut and led three laps en route to a sixth-place finish in the event.

WHITT’S DOVER LAP STREAK - Whitt has led a minimum of 23 laps in each of his two career starts at Dover. Combining those two events, he has led a total of 47 laps. During a K & N Pro Series race in 2010, Whitt qualified second, led 24 laps and fin-ished 26th. Most notably, he qualified eighth in the Camping World Truck Series event last season. He drove to a second-place finish after leading 23 laps.

JRM WELCOMES CLEAN COAL - Dover International Speedway marks the first of four races featuring The American Coali-tion for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) on board Whitt’s No. 88 Chevrolet. ACCCE is a non-profit, non-partisan partnership of companies involved in producing electricity from coal. ACCCE supports energy policies that balance coal’s vital role in meet-ing our country’s growing need for affordable and reliable electricity with the need to protect the environment. ACCCE also advocates for the development and deployment of advanced clean coal technologies that will produce electricity with near-zero emissions. ACCCE will also sponsor JRM’s No. 88 team in races at Michigan International Speedway (June 16), Iowa Speedway (Aug. 4) and Kentucky Speedway (Sept. 22). For more information, visit www.cleancoalusa.org or www.americaspower.org.

WHITT TO APPEAR AT CLEAN COAL DISPLAY - Whitt will visit the Clean Coal display, located in the Dover International Speedway fan concourse area, on Friday, June 1 at 4:35 p.m. EST. Whitt will be signing autographs and participating in ques-tion and answer session with fans.

POINTS JUMPER - Following the event at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Patrick gained a spot in the Nationwide Series cham-pionship points battle and now occupies ninth position. She is currently 27 markers behind Mike Bliss in eighth, and holds a two point lead over Joe Nemechek in 10th.

JRM CHEVROLETS SPORTING AUTISM SPEAKS LOGOS - JR Motorsports will join other NASCAR teams in sporting the blue puzzle piece logo of Autism Speaks on the Chevrolets of Whitt and Patrick this weekend at Dover. The logo serves as a sign of support for the nation’s leading autism science and advocacy organization. To learn more about Autism Speaks, visit www.autismspeaks.org.

WIN DALE JR.’S RIDE ROUND TWO - For the second consecutive year, The Dale Jr. Foundation will be raffling off Dale Jr.’s ride. This time around it’s an inferno-orange colored 2011 Chevrolet Camaro. Raffle tickets are only $25 each and only 8,888 will be sold. The winner will be invited to JR Motorsports, where Dale Jr. will hand over the keys to their brand new car. The contest will run through Oct. 1, 2012 with all proceeds benefitting The Dale Jr. Foundation. For complete details about the car, a list of second and third-place prizes, and to purchase tickets visit www.windalejrsride.com.

Date: May 27, 2012
Event: Coca-Cola 600 (Round 12 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval)
Start/Finish: 40^th/30^th (Running, completed 397 of 400 laps)
Winner: Kasey Kahne of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Danica Patrick’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series education continued Sunday night as she finished 30^th in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway.

It was Patrick’s third career Sprint Cup start, and just as she did two weeks ago at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, Patrick ran a clean race and was running at the finish in the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, which is fielded by Tommy Baldwin Racing (TBR) via a collaborative agreement with Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR).

There were five caution periods for 23 laps, with the race taking only three hours, 51 minutes and 14 seconds, making it the fastest Coca-Cola 600 on record.

Two weeks ago at Darlington in Patrick’s previous Sprint Cup start, there were only eight caution periods for 38 laps, meaning the last two Sprint Cup starts for Patrick have included several long, green flag runs.

The first 112 laps of tonight’s 400-lap marathon were conducted under green, and the first 172 laps at Darlington also went caution free.

“We had a lot of green-flag running and, for me as a driver in general in NASCAR, but especially as a new driver in the Cup Series, that hurts me,” Patrick said. “I’m just not great at making the best out of a car that’s not perfect, and those long runs really show that. But that’s what you get in Cup. You get a lot of green-flag running and I’ve got to learn how to deal with that. But that’s just the nature of where I’m at on the learning curve at this point in time.

“We brought the Go Daddy car home and one of the goals was to finish. I would’ve liked to have been a little faster overall, but I think there were some times in there when it was decent. It was kind of like Darlington (where) there was a certain run or two that felt really good and everything else, you’re just kind of like, ‘Let’s work on this and let’s work on that.’”

Her race strategist, Greg Zipadelli, was happy with Patrick’s continuing education.

“She did a good job tonight,” Zipadelli said. “This is a tough racetrack and a tough race. We needed to start the race tight, just to be conservative and we started the race a little too tight at the beginning. But we didn’t make any big mistakes. Obviously, we’d all like to be a couple positions further up, maybe 25^th or 26^th – something like that. That would be a big success when you look at all the people that were back there. It’s a tough racetrack – she did a good job.”

Kasey Kahne won the Coca-Cola 600 to score his 13^th career Sprint Cup victory, his first of the season and his fourth at Charlotte.

Denny Hamlin finished 4.295 second behind Kahne in the runner-up spot, while Kyle Busch, Greg Biffle and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top-five. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth comprised the remainder of the top-10.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the FedEx 400 on Sunday, June 3 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. The race starts at 1 p.m. EDT, with live coverage provided by FOX beginning with its pre-race show at 12:30 p.m.

EVENT: History 300 (200 laps / 300 miles)
TRACK: Charlotte Motor Speedway
LENGTH: 1.5-mile quad-oval
DATE: Saturday, May 26, 2012
TV: ABC (Coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. EST)
RADIO: PRN (2 p.m. EST)

Danica Patrick - GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
“We’ve had a lot happen in these first 10 races of the season. We’ve had times where we’ve been good, and things just didn’t fall in our favor. But I think there has also been some great stuff that has happened. Un-fortunately, all the great stuff hasn’t materialized to great results in the race. Sometimes it’s just a good qualifying effort or being really good in practice, and doing things that I wasn’t doing before. You know, last week my first run in our practice was my fastest. That is nice to know. It means I’m getting more comfortable with the car and feeling the limits more and able to get up to speed a lot quicker. I think overall things have been on a good swing lately. I’m hoping we can do the same at Charlotte this weekend.”

Cole Whitt - Ingersoll Rand Chevrolet
“Our 88 team has made some strong gains over the past few races and hopefully we can carry that into this weekend. We have Ingersoll Rand on the car this week and we want to get a good run. They’re headquartered right up the road in Davidson (N.C.), so they’re going to have a lot of guests at the race and I think we can perform well for them.

Charlotte is a fun racetrack and it’s sure to create a lot of competitive racing. I’m looking forward to it. I feel pretty confident about the weekend with the way we’ve been running. We need to bring a good setup and be prepared for how hot and humid it’s going to be. The final practice is going to be cru-cial in making sure we get our car really close to how we need it in the race.”

Notes

2012 RACE WEEK FESTIVITIES SET TO BEGIN AT JRM – Beginning on Thurs., May 24, and continuing through Mon., May 28, fans are invited to the JRM facility in Mooresville, N.C. for festivities surrounding Charlotte race week. Highlighting the ac-tion is an autograph session on Friday, May 25 from 3 to 4 p.m. with Dale Earnhardt Jr., Danica Patrick, Cole Whitt and Kelley Earnhardt Miller. Kerry Earnhardt, Karsyn Elledge, L.W. Miller, and late model driver, Josh Berry will also be included in the ses-sion. Click here for more information and the complete schedule.

HOME TRACK STATS - JR Motorsports has earned two top-five and eight top-10s racing in front of its hometown crowd at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Brad Keselowski earned the team’s best finish at the 1.5 -mile oval with a third-place effort in the spring of 2008. Team JRM earned two top-five and three top-10 finishes between its three entries in that event. Team co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished fourth in the No. 83 Chevrolet and Jimmie Johnson, piloting the No. 5 Chevrolet, ended the race in 10th.

WHITT CONTINUES TOP-10 STREAK - Whitt extended his consecutive top-10 streak to three after his seventh-place finish at Iowa Speedway last weekend. Dating back to Talladega Superspeedway, the 88 team has an average finish of 7.0. Whitt has also accumulated the second-most points (113) of any Nationwide Series regular over that three-race span, trailing only points leader Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in points earned. The rookie has notched a top-10 finish in five of his 10 starts this season.

INGERSOLL RAND PARTNERSHIP - JR Motorsports welcomes Ingersoll Rand as primary sponsor of Whitt’s No. 88 Chevro-let this weekend. Ingersoll Rand has been featured on the No. 88 as an associate partner, but this weekend marks its first primary paint scheme with the team. JRM’s garage and pit crews use powerful pneumatic tools from Ingersoll Rand to im-prove the performance abilities of its cars throughout the season, including the famed Ingersoll Rand ThunderGun&™. The company has been supplying pit crews with efficient pit tools since 1959. A global company that employs more than 50,000, Ingersoll Rand has its North American headquarters in Davidson, N.C. For more information, visit ingersollrand.com.

PATRICK TO PULL 900 MILES WORTH OF DOUBLE DUTY - Patrick will gear up for an extensive racing this weekend, as she’ll compete in both the 300-mile Nationwide Series race on Saturday afternoon and the 600-mile Sprint Cup race on Sun-day evening. If Patrick completes every lap in both events, she will total 600 laps and 900 miles in only two days of competi-tion. That is roughly the equivalent of driving from Charlotte Motor Speedway to New Hampshire Motor Speedway, a jour-ney that includes travel through eight states.

WHITT AND PATRICK’S MEDIA AVAILABILITY - Whitt will have media availability at 12:20 p.m. EST on Thursday, May 24 at the No. 88 hauler in the Nationwide Series garage. Patrick will be available to media members at 12:45 p.m. EST on Thurs-day, May 24 in the Charlotte Motor Speedway media center.

WIN DALE JR.’S RIDE ROUND TWO - For the second consecutive year, The Dale Jr. Foundation will be raffling off Dale Jr.’s ride. This time around it’s an inferno-orange colored 2011 Chevrolet Camaro. Raffle tickets are only $25 each and only 8,888 will be sold. The winner will be invited to JR Motorsports, where Dale Jr. will hand over the keys to their brand new car. The contest will run through Oct. 1, 2012 with all proceeds benefitting The Dale Jr. Foundation. For complete details about the car, a list of second and third-place prizes, and to purchase tickets visit www.windalejrsride.com.

KANNAPOLIS, N.C., (May 23, 2012) – Racing on Memorial Day weekend will be nothing new for Danica Patrick. But for 2012, the car, location, track length and distance will be brand new for the Go Daddy Girl.

For the past seven years on Memorial Day weekend, Patrick has competed in the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. And nowhere did Patrick perform better than in the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” She burst onto the scene at Indy in May 2005 when she stunned the world by leading three times for 19 laps and finishing fourth in her first “500” – becoming the first woman to lead laps and score a top-five finish in the historic race.

She set numerous records during her Indianapolis 500 debut and set the tone early when she posted the fastest lap on the opening day of practice. She went on to set the fastest practice lap five times throughout the month – more than any other driver – including Pole Day and Carburetion Day.

Patrick’s practice lap of 229.880 mph on Pole Day was the fastest of any driver during the month and the fastest turned by any woman in the history of Indianapolis Motor Speedway. During her qualification attempt, Patrick made an impressive save as her car bobbled in turn one on her first lap, earning her rave reviews for her car control by longtime Speedway observers. She ended up qualifying fourth, the best-ever starting position for a woman in the race.

On race day, with 11 laps remaining in the 200-lap event, Patrick blew past leader Dan Wheldon and held the point until lap 194, when she was forced to slow down in order to conserve fuel to make it to the finish. Her efforts earned her Rookie of the Year honors.

Patrick scored six top-10 finishes in seven starts at Indianapolis and qualified 10^th or better five times. Her third-place result in 2009 is the best finish ever for a woman in the history of the Indianapolis 500.

This Sunday will be different for Patrick, though, as she’ll watch the start of the Indianapolis 500 on television from her motorhome as she prepares to drive in the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway.

The driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet will compete in a race that is 100 miles longer than the Indianapolis 500, starts six hours later than the “500” and takes place on a 1.5-mile high-banked oval rather than a 2.5-mile nearly flat rectangle.

It will be part of the continuing education for Patrick as she transitions from INDYCAR to NASCAR, much like Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) owner-driver Tony Stewart did more than a decade ago.

And while it will be different for Patrick, she’s hoping the success she had at Indianapolis follows her south.

DANICA PATRICK, Driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet:

Can you talk about your season thus far in the Nationwide Series and your limited Sprint Cup Series schedule?

“I think it’s been an up-and-down season. There have been times where we’ve caught some bad luck, there have been times where we’ve had disappointing races, and there have been some times where we’ve been good and things just didn’t happen right. I think there also have been times where some great things have happened but, unfortunately, all the great things that happened haven’t materialized into a great result in the race. Sometimes it’s a good qualifying effort, sometimes it’s being really good in practice, just doing things I wasn’t doing before.”

Two weeks ago at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, one of the toughest tracks on the circuit, you finished both the Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series races and gained valuable seat time. How important was that for your confidence and development?

“I think Darlington was one of those weekends that could have confirmed opinions, or sort of developed new ones for people. And I think it ‘developed new ones’ more than it confirmed if someone didn’t think I was doing a good job. I think just the difficulty of the race, being there for the first time and putting a doubleheader on top of it in addition to the Nationwide race – I went into it basically knowing it was going to be difficult. I was plenty worried and disappointed after the first practice in Cup because I was last. A lot of people said ‘good job’ and I appreciate it because, let’s face it, I had a 12^th and a 31^st. But I appreciate it and it means that a lot of people with experience are watching, and it did go well for the circumstances, so it was a little bit of a confidence-booster.

Thoughts on missing the Indianapolis 500 this year after seven consecutive years of racing in the event?

“I watched qualifying last weekend when I had the chance during down time at Iowa. I’m happy for James Hinchcliffe and the GoDaddy team for qualifying second. It’s obviously great to see the GoDaddy car up front. I always want my sponsor to win. That’s the most important thing for me is that they are finding benefit in the things that they do and business is growing. I’m happy to see the green up front and I’m sure GoDaddy is, too.”

What’s it like not being at Indianapolis this month?

“The first time I really thought about it was last weekend. I was curious what was going on with Pole Day. Of course I was curious. I spent my whole childhood watching open-wheel racing. I went to England to race open-wheel and then came back to the States and raced open-wheel. So, it was my world for 20 years. I’ve been watching it for most of my life. I watch it and I think, ‘I know how to do it.’ I feel like I know Indy, I know what it takes to be fast. Every year I learned valuable lessons about how to be better next time and I felt like I learned a really big one last year. Hopefully that means sometime in the future I’ll get to use that.”

Can you talk about Tony Stewart since you both have experience in IndyCar racing?

“We don’t talk a lot about IndyCar and NASCAR. They’re very different worlds. I think it’s nice that I know he has the reference and can understand where I’m coming from, perhaps, with some feelings and certain ways I describe the car. But we don’t speak specifically about Indy cars because of the difference in cars. So, for me, it’s nice to have a guy like Tony, who is confident and will help me and give me answers and be honest and want to see me get better. And the IndyCar references are just nice from a background standpoint that he understands what I’m talking about.”

Notes of Interest:

• The Coca-Cola 600 will mark Danica Patrick’s third career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start. Her first came in February’s rain-delayed 54th Daytona 500 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, where she finished 38th having completed only 138 of 202 laps after being involved in a multi-car accident not of her making on lap three.

• Patrick made her second career Sprint Cup Series start two weeks ago at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, where she started 38^th and finished 31^st, six laps down.

• Patrick has career totals of one top-five finish, four top-10s, 21 laps led and one pole in 35 career Nationwide Series races.

• In 2012 Nationwide Series competition, Patrick has one pole (Daytona) and a best finish of eighth, which came in April at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. She finished 12^th two weeks ago at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.

• Four Score: In March 2011, Patrick finished fourth in the Nationwide Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the best-ever finish by a woman in a NASCAR national stock-car series, topping a fifth-place run by Sarah Christian in a Sprint Cup race in 1949 at Heidelberg (Pa.) Raceway.

• History Maker: Patrick became the first woman to win a major-league open-wheel race in a North American series in April 2009 by winning the IZOD IndyCar Series Indy Japan 300 at the Twin Ring Motegi oval in Japan.

• Point Taken: In 2009, Patrick finished fifth in IZOD IndyCar Series points, the best finish ever for a woman in the series.

• Big Stage: In seven Indianapolis 500 starts, Patrick finished in the top-10 six times, including a third-place result in 2009, the best finish ever for a woman in the historic race.

EVENT: Pioneer Hi-Bred 250 (250 laps / 218.75 miles)
TRACK: Iowa Speedway
LENGTH: .875-mile oval
DATE: Sunday, May 20, 2012
TV: ESPN (Coverage begins at 1:30 p.m. EST)
RADIO: MRN (1:45 p.m. EST)

Danica Patrick - GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
“I’ve been told that Iowa is a great event for the Na-tionwide Series. From the looks of the people that fill the grandstands, it definitely is quite a show. This will be a weekend where the series regulars can battle it out, and you’ll get to see some new talent, so that’s exciting.

It’s no secret that I enjoy racing on the mile-and-a-half tracks. With Iowa being a short track that races more like a speedway, I think that will help me. It’s still a short track but you have a lot more speed and banking than you would at say, Richmond. I think those are characteristic that will translate well for our Go Daddy team.

This is another big race for Go Daddy, too. They have offices in Iowa and there will be a lot of employees and their families at this race. It’s fun to get them all out the race and have them cheer us on.”

Cole Whitt -Join the Dew Crew Chevrolet
“Our team really overcame a lot last weekend at Darlington after we hit the wall in qualifying. We took an unfortunate situation and worked as a team to get a solid finish out of it. It was great to see both the 88 and 7 crews working together to get the backup car ready. I think it said a lot about JR Motorsports.

This week Iowa will be interesting. Technically, it’s a short track, but it doesn’t race like one. It seems more like a speedway than anything. It does give you options as a driver. You can move around in the corners try different lines and find a place where your car will work well.

Our 88 car looks great this week with the Dew Crew paint scheme. I’m a big fan of our red TaxSlayer car, but this Dew Crew car ranks up there, too. I know it will be a packed house in Iowa, so I’m hoping we can get some new Dew Crew members this weekend.”

Notes

WHITT JOINS THE DEW CREW - The 88 Chevrolet will carry a special Join the Dew Crew paint scheme this weekend at Iowa Speedway. The Dew Crew is an online

Facebook community that gives fans the opportunity to get more involved with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Diet Mountain Dew, while having a voice and making key decisions for the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports team. Fans can become a member of the Dew Crew free of charge at www.DewCrew.com.

WHITT FEATURED ON TODAY’S NASCAR NOW - Whitt will be appearing on today’s episode of NASCAR Now to discuss his recent success at Talladega Superspeedway and Darlington Raceway, along with his outlook for Iowa Speedway. The show will air at 3 p.m. EST on ESPN2.

WHITT MEETS PRESS ON FUND’s SIMKIN FAMILY - Whitt had several special guests attend the Darlington event on be-half of TaxSlayer.com and CURE Childhood Cancer’s Press on Fund, which was featured on the No. 88 Chevrolet. The Simkin’s family and their three sons, including 10-year-old Brennan, who battled acute myeloid leukemia, were honorary guests of the 88 team last weekend. Visit www.jrmracing.com to view pictures of Whitt and the Simkin family. The Press on Fund is helping to raise awareness in the fight against childhood cancer.

AVERAGE FINISH IMPROVEMENT - Patrick and the Go Daddy team have seen a steady improvement in their average fin-ishing position. Through the first five races of 2012, Patrick’s average finish was 25.0. Over the past four events that number has decreased to 13.5, and includes top-15 finishes in three races.

SHORT TRACK FACT - Patrick’s best finish in the Nationwide Series at a short track was a 17th-place showing. The finish came at Phoenix International Raceway in the spring of 2011.

WHITT WITH CONSECUTIVE TOP-10S - Following a 10th-place finish at Darlington Speedway last weekend, Whitt and the 88 team have notched two straight top-10s. The effort also brought Whitt’s season tally to two top-five and four top-10 fin-ishes.

NATIONWIDE SERIES AUTOGRAPH SESSION - Both Patrick and Whitt will participate in the Nationwide Series driver auto-graph session at Iowa Speedway on Saturday, May 19, from 2 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. local time in the fan concourse area.

2012 RACE WEEK ACTIVITIES AT JRM – Beginning on Thurs., May 24, and continuing through Mon., May 28, fans are in-vited to the JRM facility in Mooresville, N.C. for festivities surrounding Charlotte race weeks. Highlighting the action is an autograph session on Friday, May 25 from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., which features Dale Earnhardt Jr., Danica Patrick, Cole Whitt and Kelley Earnhardt Miller. Kerry Earnhardt, Karsyn Elledge, L.W. Miller, and late model driver, Josh Berry will also be included in the session. 250 tickets will be distributed for the session. Click here for more information and the complete schedule.

WIN DALE JR.’S RIDE ROUND TWO - For the second consecutive year, The Dale Jr. Foundation will be raffling off Dale Jr.’s ride. This time around it’s an inferno-orange colored 2011 Chevrolet Camaro. Raffle tickets are only $25 each and only 8,888 will be sold. The winner will be invited to JR Motorsports, where Dale Jr. will hand over the keys to their brand new car. The contest will run through Oct. 1, 2012 with all proceeds benefitting The Dale Jr. Foundation. For complete details about the car, a list of second and third-place prizes, and to purchase tickets visit www.windalejrsride.com.

CONCORD, N.C. (May 15, 2012) – On Wednesday, June 6 in tiny Rossburg, Ohio, stars representing NASCAR, NHRA, INDYCAR and the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series align in a big way with the Prelude To The Dream.

Eldora Speedway will once again play host to the all-star dirt Late Model race featuring more than 25 world renowned drivers as they battle for dirt supremacy on the half-mile clay oval where HBO Pay-Per-View® will present the event LIVE in high-definition to the entire nation. Net proceeds from the telecast will support Feed The Children, a U.S.-based charity thatdomestically has helped more than 365,000 families since 2009 through its Americans Feeding Americans Caravan.

The eighth annual Prelude To The Dream joins racing luminaries from all disciplines at one track, on one night as they pilot 2,300-pound dirt Late Model stock cars capable of putting out more than 800 horsepower. It is One Perfect Night.

Tony Kanaan of the IZOD IndyCar Series will again compete against Danica Patrick, who in 2012 has made the full transition from IndyCar to NASCAR. They’ll rub fenders with straight-liners Ron Capps and Cruz Pedregon of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. Dirt regulars Steve Kinser and Donny Schatz, who have collectively won 24 World of Outlaws championships, will race for the first time in dirt Late Models. All will join NASCAR stars such as Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Clint Bowyer, Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, Bobby Labonte and many others, including a band of brothers: the Busch brothers – Kurt and Kyle – and the Dillon brothers – Austin and Ty.

The live, commercial-free, high-definition broadcast will begin at 8 p.m. EDT (5 p.m. PDT) with an immediate replay. The Prelude To The Dream has a suggested retail price of $24.95 and is available to more than 92 million pay-per-view homes. HBO Pay-Per-View is the leading supplier of event programming in the pay-per-view industry. Ordering information and up-to-the minute racing information is available at either www.PreludeToTheDream.org or www.HBO.com. Updates can also be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PreludeToDream and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/PreludeToDream

The 2012 edition of the Prelude To The Dream includes hot laps, qualifying, heat races and a 40-lap feature with double-file “shootout style” restarts. New participants include Patrick, Kinser, Schatz and Ty Dillon, who will join Stewart, Capps, Kenny Wallace and Kenny Schrader as drivers who have participated in every Prelude To The Dream since 2005, where Wallace was the inaugural winner.

“We have the most diverse group of drivers we’ve ever had for the Prelude, and for the first time, the Prelude will be broadcast in high-definition,” said Stewart, owner of Eldora Speedway and a three-time winner of the Prelude To The Dream. “This year’s event is going to be a can’t-miss show. We’ve added 10 laps to the feature and partnered with a great charity in Feed The Children. You’re going to see some intense racing by everyone, including some drivers completely out of their comfort zone. We’ll all be racing for a trophy, but also to make an impact with the more than 16 million children who are at risk of going hungry right here in America.”

For the top-10 finishers in the Prelude To The Dream, Feed The Children will send a food truck to each driver’s hometown or city of their choice.

“This is an excellent opportunity to bring attention to the nationwide problem of child hunger by working with these world-class drivers,” said Rick England, chairman, Feed The Children board of directors. “Their efforts will allow more families to put food on the table and help us provide a solution to those hard hit by the current economy.”

The seven previous Prelude To The Dream events have collectively raised more than $3.5 million. With each year’s event gaining significant stature and mainstream interest, Stewart’s ultimate goal is to have the 2012 Prelude To The Dream raise $1 million, with the proceeds benefitting Feed The Children.

“It’s an ambitious goal,” admits Stewart, “but if we don’t set the bar high, we’re not pushing ourselves the way we should. That’s our goal, and me and everybody else associated with this event is going to do everything we can to meet that goal. Now, we just need everyone out there to purchase the event, enjoy all the action going on at Eldora, and know that their dollars are going to a very worthy cause.”

“Each year we are thrilled to bring the exciting live action from Eldora into living rooms across the country,” said Tammy Ross, Vice President, HBO Pay-Per-View & Sports. “This year’s benefitting organization, Feed The Children charities’ mission is that no child should go to bed hungry, and the HBO Pay-Per-View team is thrilled to bring the Prelude To The Dream to fans everywhere to help further that mission.”

With no points and no pressure, the Prelude To The Dream is a throwback race, allowing drivers to step back in time and compete for the reasons they all went racing in the first place – pride and a trophy. And they’ll do it on the same surface racing legends A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti competed on nearly 50 years ago.

For those who want to see the Prelude To The Dream in person, tickets are available online at www.EldoraSpeedway.com or by calling the track office (937) 338-3815. Act fast – the race has sold out in previous years.

Date: May 12, 2012
Event: Southern 500 (Round 11 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Darlington (S.C.) Raceway (1.336-mile oval)
Start/Finish: 38^th / 31^st (Running, completed 362 of 368 laps)

Winner: Jimmie Johnson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet) in a green-white-checkered finish

While the result shows Danica Patrick finished 31^st in the Southern 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Saturday night at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, the valuable experience she gained can’t be summed up in a box score.

Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet Impala for Tommy Baldwin Racing (TBR) via a collaborative agreement with Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), had never seen the 1.336-mile oval until last Thursday. But she had heard plenty of stories about the treacherous egg-shaped oval and its knack for being difficult for even the most veteran drivers.

The goals for her were to simply finish the race and log as many laps as possible in just her second Sprint Cup Series start. While she finished six laps behind the leaders, she exceeded even her own expectations.

“I know I didn’t have a great result,” Patrick said. “But I accomplished all the things I wanted to accomplish. Things went good on the Nationwide side. Here on the (Sprint) Cup side, my goals were to be respectable out there. I think I held my own all right. And the other one was to finish, and both of those things happened. So, overall, good night. I will be much less worried coming back to this place.

“I definitely got a feel for all the elements. Starts, restarts and pitting, and all that stuff. Just how to get runs on cars. What to do when the car feels a certain way. Which lines to take, and to accommodate for the car and how it feels. We started out really loose, and then we kind of struggled. Then it was really good when Zippy (Greg Zipadelli, crew chief) fixed it. Then it was kind of tight the rest of the night. Just me working with that. I'd rather be a little tight than loose, especially here at Darlington. I earned my stripes anyway. But anyway, good night for the whole GoDaddy crew. Appreciate everyone's support, especially GoDaddy.”

Her race strategist, Greg Zipadelli, was happy with Patrick’s maiden voyage to Darlington.

“She did a great job,” Zipadelli said. “I was impressed with her all weekend. The goal was just to finish and get as many laps as she could, and she did that. She was great getting on and off pit road tonight and just overall did a really good job. I’m very pleased with how she did tonight. The more laps she gets, the better, and tonight was a great learning experience for her.”

Jimmie Johnson won the Southern 500, marking the 56^th Sprint Cup victory of his career, his first of the season and his third at Darlington. It also brought Hendrick Motorsports its milestone 200^th Sprint Cup win.

Denny Hamlin finished .781 of a second behind Johnson in the runner-up spot, while Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the top-five. Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Kasey Kahne, Marcos Ambrose and Joey Logano comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were eight caution periods for 38 laps, with seven drivers failing to finish the 368-lap race, which was extended one lap by a green-white-checkered finish.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race Saturday, May 19 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. The non-point-paying event begins at 7:30 p.m. EDT, with live coverage provided by SPEED beginning with its pre-race show at 7 p.m. SPEED’s “RaceDay” will begin at 4 p.m.

Patrick’s next Sprint Cup Series start will come in the Coca-Cola 600 Sunday, May 27 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway.

Race 9 of 33: VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway
Track Specs: 1.366-mile oval / 147 laps
Weather: Clear; 65 deg.
Race Winner: Joey Logano
Whitt’s finish: 10th
Patrick’s finish: 12th

Cole Whitt’s 10th-place effort in the TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet paced the two-car JR Motorsports contingent in Friday night’s VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway. Whitt and the 88 team were models of perseverance after a wreck with their primary car during qualifying. The team was forced to unload the backup car and start the race at the rear of the field. Still, Whitt managed to drive inside the top-10 by the final green-white-checkered restart and battled for his fourth top-10 finish of the season. Danica Patrick ended the night with an impressive 12th-place finish in her debut at the track “too tough to tame”. Patrick was a staple among the top-20 competitors with the GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, battling back from a lap down to score the team’s fourth top-15 finish of 2012.

Danica Patrick, driver No. 7 GoDaddy.com team
“Overall I thought it was a solid day. It was nice to come to a really challenging place like this and come out with a respectful finish. I kept the car in one piece. There aren’t any Darlington stripes down the side of our Go Daddy car so I’m happy. It was a pretty smooth weekend considering the difficulty of this track. I hope the crew and Go Daddy are as happy about this as I am.”

Cole Whitt, driver No. 88 TaxSlayer.com team
“First, I’ve got to thank everyone on our TaxSlayer team. Those guys worked their tails off today. After we had to pull out the backup car, they had about two hours to get it ready for the race. Everyone from both teams chipped in and they did an awesome job.

“It was a decent race for us. We couldn’t seem to get the rear of the car down in the track like we needed. But toward the end we got inside the top-10 and had position for a good finish. A top-10 was a good effort today and it turned out to be an OK point’s day, considering. We can take that and move on to Iowa.”

ATLANTA (May 10, 2012)--Coke Zero is welcoming a new member into the Coca-Cola Racing Family, and it’s one of the most talked about athletes in professional sports. NASCAR Sprint Cup Series&™ rookie Danica Patrick has signed a multi-year endorsement deal to represent the Coke Zero brand.

“Joining the Coca-Cola Racing Family is one of the really cool things that’s happened so far in my career. I'm a Coke Zero drinker and fan, so with this partnership, I really get to have it all”

The Coca-Cola Racing Family, established in 1998, has boasted some of the biggest names in motorsports, including past champions Dale Earnhardt, Dale Jarrett, Bobby Labonte and reigning champ, Tony Stewart. Patrick, who will run 10 Sprint Cup races in 2012 as part of Stewart-Haas Racing, will sport the Coke Zero logo on her firesuit and her No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet. She will appear in a series of vignettes premiering during the Coke Zero 400, will be featured in marketing executions such as retail point of sale materials and will make personal appearances on behalf of the Coke Zero brand.

“Joining the Coca-Cola Racing Family is one of the really cool things that’s happened so far in my career. I'm a Coke Zero drinker and fan, so with this partnership, I really get to have it all,” said Patrick. “I’m really excited about working with Coke Zero for a lot of reasons, but the idea of having my image at retail stores next to guys like Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman and the rest of the Coca-Cola Racing Family is amazing.”

Two of Patrick’s first roles as a Coke Zero spokesperson will take place at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Daytona International Speedway. In addition to competing in the Coca-Cola 600, Patrick will collaborate with actress Brooklyn Decker to promote the summer blockbuster, “Battleship,” which Coke Zero is partnering with Universal Pictures to promote. Patrick will not race in the Coke Zero 400, but she will participate in activities surrounding the event and serve as a special correspondent, giving fans a sneak peek behind the scenes via the Coke Zero Twitter account at one of the year’s most exciting races.

“Danica is a talented driver, a fierce competitor, and an always-relevant personality in the world of motorsports, and we’re excited to welcome her to the Coke Zero brand and the Coca-Cola Racing Family,” said Sharon Byers, senior vice president of sports and entertainment marketing partnerships, The Coca-Cola Company. “The Coke Zero brand has seen consistently strong growth since it launched, and to maintain that success, we need to bring new consumers to the franchise. We believe partnering with one of the most relevant and talked about athletes in motorsports—and one who embodies the brand’s 'enjoy everything' spirit -- will help us do just that.”

Patrick debuted in the IRL IndyCar Series in 2005 where she finished the season at 12^th overall on the way to earning Rookie of the Year honors. In 2008, she became the first woman to win an IRL IndyCar Series race with her victory at the Indy Japan 300. She joined the NASCAR Nationwide Series in 2010 for a part-time schedule and finished fourth in the 2011 Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway – the best finish by a woman in a NASCAR top-circuit.

On February 27, Patrick made her Sprint Cup Series debut at the Daytona 500 where she finished 38^th after an early race accident in front of her collected her car. Her part-time schedule for the remainder of the 2012 Sprint Cup season includes:

· May 12 – Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway

· May 27 – Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway

· August 25 – Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway

· September 2 – Advocare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway

· September 16 – Geico 400 at Chicagoland Speedway

· September 30 – AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway

· November 4 – AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway

· November 11 – Kobalt Tools 500 at Phoenix International Raceway

Patrick will be the only current member of the Coca-Cola Racing Family to specifically represent the Coke Zero brand.

About the Coca-Cola Racing Family

Coca-Cola has been involved with stock car racing for more than 50 years and has been the official sparkling beverage of NASCAR since 1998. Through its partnerships with International Speedway Corporation, Speedway Motorsports, Inc. and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Coca-Cola refreshes racing fans at the majority of NASCAR-sanctioned tracks. A signature part of the brand’s NASCAR association is the Coca-Cola Racing Family – a group of top drivers that includes Greg Biffle, Jeff Burton, Denny Hamlin, Bobby Labonte, Joey Logano, Jamie McMurray, Ryan Newman, Danica Patrick and Tony Stewart. The Company also maintains relationships with Dale Jarrett, Ned Jarrett, Kyle Petty and Elliott Sadler. Coca-Cola Racing Family members make appearances and are featured in advertising, promotions and packaging.

About The Coca-Cola Company

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is the world's largest beverage company, refreshing consumers with more than 500 sparkling and still brands. Led by Coca-Cola, the world's most valuable brand, our Company's portfolio features 15 billion dollar brands including Diet Coke, Fanta, Sprite, Coca-Cola Zero, vitaminwater, Powerade, Minute Maid, Simply, Georgia and Del Valle. Globally, we are the No. 1 provider of sparkling beverages, ready-to-drink coffees, and juices and juice drinks. Through the world's largest beverage distribution system, consumers in more than 200 countries enjoy our beverages at a rate of 1.8 billion servings a day. With an enduring commitment to building sustainable communities, our Company is focused on initiatives that reduce our environmental footprint, support active, healthy living, create a safe, inclusive work environment for our associates, and enhance the economic development of the communities where we operate. Together with our bottling partners, we rank among the world's top 10 private employers with more than 700,000 system employees. For more information, please visit www.thecoca-colacompany.com or follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/CocaColaCo.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (May 10, 2012) -- After an eventful weekend at Talladega in the Nationwide Series, Go Daddy's Danica Patrick is ready to take on a new challenge at Darlington Raceway. Go Daddy, the world's largest provider of Web hosting, domain name registrations and new SSL Certificates, is putting the "GO" in Saturday's Southern 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race as the broadcast sponsor on FOX TV.

Danica will be facing two races at Darlington on the heels of all the excitement at Talladega. She finished 13^th at Talladega and has moved up into the 11^th position in the Nationwide point standings. She led in Lap 78, becoming the second woman ever to lead a NASCAR race at Talladega. Now, she's ready to earn her stripes at Darlington Raceway, one of the toughest tracks on the schedule, known as "The Track Too Tough to Tame" and "The Lady in Black."

"The Darlington track is new territory for me, but after the solid-run in Talladega, I'm looking forward to getting back on the race track in the GoDaddy.com Chevrolets," said Danica Patrick. "I've got a great team and the long-time support of Go Daddy."

Tomorrow, Danica will be driving the No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet for JR Motorsports in the Nationwide race. Saturday, in the Sprint Cup race, she'll be behind the wheel of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet after debuting earlier this year at Daytona 500. Go Daddy is the broadcast sponsor for Saturday's Southern 500 - Danica's second-ever Sprint Cup race. Danica will become only the third woman to compete in a Sprint Cup Series race at Darlington.

"Darlington is known for challenging some of the savviest NASCAR drivers," said Go Daddy Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President Barb Rechterman. "Danica is tough and revved-up for Darlington. Go Daddy will be cheering her on as she tackles this historic race track."

You can watch all the action during the live broadcast, presented by GoDaddy.com, on FOX TV at 6:30 p.m. ET.

To find out how you can get online quickly and affordably, visit www.GoDaddy.com.

Connect with Go Daddy on Facebook & Twitter.

About Go Daddy
Go Daddy is the world's largest domain name provider, Web hosting provider and new SSL provider, focused on helping small businesses grow larger. Go Daddy provides dozens of cloud-based services and is the largest worldwide mass-market hosting provider by annual revenue according to Tier1 Research (Mass-Market Hosting Report-Winter 2011) and is the #1 provider of net-new SSL certificates for 2011, according to the Netcraft, LTD Secure Server Survey. To learn more about the company, visit www.GoDaddy.com/PR.

KANNAPOLIS, N.C., (May 9, 2012) – It’s been called the toughest of all tracks on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule. So much so that Darlington (S.C.) Raceway years ago was nicknamed “The Track Too Tough To Tame.”

Darlington is an egg-shaped oval 1.366 miles in length – the odd shape because the western portion of the oval needed a tighter radius on the turns as founder Harold Brasington promised Sherman Ramsey, who owned a farm next to the property, that he wouldn’t disturb his minnow pond when he built the track in 1949.

The odd shape also means that, to find the fast way around the track, drivers run against the outside walls in each turn, sometimes brushing up against the wall and thus earning what has affectionately become known as a “Darlington Stripe” on the right side of the car. And the black marks left on the walls by the tires rubbing up against them all race weekend have led to the track’s other nickname – “The Lady in Black.”

Saturday night, “The Lady in Green,” Danica Patrick, driver of the green No.10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, will meet “The Lady in Black” for the very first time when she competes in the Bojangles’ Southern 500 Sprint Cup race at Darlington.

Patrick, who has never been to Darlington, will also compete in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race Friday night at the 1.366-mile oval before competing in just her second-ever Sprint Cup race the next night.

Her first Sprint Cup start came in February’s rain-delayed Daytona 500, where she finished a disappointing 38^th, having completed only 138 of 202 laps after being caught in an accident not of her making on the third lap.

She’ll hope to fare better in the 367-lap race Saturday night, but she knows that just getting seat time and experience at the Sprint Cup level is most important as she continues her transition from IndyCar to NASCAR.

DANICA PATRICK, Driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet:

What are your overall thoughts heading to Darlington and your second Sprint Cup Series start?
“I’m told it’s not going to be so much about the track and getting comfortable and getting up to speed or feeling good, that it’s going to be more about learning how to pass there and how that works because it’s one lane and one groove. I believe it’s high in (turns) one and two and low in (turns) three and four. Just going to two-wide in one and two can cost you a second a lap, so it’s a matter of being smart about when you’re supposed to let off and give the position up for the sake of overall time. Getting used to that is going to be the hardest thing. Other than that, it’s a new track for me, so feeling out the rhythm of the race is going to be another challenge.”

You announced in January that you will not compete in the Indianapolis 500 and, instead, compete in the Sprint Cup Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. It’s now May. What are your thoughts on that?
“I’m sure it will be a little strange. I’m sure I’ll be paying attention – I love Indy. I’m confident it will work out in the future. But I loved the three weeks of Indy, so when they cut it down to two weeks, I was disappointed. I tried to talk everyone into going back to three weeks. But I have a feeling my plate’s going to be full, and I’ll be well-distracted with lots of NASCAR racing and flying all over the country during May and ending up in Charlotte for Memorial Day weekend. I’m excited to see how NASCAR does Memorial Day weekend. I know how it’s done in IndyCar, how to honor the day and what it really means about people serving our country. So I’m excited to see how NASCAR does it.”

You’ve been to just about every track except for Darlington. With that, what style of track have you enjoyed going to?
“I like Daytona- and Talladega-style racing. I really do. It reminds me a lot of IndyCar racing because you’re flat out, looking for air, trying to stay with the pack and trying to weave your way though. It’s like I described it in IndyCar – it’s a high-speed chess match. I’m used to it; I like it. It’s not about the speed; it’s about the style. Outside of that, I think the mile-and-a-halves are probably my favorites just because I feel like more happens and it’s a little bit more in your control where, at places like Daytona and Talladega, it’s out of your control and it’s difficult to avoid big accidents, at times. So, I prefer the mile-and-a-halves, I suppose, at this point. The really high-banked, high-gripped mile-and-a-halves have been my favorite thus far. But, then again, they’ve been the ones where I’ve done the best.”

Do you watch the Sprint Cup Series races you don’t compete in?
“I do. I watch as many as I can. Sometimes I have commitments, but I watch as many as I can because it’s good to pick up things that I see for the future.”

Can you talk about Tony Stewart since you both have experience in IndyCar racing?
“We don’t talk a lot about IndyCar and NASCAR. They’re very different worlds. I think it’s nice that I know he has the reference and can understand where I’m coming from, perhaps, with some feelings and certain ways I describe the car. But we don’t speak specifically about Indy cars because of the difference in cars. So, for me, it’s nice to have a guy like Tony, who is confident and will help me and give me answers and be honest and want to see me get better. And the IndyCar references are just nice from a background standpoint that he understands what I’m talking about.”

A lot of the attention has been on your relationship with Tony Stewart. Can you talk about working with Ryan Newman?
“For me, with Ryan, he’s been really kind to me over the years – especially the last couple of years in NASCAR. He’s commented a couple of times to me. Stopped and chatted about doing a good job out there and how’s it going. General curiosity. So I get along great with Ryan. We were actually just talking about some charity stuff, too, with dogs. I know he does a lot with animals. I share the same views as Krissie (Newman, his wife), apparently. So I think I’ll probably sit down and talk with her about that. But I really like him. I think the team, as a whole, is going to have a lot of fun.”

Notes of Interest:

· The Bojangles’ Southern 500 will mark Danica Patrick’s second career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start. Her first came in February’s rain-delayed 54th Daytona 500 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, where she finished 38th having completing only 138 of 202 laps after being involved in a multi-car accident not of her making on lap three.

· Friday night’s VFW Sport Clips Help A Hero 200 NASCAR Nationwide Series race will be Patrick’s first NASCAR start of any kind at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.

· Patrick has career totals of one top-five finish, four top-10s, 21 laps led and one pole in 33 career Nationwide Series races.

· In 2012 Nationwide Series competition, Patrick has one pole (Daytona) and a best finish of eighth, which came in April at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.

· Four Score: In March 2011, Patrick finished fourth in the Nationwide Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the best-ever finish by a woman in a NASCAR national stock-car series, topping a fifth-place run by Sarah Christian in a Sprint Cup race in 1949 at Heidelberg (Pa.) Raceway.

· History Maker: Patrick became the first woman to win a major-league open-wheel race in a North American series in April 2009 by winning the IZOD IndyCar Series Indy Japan 300 at the Twin Ring Motegi oval in Japan.

· Point Taken: In 2009, Patrick finished fifth in IZOD IndyCar Series points, the best finish ever for a woman in the series.

· Big Stage: In seven Indianapolis 500 starts, Patrick finished in the top-10 six times, including a third-place result in 2009, the best finish ever for a woman in the historic race.

EVENT: VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200
TRACK: Darlington Raceway
LENGTH: 1.366-mile oval
DATE: Friday, May 11, 2012
TV: ESPN2 (Coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. EST)
RADIO: MRN (7 p.m. EST)

Danica Patrick - GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
“I’m told Darlington is not so much about the track and getting comfortable, it’s more about how to pass there because it’s dif-ficult. I think it’s one of those places where you can’t wrap your head around it until you actually get there. I know going two-wide in turns one and two is a detriment to your lap time. I’ll want to be smart about when you’re supposed to give a posi-tion up, so you don’t lose too much time. Getting used to that is going to be the hardest thing. It's a new track for me, so feel-ing out the rhythm of the race is going to be another challenge.

Tony Jr. gave me DVD’s of some Darlington races to watch. We haven’t really sat down and discussed any goals for this week. I’m sure we will, we just haven’t yet. There is no doubt it will be tough. I’m hoping to get familiar with the track during practice and try to complete every lap during the race. Realistic expectations are going to be important for our Go Daddy team. But with both the Nationwide and Cup races on the schedule, it’s going to be a busy weekend for sure.”

Cole Whitt - TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet
“I feel like our TaxSlayer team has been steadily improving as a group. Until Talladega, we just hadn’t had much luck through an entire race. It’s good to finally get a finish that our team deserved. There were a few races where I feel our finish didn’t show how well we were running.

I’m ready for this weekend. To head to a track where I’ve raced before and sat on a pole is exciting. I led a lot of laps at Darlington in the Truck Series last year. I feel like these cars drive pretty similarly to the trucks, so that will be a benefit for me. A lot of people dread going to Darlington, it’s an intimidating race track. But I’m one of the guys that smiles when I see it on the schedule.

We’re proud to have CURE Childhood Cancer’s Press on Fund decal on our car this weekend. What they’re trying to do is raise awareness for childhood cancer. This is important for TaxSlayer and everyone at JR Motorsports. I hope we can run up front and bring some attention their cause.”

Notes

WHITT JOINS EARNHARDT JR. FOR A SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT - Cole Whitt will join team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. for a special announcement surrounding the JR Motorsports Nationwide Series team at 5 p.m. EST on Thursday, May 10, 2012, at Wal-mart in Hartsville, S.C. (1150 South 4th St.). The announcement coincides with Earn-hardt Jr.’s “Race Time” appearance for Diet Mountain Dew and features show car dis-plays and racing simulators. Following the announcement both Earnhardt Jr. and Whitt will participate in an autograph session for 150 lucky fans. The event is open to the public.

LIVE TWITTER UPDATES - Follow all of Thursday’s announcement action with live updates from Whitt via his twitter account @ColeWhitt. Whitt will give followers a first-hand account of his appearance with Dale Jr. by providing live up-to-the-minute updates and photos.

PRESS ON FUND FEATURED ON 88 CHEVROLET - CURE Childhood Cancer’s Press On Fund will be featured on Whitt’s No. 88 TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet at Darlington Raceway as part of a collaborative effort by TaxSlayer and JR Motorsports to raise awareness in the fight against childhood cancer. The Press on Fund logo will be located on the 88 car’s TV panel. For more information on Press on Fund, please visit www.pressonfund.org.

WHITT CONTINUES TO IMPRESS - Fresh off a solid fourth-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway last weekend, where the rookie led the first laps of his Nationwide Series career, Whitt looks to continue the trend at Darlington Raceway. Whitt’s driving talents surfaced in the Camping World Truck Series at Darlington in 2011. The rookie took the pole and led 30 laps en route to an eighth-place finish in his track debut.

2012 LAPS COMPLETED - Whitt ranks fifth on the NASCAR Statistical Services laps completed list. He has completed 1,531 of 1,542 laps on the season, giving the rookie a percent completion mark of 99.29%.

GIRL IN GREEN MEETS THE LADY IN BLACK - Patrick sees action for the first time at the treacherous Darlington Raceway beginning Friday. Patrick’s most noteworthy debut came at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2011. She drove the Go- Daddy.com Chevrolet to a record-breaking fourth-place finish, making her the highest finishing female driver in a NASCAR national touring series event.

RESTRICTOR-PLATE SUCCESS: In two restrictor-plate races this year — Daytona and Talladega — Whitt has scored a pair of fourth-place finishes. The success gives Whitt more points (81) than any Nationwide Series regular during those two events. The Nationwide Series will return to the superspeedways for the July 6 event at Daytona.

WIN DALE JR.’S RIDE ROUND TWO - For the second consecutive year, The Dale Jr. Foundation will be raffling off Dale Jr.’s ride. This time around it’s an inferno-orange colored 2011 Chevrolet Camaro. Raffle tickets are only $25 each and only 8,888 will be sold. The winner will be invited to JR Motorsports, where Dale Jr. will hand over the keys to their brand new car. The contest will run through Oct. 1, 2012 with all proceeds benefitting The Dale Jr. Foundation. For complete details about the car, a list of second and third-place prizes, and to purchase tickets visit www.windalejrsride.com.

Race 8 of 33: Aaron’s 312 at Talladega Superspeedway
Track Specs: 2.66-mile oval / 117 laps
Weather: Partly Cloudy; 86 deg.
Race Winner: Joey Logano
Whitt’s finish: 4th
Earnhardt Jr.’s finish: 5th
Patrick’s finish: 13th

Cole Whitt capped an impressive effort by all three JR Motorsports cars with a fourth-place finish in the No. 88 TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet following Saturday’s Aaron’s 312 at Talladega Superspeedway. Along with Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s fifth-place showing in the No. 5 Hellmann’s Chevrolet, the efforts netted team JRM a pair of top-five finishes in the event. Whitt ran a calculated race and occupied the fifth position for the race’s final restart. With a push from Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Whitt spearheaded the second of two tandem-draft packs in the closing laps. Whitt mounted an intense surge on the final lap and came within inches of catching the lead tandem coming to the checkered flag. The finish tied the No. 88 team’s season-best showing (Daytona). From the outset it was apparent that Earnhardt Jr. was going to be a contender with the Hellmann’s Chevrolet. He led seven times for 25 laps, piloting one of the field’s most dominant cars. The first of two late-race cautions set the team back, leaving Earnhardt Jr. without the necessary laps to charge back into contention. Danica Patrick continued to showcase improved restrictor plate skills. Patrick led a lap and ran solidly in the top-10, until the Go Daddy team was caught in an accident on lap 118. Despite damage, Patrick still managed a 13th-place finish.

Danica Patrick, driver No. 7 GoDaddy.com team
“Today was fun. I tried to get on the bottom and hang out. I was biding my time and trying a couple of runs here and there to see what it would do. The Go Daddy car was so fast today. I think we had a great chance to win to win, if we were in the right place at the right time.

“That accident on the backstretch was such a bummer. We almost cleared it and I went low and just got my right rear clipped. Luckily we were able to still finish. I wish I would have had a better finish. But after Talladega I think there are a lot of people that could say that.”

Cole Whitt, driver No. 88 TaxSlayer.com team
“I think that the race went really well for our TaxSlayer.com team. I feel like I learned a lot and learned even more at the end. I’ve never been in that situation - to be pushed for the win at the end. All day we stayed out of trouble. We did a good job with that. Then when we had to go, we went. It was cool to be part of those two tandems racing for the win. I was trying to get out there and side draft the leaders a little bit. I probably got there too soon and our momentum stalled out right next to them. I feel like our team is progressing, and it’s a great thing to be a part of. I’m really proud of everybody’s effort today. It was a great day for JR Motorsports.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver No. 5 Hellmann’s team
“I have to give Tony Eury Sr. credit. This was the best car on the track I thought, by far. We just got shuffled back on one of the restarts late in the race, and we were just trying to recover. We were lucky to be far enough back to miss that wreck on the back straightaway. We were just trying to recover and get back to the front. If those guys in front had got to racing a little bit, me and Kurt (Busch) could’ve probably gone around them. We just ran out of time. We needed another lap to make something of it.”

On JR Motorsports teammates Cole Whitt and Danica Patrick:
“They did a great job. Talladega is not a big, challenging place. It’s pretty self-explanatory, you just hold it on the mat and try not to wreck. Sometimes you get caught up in things you can’t help. But it was awesome to have JR Motorsports cars 1-2-3 at one time. I know the TaxSlayer, Hellmann’s and Go Daddy people have to be pretty pleased. Danica ran well. She got up there and mixed it up. I hope everybody’s happy.”

EVENT: Aaron’s 312 (117 laps / 311.22 miles)
TRACK: Talladega Superspeedway
LENGTH: 2.66-mile D-shaped oval
DATE: Saturday, May 5, 2012
TV: ABC (Coverage begins at 3 p.m. EST)
RADIO: MRN (2:45 p.m. EST)

Danica Patrick - GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
“This kind of racing can create some pretty interesting results and a lot can happen at these types of tracks. Most of the time it’s a case of right place at the right time and having the right partners. But sometimes it’s a case of right place at the wrong time. I’ve had a couple of those types of experiences at Daytona. It was crazy at Daytona this year. “They tell me that Talladega is much wider than racing at Daytona. And be-cause of that extra room, you’ll see drivers racing a little over their head at times. A good day for me would be to keep our nose clean and just be there for the finish. Aside from that, there’s not a whole lot you can plan for.”

Cole Whitt - TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet
“I learned so much about drafting dur-ing our race at Daytona. We spent time working on the tandem draft dur-ing practice, but until you’re under race conditions it’s tough to know what to expect. I know I can carry a lot of that information over to Talladega. “These races are just about survival. At Daytona, I think we ran around 20th for most of the race. We avoided a couple accidents, including that big wreck at the end, and finished fourth. “At Talladega, patience is key. It’s a 117 lap race so there’s a lot that can happen in that time. It will be best to just settle in and let the race run its course. You don’t want to do anything stupid that could cost the team a good finish, especially in the closing laps.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Hellmann’s Chevrolet
“It’s good to be back in the Nationwide car and represent one of our good sponsors, Hellmann’s. I love racing at Talladega, that’s no secret. We’ve had a lot of success there. The fans are loud and passionate about racing, and we always feed off that. We’ll take a car down there and try to win with it — plain and simple — for Hellmann’s and all our fans in Alabama. This is my last scheduled Nationwide Series race of the year. I love working with Pops (Tony Eury Sr.) and it would mean a lot to be able to win this weekend with him as my crew chief. Plus, I’ve always believed there is nobody who builds a better restrictor-plate car than Pops. He knows how to get around Talladega and Daytona.”

Notes

SEASON FINALE - Talladega will mark Earnhardt Jr.’s fourth and final race in the No. 5 Chevrolet this season. In his previous three starts (Daytona, Bristol and Texas), Earn-hardt Jr. earned one top-five and one top-10 finish.

EXAMINING EARNHARDT JR. STATS - Through his last four restrictor plate races in Nationwide Series competition, Earnhardt Jr. owns one win, two top-five and three top-10s with an average finish of 7.0. Driving under the JRM banner, he holds one top-five and three top-10 finishes in his three starts at Talladega Superspeedway.

THE BOOK ON JUNIOR - Widely known for his restrictor-plate prowess, Earnhardt Jr. has seven restrictor-plate victories in Nationwide Series competition (Daytona, Feb. 16, 2002; Daytona, Feb. 15, 2003; Talladega, April 5, 2003; Daytona, July 4, 2003; Daytona, Feb. 14, 2004; Daytona, June 30, 2006; Daytona, July 2, 2010.) He has participated in eight NNS races at Talla-dega, finishing eighth or better in all but two of them, including one victory in 2003.

LEADING THE WAY - Of his 29 Nationwide Series restrictor-plate races, Dale Jr. has failed to lead laps in only eight of them. He has led a total of 635 laps among the two superspeedways — Daytona and Talladega.

WHITT’S PLATE UPDATE - Whitt’s lone restrictor plate start in Nationwide Series competition netted a fourth-place finish at Daytona in February. Talladega marks only the rookie’s second Nationwide Series start at a restrictor plate facility.

DANICA ON PLATE TRACKS - Patrick has four starts at Daytona International Speedway (DIS), but this marks her first at Tal-ladega Superspeedway. She owns one top-10 and two top-15 finishes at DIS. Patrick has earned an average finish of 24.2 and led 16 laps in restrictor plate starts. Additionally, the Roscoe, Ill. native has qualified inside the top-15 in all four of her plate starts, including one pole at Daytona earlier this year. Patrick’s average start in those races in 6.7.

STARTING UP FRONT - In the last restrictor-plate race (Daytona on Feb. 25), JR Motorsports qualified all three of its cars in the top eight positions, including Danica Patrick’s first career pole award. Earnhardt Jr. qualified fourth and Cole Whitt eighth in the season-opening event.

PILLARS OF SUCCESS - While many are familiar with the Earnhardt family’s success at Talladega, the name Eury is just as synonymous with their success. The father/son combo of Tony Eury Sr. and Tony Eury Jr. has combined for 12 wins at Talla-dega Superspeedway over the course of their careers. The pair served as crew chief and car chief on Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s car when he won five races in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (four consecutively from 2001 to 2003), and both were on Dale Earnhardt’s winning team in the Nationwide Series event in 1993.

PATRICK AND WHITT AUTOGRAPH SIGNINGS – Danica Patrick will be signing autographs at her merchandise hauler in the Talladega Superspeedway fan concourse area on Saturday, May 5 at 11:20 a.m. local time. The session is limited to the first 150 fans who acquire wristbands and fans can begin picking up wrist bands at 8 a.m. on Saturday morning. Additionally, JRM’s newest driver Cole Whitt will be signing autographs at the JR Nation merchandise hauler, also located in the fan con-course area at Talladega, on Saturday, May 5, beginning at 9:45 a.m. local time.

WIN DALE JR.’S RIDE ROUND TWO - For the second consecutive year, The Dale Jr. Foundation will again be raffling off Dale Jr.’s ride. This time around it’s an inferno-orange colored 2011 Chevrolet Camaro. Raffle tickets are only $25 each and only 8,888 will be sold. The winner will be invited to JR Motorsports, where Dale Jr. will hand over the keys to their brand new car. The contest will run through Oct. 1, 2012 with all proceeds benefitting The Dale Jr. Foundation. For complete de-tails about the car, a list of second and third-place prizes, and to purchase tickets visit www.windalejrsride.com.

Race 7 of 33: Virginia 529 College Savings 250 at Richmond International Raceway
Track Specs: .750-mile oval / 250 laps
Weather: Clear; 64 deg.
Race Winner: Kurt Busch
Whitt’s finish: 19th
Patrick’s finish: 21st

Cole Whitt finished 19th to pace JR Motorsports’ two-car team in Friday night’s Virginia 529 College Savings 250 at Richmond International Raceway. Seeing stock car action for the first time at the short track, Whitt hung inside the top-10 with the TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet for a large portion of the race. Trouble found the 88 team when the rookie missed pit road under a green-flag stop, then received a speeding penalty on pit road. Both mishaps compounded to lead to the uncharacteristic finish. Danica Patrick battled brake problems with her Go Daddy machine from the race’s onset, forcing her to drop toward the back of the field. The team made the necessary adjustments during a pit stop that helped alleviate the brake issues. Patrick then drove her way back through the field and crossed the stripe in 21st.

Cole Whitt, driver No. 88 TaxSlayer.com team
“We certainly didn’t fulfill our expectations for this race. We practiced well and qualified well, but the race didn’t pan out. It was my fault we missed pit road under the green and then it got worse with the penalty. I think we were a top-10 car. But we went a little too far on one of the adjustments and when we had that long green-flag run, we were never able to get back to pit road in time to get it right.

“I’ve got to thank our friends at TaxSlayer. We wanted to do better for them tonight, especially since we were carrying a special Press On Fund decal for them. They’re trying to raise awareness for childhood cancer, and we’re just trying to do our part to help that cause.”

Danica Patrick, driver No. 7 GoDaddy.com team
“It was tough out there in the beginning. We had some brake problems with our Go Daddy car and Tony Jr. and the guys did a good job of getting it better once we were on pit road. We adjusted the brake bias and that seemed to help out. We were really loose from then on. We were fortunate that every change seemed to make it better. Eventually though, it always got to the same point of loose again.

“Overall, I think we made huge strides in practice. We were much better off. That was a good practice on any track for me, running in the top-10 the whole time. We will take that and move on. I’m sure we are going to learn from this experience and be better at the next one for it.”

EVENT: Virginia 529 College Savings 250
TRACK: Richmond International Raceway
LENGTH: .750-mile oval
DATE: Friday, April 27, 2012
TV: ESPN2 (Coverage begins at 7 p.m. EST)
RADIO: MRN (7:15 p.m. EST)

Danica Patrick - GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
“There’s no doubt this weekend will be a test for me. Short tracks are challenging, and an area where I need to see improvement. We have great results to build off from our last race, so this is a good opportunity to take that positive momentum and move forward. I have a certain level of experience at RIR, so that is something I have going for me. I just want to go in there, take it one lap at a time and not get ahead of myself. There is a great support system with Tony Jr. and the entire Go Daddy team.”

“I think short track racing at night is a lot of fun. It makes the cars look really cool, especially our Go Daddy car. It’s a good night out for people at the race-track. Ours is a visual sport and there are lots of fans watching. So the better it looks, the better it is.”

Cole Whitt - TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet
“Richmond won’t be a completely new race-track for me. I raced there in USAC (United States Auto Club) a few years ago. I think it’s a track that for me, is comparable to Iowa just with less banking. My mindset is on the importance of corner exit speed and being able to roll through the center.”

“Everything went good last week with (new crew chief) Bruce Cook. We worked real well together. Right now our biggest deal is understanding each other and getting on the same page. We have differ-ent scales on handling. Like, when I say the car is loose, Bruce doesn’t know how loose I mean. That type of understanding is something that will come in time. We made big strides in becoming faster through the weekend at Texas, so there was definitely improve-ment on that end.”

Notes

JRM AND EARNHARDT JR. PARTNER WITH CLEAN COAL CAMPAIGN - JRM an-nounced this week a partnership with the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE). ACCCE supports energy policies that balance coal’s role in supplying the United States with affordable and reliable electricity. The partnership includes primary branding on Whitt’s No. 88 Chevrolet for four events in 2012 (Dover, Michigan, Iowa II and Kentucky II) and associate branding for the duration of the NASCAR Nationwide Series season. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has also signed an agreement to represent and drive awareness to the ACCCE as part of its nationwide campaign to promote the impor-tance of clean coal technology.

PRESS ON FUND FEATURED ON 88 CHEVROLET - CURE Childhood Cancer’s Press On Fund will be featured on Whitt’s No. 88 TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet at Richmond International Raceway and Darlington Raceway as part of a collaborative effort by TaxSlayer and JR Motorsports to raise awareness in the fight against childhood cancer. The Press on Fund logo will be lo-cated on the 88 car’s TV panel. For more information on Press on Fund, please visit www.pressonfund.org.

SHORT TRACK PAST - Whitt makes his Nationwide Series debut at Richmond International Raceway this weekend. If his short track statistics from the Camping World Truck Series are any indication, Whitt should adapt quickly to the .75-mile oval. In four short track truck starts in 2011, Whitt tallied three top-10s (Martinsville, Iowa and Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis) and an average finish of 8.0.

POINTS CLIMBER - Patrick advanced from 17th to 11th in the championship standings following her eighth-place finish with the Go Daddy machine at Texas Motor Speedway two weeks ago. She now sits 15 markers outside the top 10 in points.

NIGHT RACING - Patrick has found success racing under the lights. Three (Chicagoland, Daytona and Texas) of her four ca-reer top-10 finishes and 85 percent of her laps led have been earned in night races.

WIN DALE JR.’S RIDE ROUND TWO - For the second consecutive year, The Dale Jr. Foundation will again be raffling off Dale Jr.’s ride. This time around it’s an inferno-orange colored 2011 Chevrolet Camaro. Raffle tickets are only $25 each and only 8,888 will be sold. The winner will be invited to JR Motorsports, where Dale Jr. will hand over the keys to their brand new car. The contest will run through Oct. 1, 2012 with all proceeds benefitting The Dale Jr. Foundation. For complete de-tails about the car, a list of second and third-place prizes, and to purchase tickets visit www.windalejrsride.com.

Race 6 of 33: O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway
Track Specs: 1.5-mile oval / 200 laps
Weather: Clear; 73 deg.
Race Winner: Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.
Patrick’s finish: 8th
Whitt’s finish: 13th
Earnhardt Jr.’s finish: 14th

Danica Patrick led the three-car team of JR Motorsports with an eighth-place finish in Friday night’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway. Patrick raced the GoDaddy.com Chevrolet inside the top-20 for most of the night. The pivotal moment for the No. 7 team came with a caution on lap 189. Due to several solid calls on pit road by crew chief Tony Eury Jr., Patrick was one of the few drivers left with fresh tires. After pitting for four tires, she took the final restart in 13th and improved five positions to finish eighth, marking her first top-10 effort of 2012. Cole Whitt was also in position for a top-10 in the TaxSlayer.com ride during the race’s latter stages. Following the race’s final restart, Whitt gave up several spots after near contact with a competitor caused him to lose grip. He crossed the finish line in 13th. Dale Earnhardt Jr., driving the Degree Men Chevrolet, finished 14th in his third Nationwide Series race of the year. The No. 5 team’s strategic call for fresher tires didn’t pan out in the end, as he slipped three spots from his restart position of 11th.

Danica Patrick, driver No. 7 GoDaddy.com team
“We came out of tonight with a great finish with our Go Daddy car. We had to keep our heads down because it was difficult out there at times. Tony Jr. did a good job on those pit calls and I had great tires at the end. I was charging forward and putting my nose where I needed to. I’m learning you have to take advantage or be taken advantage of. I had a lot of momentum. I just used it. I just tried to keep the momentum going. I got the run and felt good around the corners. I was able to clear Cole (Whitt) and get a run down the back straight. It’s fun when your best positioning is at the end of the race.”

Cole Whitt, driver No. 88 TaxSlayer.com team
“Tonight didn’t exactly unfold how we wanted it to for our TaxSlayer team. Bruce (Cook) and all the guys did a good job on the changes we made through the night. I thought we were in good shape toward the end, when we were one of the few cars with fresh tires. If that final caution hadn’t waved, we would have been in position for a top-five. But that final caution really spoiled our plans.

“We had some good hard racing with our teammate in the 7 car at the end of it. That was fun. At one point we were racing three wide, so that was cool. Then the 12 car got up behind us, got us really loose and we gave up a few spots. That was frustrating. But all-in-all it was a learning weekend for all of us. So we’ll take that and move on.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver No. 5 Degree Men Chevrolet
“Well, we had a pretty good car, running around 10th all night and having a good time, and then the lights went out (laughing). We pitted at the end and got behind some people, and I just couldn’t make anything work in those closing laps. I did all I could do. But it was fun. I want to thank the pit crew on the Cup side – the Dew Crew – for pitting our car tonight. They had good pit stops and we’ll see what we can do with our Cup car tomorrow.

“Our cars ran decent tonight, but we need to do better as a company. I was happy to see Danica get a good finish. She did an awesome job, and they used good strategy by putting on tires to run up through there at the end. But we still need to depend on good cars, not just strategy. We’re going to work really hard to improve. It’s good to get in there every once in a while and see how good your stuff is… see what they’re doing. I think we’ve got a lot that we can improve on.”

EVENT: O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 (200 laps / 300 miles)
TRACK: Texas Motor Speedway
LENGTH: 1.5-mile quad-oval
DATE: Friday, April 13, 2012
TV: ESPN2 (Coverage begins at 8 p.m. EST)
RADIO: PRN (8 p.m. EST)

DANICA PATRICK
“When you come back to these tracks, you do have to re-familiarize yourself a little bit. I think in this situation, I feel like I’ve learned the cars to the point where I can get up to speed quicker than what I used to. Understanding the mechanics of the car has helped me to be more confident going out there with certain techniques that I can use as a driver.

“I’m also a little bit smarter to know that we shouldn’t chase the car to start with. If we’re not up to speed, we may need to work on me a little bit because most of the time we start with a setup on the Go Daddy car that was good for me before.”

COLE WHITT
“Coming off the past two races, obviously we weren’t running where we needed to be. I don’t think it’s the fault of any one person, but sometimes a little change can be helpful. I’m excited to get to the track and work with Bruce (Cook).

“This is Bruce’s first race as my crew chief, but we’ve been working together since he joined JR Motorsports. He’s a great guy to bounce ideas off, and I’m looking forward to starting things off at Texas. We’ve been jelling well together and I think there is a lot of potential for success.

“Our TaxSlayer.com team needs to get back in the top-10 consistently. Not just through the race, either. I’m talking through practice, qualifying and the race. If we can do that, then we’ll start working on the top-fives. Running in the top-five puts you in contention to win races.”

DALE EARNHARDT JR.
“I’m back in the Nationwide car this weekend and looking forward to it. We’re running Degree Men on the car, and I appreciate their support of our entire race program. Texas is pretty special to me. I enjoy racing there and have good memories of the place. We won our first Nationwide race there back in ’98 and followed up with our first Cup win a few years later.

“We made some changes last week internally, switching the crew chiefs around. We’ll see if that works. Our teams need a boost. It’s been awhile since we’ve won a race, and we’re just not as competitive as we need to be. I think Cole Whitt will benefit from having Bruce Cook on his pit box. And for me personally, working again with Pops (Tony Eury Sr.) is always a good time. Hopefully we’ll have something for ’em this weekend.”

Notes

CREW CHIEF SWAP - JRM general manager and co-owner Kelley Earnhardt Miller announced last week that Tony Eury Sr. and Bruce Cook will swap crew chief roles on the Nos. 5 and 88 teams, beginning this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. Eury Sr., who has led JRM’s flagship No. 88 team as crew chief since 2007, will serve in the same capacity with the No. 5 team and driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. Likewise Bruce Cook, who came to JRM during the 2011 off season, will join rookie Cole Whitt and call the shots for the No. 88 team. Tony Eury Jr.’s role as crew chief of the No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet remains unchanged.

EURY SR. / DALE JR. COMBO - Tony Eury Sr. will be serving as Earnhardt Jr.’s crew chief for the first time since earning a fourth-place finish during the Nationwide Series’ Bristol night race in 2010. Prior to the 2010 season, the last time “Pops” was atop the pit box for Earnhardt Jr. in NNS competition was under the Dale Earnhardt, Inc. banner in 2007. The pair won 15 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races between 2000 and 2004 as well as Nationwide Series championships in 1998 and 1999.

TEXAS TWO STEP - Earnhardt Jr. is one of only two active drivers to earn his first victory in NASCAR’s top-two series at the same track according to NASCAR Statistical Services (Carl Edwards also accomplished the feat at Atlanta Motor Speedway). Earnhardt Jr. earned his first NASCAR Nationwide Series victory at Texas Motor Speedway in 1998, and followed up with his first Sprint Cup Series win at the same track in 2000.

START STRONG, FINISH STRONG - Earnhardt Jr. finds his name among the top-five in Nationwide Series competition at Texas in the following categories, according NASCAR Statistical Services: fastest on restarts (fourth), calculates the average speed of the first two laps under green, and fastest late in a run (fifth), ranks each driver during the last 25 percent of laps run since a pit stop.

1.5-MILE STRENGTHS - Patrick finished 11th at Texas Motor Speedway last fall. Her career tally of top-15 finishes stands at seven. Five of those seven top-15s were earned at 1.5-mile tracks.

EARNHARDT JR. IN NNS COMPETITION - Earnhardt Jr.’s Nationwide Series career statistics include 23 wins, 57 top-five and 78 top-10 finishes. He has earned 10 poles and led 3,343 laps, earning an average finish of 11.4 in 121 career races.

MEET EARNHARDT JR. AT WALMART STORE #5316 - Earnhardt Jr. will visit Walmart Store #5316 in Saginaw, Texas on Thursday, April 12 at 1:30 p.m. local time. On behalf of Unilever brands Degree Men and Hellmann’s, the JR Motorsports coowner and driver will sign autographs for 200 lucky fans. Wristband distribution begins at 11:30 a.m. local time Thursday morning at Walmart Store #5316.

PATRICK AND WHITT AUTOGRAPH SIGNINGS – Danica Patrick will be signing autographs at her merchandise hauler in the Texas Motor Speedway fan concourse area on Friday, April 13, beginning at 2:45 p.m. local time. The session is limited to the first 150 fans who acquire wristbands. Additionally, JRM’s newest driver Cole Whitt will be signing autographs at the JR Nation merchandise hauler, also located in the fan concourse area at Texas, on Friday, April 13, beginning at 5:30 p.m. local time.

WIN DALE JR.’S RIDE ROUND TWO - For the second consecutive year, The Dale Jr. Foundation will again be raffling off Dale Jr.’s ride. This time around it’s an inferno-orange colored 2011 Chevrolet Camaro. Raffle tickets are only $25 each and only 8,888 will be sold. The winner will be invited to JR Motorsports, where Dale Jr. will hand over the keys to their brand new car. The contest will run through Oct. 1, 2012 with all proceeds benefitting The Dale Jr. Foundation. For complete details about the car, a list of second and third-place prizes, and to purchase tickets visit www.windalejrsride.com.

EVENT: Royal Purple 300 (150 laps / 300 miles)
TRACK: Auto Club Speedway
LENGTH: 2-mile D-shaped oval
DATE: Saturday, March 24, 2012
TV: ESPN (Coverage begins at 5 p.m. EST)
RADIO: MRN (5:15 p.m. EST)

Race 4 of 33: Ford EcoBoost 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway
Track Specs: .533-mile oval / 300 laps
Weather: Cloudy; 74 deg.
Race Winner: Elliott Sadler
Earnhardt Jr.'s finish: 5th
Whitt's finish: 16th
Patrick's finish: 19th

Dale Earnhardt Jr. scored a top-five finish to spearhead the JR Motorsports effort in Saturday's Ford EcoBoost 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Earnhardt Jr. wheeled the TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet inside the top-10 by lap 100 and drove to sixth before the final caution. The caution forced the No. 5 team to choose between a four-tire or two-tire pit stop. Ultimately, the team opted for a two-tire stop, giving Earnhardt Jr. enough track position to finish fifth and leading to his seventh top-five finish at Bristol in Nationwide Series competition. Battling a tight racecar, rookie Cole Whitt finished 16th in his first outing at the bullring with the No. 88 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet. Danica Patrick, sporting the "lucky-themed" No. 7 Go Daddy Chevrolet accomplished her goal of finishing the 300-mile race with a 19th-place effort.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver No. 5 TaxSlayer.com team
"It was a lot of fun driving this car this weekend. There wasn't too much craziness out there. I was pleased with the speed the car had. We were fast all weekend. We took two tires on that last stop, and it was just a little too tight there at the end to really gain on the cars in front of us. I had fun racing Joey (Logano) there at the end. He was faster than we were, and I know he wanted to get up there and see if he had anything to Brad and Kasey in front of us. It was the end of the race and I was fighting for everything I could get. It was a good clean race (with Joey), and I had a lot of fun.

"I enjoy driving our JR Motorsports cars, and it's a lot of fun to carry TaxSlayer. They're great sponsors of ours, and I want to win for them. I guess this was about as uneventful a top-five as you can get, but it's still good to finish well and bring all our JR Motorsports cars home in one piece."

Cole Whitt, driver No. 88 HendrickCars.com team 
"It was frustrating for me out there today. Our HendrickCars.com team expected a lot more than a 16th-place finish. We were tight from the beginning and after we went a lap down, we just could never get it back. Track position is everything here. We'll just have to move on from this one. It's going to be a long season and I have to keep that in mind. I've got to thanks HendrickCars.com for coming on board for this race. I wish we could have done better finish for them."

Danica Patrick, driver No. 7 GoDaddy.com team 
"I was a little loose all day. It was hard to attack the corners, but then again I was good off the corners all day, which to me is what you always need first and foremost. So I had that. You know, I would've liked to been a little quicker. I would've liked to pass some more cars. But we made it to the end this time. Perhaps that's what the Irish gave us for luck today. I think any of the short tracks that I do, if we can just get to the end and make some progress through the race, that's good. I learned about running (different lines) out there. Ran high, ran low, we logged a lot of laps. It was a pretty good day for the GoDaddy team."

On Bristol being one of the toughest tracks:
"It's definitely true. It takes very consistent concentration to get through and not make mistakes. I feel like that's probably something that comes a little more naturally to me is the focus and concentration. I just have to get faster and qualify further up the grid and then just getting a little bit better race pace. I thought after first practice we were looking good, but we lost our way a little bit, and that's that. We got the Go Daddy car to the finish. Maybe we'll retire this beautiful green car."

EVENT: Ford EcoBoost 300 (300 laps / 159.9 miles)
TRACK: Bristol Motor Speedway
LENGTH: .533-mile concrete oval
DATE: Saturday, March 17, 2012
TV: ESPN (Coverage begins at 1 p.m. EST)
RADIO: PRN (1:30 p.m. EST)

Danica Patrick

GoDaddy.com Chevrolet

"Last year was my first trip to Bristol and I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed the racing and the track. My day ended a little early, but I still got quite a bit of racing in. I was still having my best short track race and I had never been there before. I won't ever forget walking on to the track the first time and seeing the banking.

"I'm very excited to run a St. Pat-rick's Day paint scheme on our Go Daddy car. It looks amazing. I hope everyone goes to DanicaGoesGreenAtBristol.com and checks out the cool St. Patrick's Day photos and videos as it relates to this weekend and the special paint scheme. "I need a good short-track finish. Short tracks have been my biggest hurdle. A good, honest finish this week at Bristol would really boost my confidence."

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet

"This is a big race for us and our sponsors. We try hard to put together cool programs that will get our sponsors the most bang for their buck, and I think you're seeing that from JR Motorsports across the board this weekend with all our teams. Danica's Go Daddy program is really cool, and Cole is running with HendrickCars.com this week. If we can drive business and keep Rick (Hendrick) happy, that works for all of us!

"This will be my second time in a TaxSlayer car this year. I want to put these guys in Victory Lane pretty bad. Bruce Cook (crew chief) and I are going to do everything we can. Bristol is fun. Bruce is pretty successful there, and I've had my share of success there. Hopefully we can put it all together and make it happen for TaxSlayer and JR Motorsports this week-end."

Cole Whitt

HendrickCars.com Chevrolet

"We're rolling off the truck this week with HendrickCars.com on our 88 Chevrolet. It's a great site and I've been on there a few times looking at pickup trucks. They also have a really cool sweepstakes going on right now, where a couple lucky fans can win a VIP experience at Indy this summer.

"These past couple weeks have been good, but I'm going to keep working on it, keep working on myself. I obviously have a lot to learn. Being a rookie, I'm going to learn throughout this entire season. I look forward to seeing how this year will progress.

"It's exciting to see Bristol on the schedule. What a cool race track it is. It's going to be important to get a good qualify-ing lap down. That's not the type of place where you can afford to qualify midpack. Track position is a huge deal at these types of short tracks."

JRM MAKES 350TH START - JR Motorsports will make its 350th Nationwide Series start this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. Since its first race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2005, the team has amassed nine victories, 70 top-five and 147 top-10 finishes. The company has also led 1,311 laps and earned seven poles during its eight years of competition.

GOING GREEN WITH DANICA - Patrick's No. 7 ride will feature a special lucky themed and shamrock-covered paint scheme to celebrate St. Patrick's Day at Bristol. JR Motorsports, Go Daddy and Bristol Motor Speedway collaborated to offer fans a special ticket package for the race, which also gives them access to a question-and-answer session with Patrick at Bristol on the morning of March 17. Fans will also receive a limited edition Danica / St. Patrick's Day event t-shirt, featuring the shamrock-themed No. 7 GoDaddy.com car. One lucky fan who purchases the package will win two hot passes and the opportunity to view the race from Patrick's pit box. Visit DanicaGoesGreenAtBristol.com for special .com deals and merchandise surrounding the event.

HENDRICKCARS.COM OFFERS INDY DREAM SWEEPSTAKES - HendrickCars.com is the best destination for online shoppers of cars, offering a selection of 20,000 new, used and classic automobiles. The site also offers CARFAX reports, nationwide delivery, and holds the distinction of housing one of the largest collections of manufacturer certified used cars in the world. Visit Hendrickcars.com for your chance to win the 2012 Indy Dream Weekend sweepstakes, which includes a VIP trip for two to the 2012 Brickyard 400.

BRISTOL 2011 RECAP - Earnhardt Jr. paced JR Motorsports' three-car effort with a third-place finish in this race last season. Earnhardt Jr. battled back from two laps down, thanks in part to pit strategy and hard racing. With 64 laps remaining, Earnhardt Jr. engaged in a terrific three-car battle for second place, before being pushed high and settling for third.

ROOKIE BATTLE TIGHTENS - Rookie Cole Whitt has earned one top-five and two top-10 finishes in his first three starts in 2012. He also landed Sunoco Rookie of the Race honors in two of those three events, ranking him second in the rookie standings. He trails leader Austin Dillon by four points.

CAREER STATS - Earnhardt Jr.'s Nationwide Series career statistics include 23 wins, 56 top-five and 77 top-10 finishes. He has earned 10 poles and led 3,343 laps, earning an average finish of 11.4 in 120 career races.

EARNHARDT JR. WEEKEND SWEEPS - Earnhardt Jr. raced to three weekend sweeps during his Nationwide and Sprint Cup career to date. He swept the spring Talladega races in 2003, the season-opening Daytona events in 2004, and most recently, the Bristol night races in 2004.

CHASSIS INFO FOR EARNHARDT JR. - Earnhardt Jr. will pilot chassis number 683 at Bristol. 683 was raced twice by the 88 team in 2011 in races at Iowa II and Kansas, earning an average finish of 8.5.

CHASSIS INFO FOR PATRICK - Patrick drives chassis number 607 this weekend. 607 ran at Chicagoland, Montreal and Phoenix II last season. She drove it to a 10th-place finish at Chicagoland in 2011.

CHASSIS INFO FOR WHITT - The 88 team unloads chassis number 626 for Whitt at Bristol. 626 raced predominantly at 1.5-mile facilities in 2011. The team raced 626 to two top-five and five top-10 finishes last year, including a season-best fourth place showing at the second event in Chicago.

JRM AUTOGRAPH SIGNINGS - Don't miss the opportunity to meet JRM's newest driver Cole Whitt. Whitt will sign autographs at the JR Nation merchandise hauler, located in the fan concourse area at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday, March 17, beginning at 9:30 a.m. local time.

Race 3 of 33: Sam's Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Track Specs: 1.5-mile tri-oval / 200 laps
Weather: Sunny; 74 deg.
Race Winner: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Whitt's finish: 6th
Patrick's finish: 12th

Cole Whitt landed his second top-10 finish in three races to lead the JR Motorsports teams in Saturday's Sam's Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Whitt and the TaxSlayer.com team raced as high as third after overcoming a mishap in practice that forced the team to repair cosmetic damages to their machine prior to qualifying. The 20-year-old took full advantage of a pair of restarts to finish sixth, earning him Sunoco Rookie of the Race honors. Danica Patrick and the GoDaddy.com team made solid gains throughout the race. She raced inside the top-10 for a time, driving to sixth by lap 150, but lost critical track position in the closing laps to finish 12th. The finish earned Patrick six positions in the championship standings.

Danica Patrick, driver No. 7 GoDaddy.com team
"I guess today was one of those days where I feel like the result probably didn't show for how I felt in the car. The Go Daddy car was definitely loose to start, but once we got that together, the middle of the race it was really coming to me.

"At the end, I got tight. That was the problem. Tony (Eury Jr.) knew it was coming, but we had done so many corrections for loose early on, that you get a little scared to go too far back the other direction. It didn't lose us too much track position, but we made it a little bit freer for that last stop. It still wasn't quite enough, though. It was a solid day. I wish I could have gotten a top-10 because that was my goal."

Cole Whitt, driver No. 88 TaxSlayer.com team
"I've learned more in these first three races than probably in my career so far. It has been wild and I just wish for a little less drama for these next couple ones. I mean, first with Daytona, then getting into the wall in practice. But these guys did a great job on our TaxSlayer Chevrolet. They got it fixed up. Nobody really gave up, which is awesome.

"It wasn't easy. We had a little bit of a rough qualifying lap. That's what was cool about it. The team really stuck behind me and we worked hard and got all the way up to the top three there at the end. I've got to thank Pops and everybody at JR Motorsports. It's been great."

EVENT: Sam's Town 300 (200 laps / 300 miles)
TRACK: Las Vegas Motor Speedway
LENGTH: 1.5-mile tri-oval
DATE: Saturday, March 10, 2012
TV: ESPN2 (Coverage begins at 5 p.m. EST)
RADIO: PRN (4:30 p.m. EST)

Danica Patrick GoDaddy.com Chevrolet

"I was frustrated at the end of last week's race. No one on our Go Daddy team was happy with that finish and we shouldn't have been. When you look back on it, it's one of those days that's a character builder.

"I think the expectation for this week is a top-10 finish. We ran well on the mile and halves last year. I get along better with the banked tracks with more grip. They're a little more of a translation from my experience in IndyCar. That's why Texas and Vegas and places like that are good for me because that's more of what I am used to.

"I still have work to do with the short tracks. We've got another one coming up next week at Bristol and those types of tracks are a big part of the this sched-ule, so it's critical that I get more familiar with them and the type of racing that they offer."

Notes

FIRST FOR JRM - JR Motorsports' first company victory came in Nationwide Series competition at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 1, 2008 with Mark Martin. Mar-tin qualified 17th and led 12 laps en route to his 48th career victory.

RECORD RUN - After a fourth-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last season, Patrick and the No. 7 Go Daddy team broke the 62-year-old record for highest finish-ing female in a NASCAR national series race. The previous record was held by Sara Christian, who finished fifth at Heidelberg Raceway (Pa.) on Oct. 2, 1949. Patrick also became the first female to score a top-five finish in a Nationwide Series race.

PATRICK AND WHITT APPEARANCE AT THE PALMS - JRM drivers Danica Patrick and Cole Whitt will participate in an autograph session on Friday, March 9 from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. local time at the Palms Casino Resort located at 4321 W. Fla-mingo Road in Las Vegas. Only 200 tickets will be distributed. Limited to one ticket per person. For more information on how to obtain a ticket for the session contact the Palms Casino Resort at 702.942.7777.

GOING GREEN - Patrick's No. 7 Chevrolet will feature a DanicaGoesGreenAtBristol.com decklid logo this weekend in Las Ve-gas. Visit the website for a special preview of the "Lucky-Themed" Go Daddy ride that Patrick will race at Bristol Motor Speedway next weekend. JR Motorsports, Go Daddy and Bristol Motor Speedway have all collaborated to offer fans special ticket packages, .com deals and merchandise surrounding the event.

ROOKIE BATTLE - Whitt is currently in second position in the Sunoco Rookie-of-the-Year point standings, trailing Austin Dillon by six points.

GET TO KNOW COLE - Check out Part Two of the "Get to Know Cole Whitt" video series, exclusively on www.JRMracing.com. Watch as Cole talks through his early days in racing, his competitive drive and what life is like for the 20-year-old away from the track.

MORE JRM AUTOGRAPH SIGNINGS - Don't miss the opportunity to meet JRM's newest driver Cole Whitt. Whitt will sign autographs at the JR Nation merchandise hauler, located in the fan concourse area at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Satur-day, March 10, beginning at 9:30 a.m. local time.

NEW DALE JR.COM UNVEILED - JR Motorsports recently unveiled the new official site of Dale Earnhardt Jr., www.dalejr.com. The completely redesigned and overhauled site is packed full of interactive content, including an all-new video series entitled "On the Run with Dale Jr.", an insider's look at the complex and hectic world of NASCAR's Most Popular Driver. Also included are exclusive photo galleries, news, and information on Dale Jr.'s personal interests. Fans can also relive the glory of Earnhardt Jr.'s Sprint Cup victories through a career timeline, featuring detailed descriptions on each win.

FIVE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY FOR THE DALE JR. FOUNDATION - This year is a milestone for The Dale Jr. Foundation (TDJF), marking the fifth year since its founding. Since 2007, the TDJF has offered support to communities both locally and nation-ally, focusing on hunger, education, empowerment, wellness and hope. In honor of five years of giving, TDJF is asking sup-porters to donate $5 this year and help reach even more families and individuals in need. For more information and to make a contribution visit www.thedalejrfoundation.org.

Race 2 of 33: Bashas' Supermarkets 200 at Phoenix International Raceway
Track Specs: 1-mile tri-oval / 200 laps
Weather: Sunny; 64 deg.
Race Winner: Elliott Sadler
Whitt's finish: 13th
Patrick's finish: 21st

The JR Motorsports teams of Cole Whitt and Danica Patrick concluded Saturday's Bashas' Supermarkets 200 at Phoenix International Raceway with finishes of 13th and 21st. The ultra-smooth racing surface and tire compound led to most teams wrestling with loose conditions. Whitt ran lap times comparable to the top-six cars in the No. 88 Chevrolet, but lacked the track position crucial at the one-mile oval. The TaxSlayer.com team gambled on a two-tire pit stop on lap 164 that didn't play to their favor. Whitt finished 13th. Handling conditions were also prevalent with Patrick and the GoDaddy.com team. Patrick still managed to improve nine positions from her starting spot, finishing in 21st.

Danica Patrick, driver No. 7 GoDaddy.com team
"It was a frustrating day out there. I'm disappointed we couldn't do better for Go Daddy at their home track. Our car was loose from the very beginning to the final lap. We were in a bit of a hole based on our qualifying lap and we couldn't dig ourselves out of it. 197 laps of short track racing today definitely helps me though. I'll take all the short track experience I can get and today was good for that."

Cole Whitt, driver No. 88 TaxSlayer.com team
"Man, I've got to give Pops and everyone on this TaxSlayer team credit for all their hard work this weekend. We weren't the only ones loose today. Everyone was dealing with that issue. We made the right call, taking two tires on that last stop � track position is everything here. It just didn't pan out the way we thought. We're not happy with 13th, but all-in-all, it isn't too bad. We'll look to do much better in Vegas next week."

DANICA PATRICK
"Wow, Daytona. . . yeah, we had quite a first week down there, but the good news is it's a long season and this Go Daddy team is really strong. I have a lot of fun with this group, starting at the top with Tony (Eury) Jr. It was so neat to see him smiling after we won the pole at Daytona. We know we're going to have our ups and downs on the track this year. That's just part of the learning process. My goal is to get better each and every week, and if I do that we'll have many more ups than downs.

"Ever since the Daytona race ended the way it did, I've been anxious to get back into my Nationwide car. To be able to do it at Go Daddy's home track is very cool. Hopefully we'll see a lot of folks from Go Daddy cheering for us at PIR this weekend. They might be the good luck we need to climb back into the points race. "

COLE WHITT
"It was a wild race last week at Daytona. To come out of there with a fourth-place finish was big for our team. It was a solid points day and a great way to start off the season. I keep thinking if I could have missed that last lap wreck, we were in a great position to win. That would have been huge.

"Obviously, the incident with the 7 still bothers me, but I've got to keep my head in the game because it's a long season. Danica and I talked after the race. I wanted to let her and Tony (Eury) Jr. know I was sorry. These teams at JR Motorsports are extremely tight, and it's an honor to be a part of it and an honor to be teammates with Danica. We'll move on to Phoenix this weekend and hopefully have both our teams run well and finish strong. "

Notes

WHITT AND PHOENIX - Whitt has three starts at Phoenix International Raceway (PIR), one in each of NASCAR's top three series. The 20-year-old made his Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series debuts at PIR. His best finish is sixth in the Camping World Truck Series last spring.

PATRICK EARNS JRM'S FIRST DAYTONA POLE - By earning last week's pole at Daytona, Patrick became the first woman since Shawna Robinson in March 1994, to win a NASCAR pole. It also marked JRM's first pole since Nov. 12, 2011, when Aric Almirola won the pole at PIR. The effort was also the team's seventh pole award since entering NNS competition in 2005.

SHORT TRACK INSTINCTS - JR Motorsports combined to score five top-five and 10 top-10 finishes in short track events last season. In its most recent race at PIR, the No. 88 team took the pole and led the initial 66 laps of the 200-lap event.

WHITT LEADS ROOKIE BATTLE - On the cusp of a fourth-place finish in the season opening race, Whitt is currently leading the Sunoco Rookie-of-the-Year point standings by two markers over Austin Dillon.

INTRODUCING COLE - Check out the "Get to Know Cole Whitt" video series, exclusively on www.JRMracing.com. Watch as Cole talks through his early days in racing, his competitive drive and what life is like for the 20-year-old away from the track.

JRM AUTOGRAPH SIGNINGS - Don't miss the opportunity to meet JRM's newest driver Cole Whitt. Whitt will sign autographs at the JR Nation merchandise hauler, located in the fan concourse area at Phoenix International Raceway on Saturday, March 3, from 10 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. local time.

NEW DALE JR.COM UNVEILED - JR Motorsports unveiled last week the new official site of Dale Earnhardt Jr., www.dalejr.com. The completely redesigned and overhauled site is packed full of interactive content, including an all-new video series entitled "On the Run with Dale Jr. ", an insider's look at the complex and hectic world of NASCAR's Most Popular Driver. Also included are exclusive photo galleries, news, and information on Dale Jr. 's personal interests. Fans can also relive the glory of Earnhardt Jr. 's Sprint Cup victories through a career timeline, featuring detailed descriptions on each win.

FIVE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY FOR THE DALE JR. FOUNDATION - This year marks a milestone for The Dale Jr. Foundation (TDJF), marking the fifth year since its founding. Since 2007, the TDJF has offered support to communities both locally and nationally, focusing on hunger, education, empowerment, wellness and hope. In honor of five years of giving, TDJF is asking supporters to donate $5 this year and help reach even more families and individuals in need. For more information and to make a contribution visit www.thedalejrfoundation.org.

Date: Feb. 27, 2012
Event: 54th Daytona 500 (Round 1 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway (2.5-mile oval)
Start/Finish: 29th / 38th (Running, completed 138 of 202 laps)
Winner: Matt Kenseth of Roush Fenway Racing (Ford) in a green-white-checkered finish

Danica Patrick was caught in a multi-car accident not of her making on the third lap of Monday night's rain-delayed 54th Daytona 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway and finished a disappointing 38th.

Patrick qualified 29th but dropped to the rear of the field at the start of the event per NASCAR rules as a crash in Thursday's Gatorade Duel Qualifying race forced her to a back-up car. Patrick drives the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet Impala for Tommy Baldwin Racing (TBR) via a collaborative agreement with Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR).

Unfortunately, Patrick never got the chance to settle into the race's rhythm. As she entered the first turn on lap three, the front of Elliott Sadler's Chevrolet hit the back of five-time Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson's Chevrolet and sent him nose first into the outside retaining wall.

While trying to avoid the accident in front of her, Patrick and David Ragan made contact and began to spin, causing both to hit the wounded car of Johnson. Patrick's car suffered heavy damage, and she was forced to drive the garage for repairs.

For more than one hour, the Go Daddy team worked to repair the car, including replacing the entire rear-end, while also fixing cosmetic damage to several portions of her Chevrolet. Patrick returned to the 2.5-mile oval on Lap 65, 62 laps behind the leaders and in 40th position.

From there, she and race strategist Greg Zipadelli decided that logging laps, getting valuable seat time and experiencing live pit stops were all that could be salvaged from a disappointing day.

"Any lap that I turn is progression, that's for sure," Patrick said. "That's why I was so proud of everyone working so hard. They were working hard to get me back on the track. Was there much to gain as far as position? No. What there was to gain was for me to get the experience of running out there. We ran in packs for a while. The car is a little bent up. Honestly, it didn't feel perfect. So as it got later and later in the race, I didn't want to have an influence on it. I didn't want something to happen to it or break and shoot across the track.

"I kind of feel like I almost need to put the whole week in perspective; it's just been up and down. Everything from running good in the Duels to crashing on the last lap, to qualifying on the pole, to running well in the Nationwide (race) to crashing; and a lot of this stuff obviously is out of your control at times. And that's kind of the exciting time about Daytona and big tracks is that anything can happen and will happen, as we've seen. But I learned a lot. I got a lot of experience, and I'm really proud of the Go Daddy crew putting the car back together. They had to do some welding and whatnot. But I got back out there. It felt all right considering the fact that they were welding; I think it felt really good."

Matt Kenseth won the Daytona 500 to score his 22nd career Sprint Cup victory and his second win in the Great American Race.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished .210 of a second behind Kenseth in the runner-up spot, while Greg Biffle, Denny Hamlin and Jeff Burton rounded out the top-five. Paul Menard, Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards, Joey Logano and Mark Martin comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were 10 caution periods for 42 laps, with 11 drivers failing to finish the 202-lap race, which was extended two laps past its originally scheduled distance by a green-white-checkered finish.

The red flag was displayed for a bizarre incident on lap 160 when Juan Pablo Montoya exited pit road, lost control of his car on the backstretch and hit one of the jet dryers in turn three. The jet dryer erupted into flames, and the fire quickly spread down the track toward the grass. It took several minutes for safety workers to extinguish the fire and then there was a lengthy cleanup and track repair process. The red flag was displayed for two hours, five minutes and 29 seconds.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Subway Fresh Fit 500k on Sunday, March 4 at Phoenix International Raceway. The race starts at 3 p.m. EST, with live coverage provided by FOX beginning with its pre-race show at 2:30 p.m.

DANICA PATRICK

"Anytime someone asks what it will take to be a success in my first fulltime year in stock cars, it's really a trick question for me. It's hard for me to give an answer because I don't want to feel like I've failed anyone or myself. It's very much about each weekend in and of itself. It's about where you're at going into the race and what you feel like you're capable of. If you can live up to, or exceed that, then it's a great weekend.

"But for sure, I'd really like to get to victory lane. I want to win in the Nationwide Series. That will definitely help me feel like a success. Running up front and running consistent, and being in the top-five or top-10 all season long is a realistic goal."

COLE WHITT

"Racing around Daytona is something you dream about as a kid growing up. And here I am with an opportunity to be in a JR Motorsports Chevrolet with Tony Eury Sr. as a crew chief, and the number 88 on the side panels. It really is a dream come true for me. Now it's my job to make something happen with our Hellmann's Chevrolet.

"I'm more confident than anything heading into Daytona. I just need the season to start so I can stop beating my head against the wall during the off weekends. I just want to go racing.

"The drafting at Daytona in the Nationwide cars will also be new for me. With Dale Jr.'s coaching to lean on, I think I should pick it up fairly quickly."

DALE EARNHARDT JR.

"I'm looking forward to working with Bruce Cook for the first time. He came to JR Motorsports in the off-season and has made a big impact already, just in working with Tony Sr. and Tony Jr. in getting our cars faster. He's a level-headed guy, and he's obviously had a lot of success. He won this race with Tony Stewart last year, so he knows how to get around Daytona.

"I go into these (NNS) races with only one mindset � that's to win. I want to win for TaxSlayer. Those guys are great partners of ours. To get their car to Victory Lane would be pretty awesome.

"I'm not sure what type of drafting to expect. Obviously these cars are a different package than the Cup cars. Either way I expect to be fast and go to the front."

Notes

WHITT THE NEWEST ADDITION - The offseason was an eventful one for JRM. The team's latest addition brings 20-year-old Cole Whitt into the fold. Whitt, a native of Alpine, Calif., embarks on his debut season piloting JRM's flagship No. 88 Chevrolet. He'll compete for the season championship and rookie-of-the-year honors in 2012.

THREE-CAR LINEUP FOR TEAM JRM - JR Motorsports has three teams entered for Saturday's DRIVE4COPD 300. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Danica Patrick and Cole Whitt combine to give the organization three entries in the season opener for the second consecutive year.

WELCOME DANICA FULL-TIME - After completing 25 races in NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) competition through the previous two seasons, 2012 will see Patrick drive the circuit fulltime. She'll compete in 33 NNS events this year, including a notable start at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway this summer.

LOOKING TO TIE THE LEGEND AT DAYTONA - Six NNS wins at Daytona give both Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart the most among active drivers. The two trail the overall leader, Earnhardt Sr. by just one win. In both Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series competition Earnhardt Jr. owns 18 top-five and 25 top-10 finishes, with two poles and 917 laps led at the facility.

GET TO KNOW COLE WHITT - Whitt comes to JRM fresh off his first full season in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. He concluded 2011 with two top-five, 11 top-10 finishes and one pole (Darlington) en route to a ninth-place finish in the championship points. In 2006, he claimed the USAC rookie of the year title. Two years later he won the USAC National Championship, becoming the youngest national champion.

DAYTONA FRONT RUNNER - In the past 14 NNS races at Daytona, Earnhardt Jr. ranks in the top-five in the following categories according to NASCAR Statistical Services: laps in top-15 (ranked fourth at 77.3%), green-flag passes (ranked fifth with 1,233), fastest laps run (ranked first with 78). In the past three restrictor plate races he's driven, Earnhardt Jr. has one win (Daytona, 2010), two top-five and three top-10 finishes. He's led 49 laps with an average finish of 4.3.

EARNHARDT FAMILY AT DAYTONA - The Earnhardt family owns 47 wins at the historic 2.5-mile speedway. Earnhardt Sr. secured 34 wins, with Earnhardt Jr. supplying 13 victories to the list.

BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK WINS IN SEASON OPENER - Earnhardt Jr. earned three consecutive victories from 2002 through 2004 in the Nationwide Series season opener at Daytona. Averaging a starting position of 4.6, Earnhardt Jr. led a total of 173 laps in those events.

JRM AUTOGRAPH SIGNINGS - Don't miss the opportunity to meet JRM's newest driver Cole Whitt. Whitt will sign autographs at the JR Nation merchandise hauler, located in the fan concourse area at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, Feb. 25, from 10:45 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. EST.

NEW DALE JR.COM UNVEILED - JR Motorsports unveiled last week the new official site of Dale Earnhardt Jr., www.dalejr.com. The completely redesigned and overhauled site is packed full of interactive content, including an all-new video series entitled "On the Run with Dale Jr.", an insider's look at the complex and hectic world of NASCAR's Most Popular Driver. Also included are exclusive photo galleries, news, and information on Dale Jr.'s personal interests. Fans can also relive the glory of Earnhardt Jr.'s Sprint Cup victories through a career timeline, featuring detailed descriptions on each win.

FIVE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY FOR THE DALE JR. FOUNDATION - This year marks a milestone for The Dale Jr. Foundation (TDJF), marking the fifth year since its founding. Since 2007, the TDJF has offered support to communities both locally and nationally, focusing on hunger, education, empowerment, wellness and hope. In honor of five years of giving, TDJF is asking supporters to donate $5 this year and help reach even more families and individuals in need. For more information and to make a contribution visit www.thedalejrfoundation.org.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 24, 2012) - Danica Patrick became the first woman in nearly 18 years to win a NASCAR pole award, as she posted the fastest time in Coors Light Pole Qualifying for the NASCAR Nationwide Series DRIVE4COPD 300 Friday on auto racing's biggest stage - Daytona International Speedway.

Patrick and the JR Motorsports No. 7 GoDaddy.com team registered a lap of 182.741 mph (49.25 seconds) to earn the No. 1 starting position for Saturday's race. In doing so, Patrick became the first woman to win a pole award for a NASCAR sanctioned race since Shawna Robinson on March 11, 1994, at Atlanta Motor Speedway. This marks the first pole award for JR Motorsports at Daytona and seventh overall since entering Nationwide Series competition in 2005.

"This feels so good," Patrick said. "I'm very happy for JR Motorsports and Go Daddy. Both have been so supportive of me. And I'm happy for (crew chief) Tony Eury Jr. He puts so much effort into the speedway cars and he's so good at them, yet he had never won a pole at Daytona. He came up to me and said 'Something I've never done!' I'm just happy that I could turn the wheel and push the pedal down, and now we're on the pole!"

All three JR Motorsports teams will start the DRIVE4COPD 300 in the top eight. Team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. qualified fourth in the No. 5 Taxslayer.com Chevrolet with a speed of 182.593 mph. Cole Whitt qualified the No. 88 Hellmann's Chevrolet eighth with a speed of 182.109 mph.

"This is a great day for our company, our sponsors, our fans, and everyone associated with JR Motorsports," said Kelley Earnhardt Miller, co-owner and general manager of JR Motorsports. "All the employees have worked so hard in the off-season to put out a product that our sponsors and fans can be proud of. That includes everyone in the shop and everyone in the front offices. To have Danica come out of the box like this and win a pole at Daytona is very special. I couldn't be more proud of her, Tony Eury Jr., and the entire team. We are looking forward to a great race and great season."

Patrick has competed on a limited basis for JR Motorsports for two years, but this marks her first full season with the team co-owned by Earnhardt Jr., Eury Jr., Earnhardt-Miller and Rick Hendrick. Last year she became the highest-finishing female in NASCAR national touring series history with her fourth place at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 5, 2011.

"Go Daddy's Danica Patrick is an icon of racing and isn't afraid to go after what she wants," said Go Daddy Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Executive Vice President Barb Rechterman. "As her sponsor, Go Daddy believed in Danica from the start. She's as competitive and focused as anyone you'll meet and we love that about her."

As the 34th qualifier on Friday, Patrick had to patiently wait out the qualifying runs of Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, and 13 others. No one could match her time, although reigning Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne came within .007 seconds of it.

The NASCAR Nationwide Series DRIVE4COPD 300 will start at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday with ESPN providing live television coverage. ESPN's pre-race show "NASCAR Countown" will start at Noon ET.

Date: Feb. 23, 2012
Event: Race No. 1 of the Gatorade Duel at Daytona (non-point qualifying races for the 54th Daytona 500)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway (2.5-mile oval)
Start/Finish: 17th / 16th (Accident, completed 59 of 60 laps)
Winners: Gatorade Duel No. 1 - Tony Stewart of Stewart-Haas Racing (Chevrolet)
Gatorade Duel No. 2 - Matt Kenseth of Roush Fenway Racing (Ford)

Danica Patrick walked away from a nasty accident on the final lap of the first Gatorade Duel qualifying race Thursday at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, finishing a disappointing 16th in the 60-lap event. Patrick earned the 29th starting spot in Sunday's 54th Daytona 500, but she will be forced to race in her backup car and move to the rear of the field before the start, per NASCAR rules.

Patrick is driving the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet Impala for Tommy Baldwin Racing (TBR) via a collaborative agreement with Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR).

Forty-nine NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers were split among the two Duels, putting 25 drivers in the first 150-mile race at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway and 24 drivers in the second 150-mile race.

Patrick was in 14th place and exiting turn two on lap 60 when the Ford of Aric Almirola was hit by another car. Almirola's car, which was on the outside of Patrick's GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, was forced into the right side of Patrick's car.

The resulting contact sent Patrick's machine into 180-degree spin across the infield pavement before she made heavy contact with the SAFER Barrier on the inside backstretch wall with the right front of her machine. The car was extensively damaged, but Patrick walked away from the accident and was checked and released from the infield care center.

"I'm betting that everybody that was watching on TV probably had the best look," Patrick said. "From my perspective, it was obviously the last lap and the bottom lane started moving well, so that is where I was. We were just getting our run down the back, and all of a sudden I got hit. I'm betting that somebody also got hit outside of me. I'm going to have to look.

"It was just a chain reaction. Every person that gets hit, next and next and next. It gets bigger and bigger. It felt like a pretty big hit, so I don't know what it looked like. I'm really just bummed out that we didn't finish the last two corners. Instead we have a Go Daddy car in the wall and lots of damage. But maybe the backup car will be faster."

Patrick, who started 17th, still gained valuable experience in her first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.

"If that would have happened at the beginning (of the race), it would have been very frustrating to not have that experience," Patrick said. "I was definitely picking up a lot about the side drafting and about which lanes move well. How to just pick up the draft in front of me without pushing it away and trying to stay in a nice pocket there. Of course, I'm going to go back, and I'm going to be asking what I need to do. I'm definitely asking Tony (Stewart) what to do.

"At times it was much calmer than I expected, to be honest. At times when we got single file or just very steady, two-lane racing, it was pretty calm. I felt like I learned a lot. I felt like I learned a lot about the side draft and what to do in those situations and get the most out of it."

Tony Stewart, driver-owner of SHR, crossed the stripe ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr., as the checkered and caution flags waved simultaneously. Stewart collected his third Gatorade Duel win, with the others coming in 2005 and 2007.

Marcos Ambrose finished third. Jeff Burton and Carl Edwards rounded out the top-five, while the rest of the top-10 consisted of Michael McDowell, Kevin Harvick, A.J. Allmendinger, Robby Gordon and Jamie McMurray.

Matt Kenseth won the second Gatorade Duel by .209 of a second over Regan Smith. Jimmie Johnson, Elliott Sadler and Greg Biffle took spots three through five. The rest of the top-10 consisted of Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, SHR's Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne.

With the Gatorade Duel races now complete, the field for the Daytona 500 is set. Edwards is on the pole, with Roush Fenway Racing teammate Biffle sharing the front row. Both drivers locked in front-row spots for the Daytona 500 after producing the two quickest laps during time trials Sunday, Feb. 19.

Failing to qualify today for the Daytona 500 were Bill Elliott, Robert Richardson Jr., J.J. Yeley, Kenny Wallace, Mike Wallace and Michael Waltrip.

The Daytona 500 gets underway at 1 p.m. EST Sunday, Feb. 26, with live coverage provided by FOX beginning with its pre-race show at noon.

KANNAPOLIS, N.C., (Feb. 14, 2012) - On March 6, 2005, Danica Patrick made her IZOD IndyCar Series debut driving for three-time IndyCar Series champion Bobby Rahal in a 300-mile event at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Slightly less than seven years later, Patrick will make her NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut 296 miles to the north of Homestead when she takes part in the 54th Daytona 500 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.

And once again, a three-time series champion - this time Tony Stewart, who captured Sprint Cup titles in 2002, 2005 and 2011 - will mentor Patrick as she adjusts to a full-time, stock-car racing schedule. Patrick is slated to compete in 10 Sprint Cup races in the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet while also participating in a full NASCAR Nationwide Series schedule for JR Motorsports, owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr.

The road to Daytona from Homestead wasn't simply a drive up I-95 on the east side of Florida but rather an incredible journey for Patrick, who has become widely known simply by her first name.

Since that sunny day in March 2005, the Go Daddy Girl has set numerous records and twice appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated, making her just the fourth racecar driver (Jimmie Johnson, Earnhardt Jr., and Al Unser being the others) to grace the cover of the famous magazine two times.

In April 2008, Patrick became the first woman to win a major-league open-wheel race in a North American series with her win in the IndyCar Series Indy Japan 300 at the Twin Ring Motegi oval in Japan. Six times, she finished in the top-10 in points in the IndyCar standings, including a fifth-place result in 2009 - the best ever by a woman.

But nowhere did Patrick perform better than on the biggest IndyCar Series stage of all - the Indianapolis 500. She burst onto the scene at Indy in May 2005 when she stunned the world by leading three times for 19 laps and finishing fourth in her first "500" - becoming the first woman to lead laps and score a top-five finish in the historic race.

She set numerous records during her Indianapolis 500 debut and set the tone early when she posted the fastest lap on the opening day of practice. She went on to set the fastest practice lap five times

throughout the month - more than any other driver - including Pole Day and Carburetion Day.

Patrick's practice lap of 229.880 mph on Pole Day was the fastest of any driver during the month and the fastest turned by any woman in the history of Indianapolis Motor Speedway. During her qualification attempt, Patrick made an impressive save as her car bobbled in turn one on her first lap, earning her rave reviews for her car control by longtime Speedway observers. She ended up qualifying fourth, the best-ever starting position for a woman in the race.

On race day, with 11 laps remaining in the 200-lap event, Patrick blew past leader Dan Wheldon and held the point until lap 194, when she was forced to slow down in order to conserve fuel to make it to the finish. Her efforts earned her Rookie of the Year honors.

Patrick scored six top-10 finishes in seven starts at Indianapolis and qualified 10th or better five times. Her third-place result in 2009 is the best finish ever for a woman in the history of the Indianapolis 500.

As the scene switches this month to the historic Daytona 500, it's easy to notice numerous similarities to the Indy 500. Both are conducted on 2.5-mile ovals, both are 200 laps and both are 500 miles in length. Both events have more lead-up on the racetrack than any other race (Indianapolis is two weeks in duration, Daytona is 10 days) and a victory in either race can change a career.

There are differences, as well, and none bigger than the style of racing. Speeds at Indianapolis approach 220 mph in open-wheel, open-cockpit, rear-engine racecars that weigh about 1,600 pounds. Speeds at Daytona are in the 190-mph range in cars that weigh 3,400 pounds and look more like the standard street car with an enclosed driver compartment and the engine situated in front.

During the Indianapolis 500, cars tend to spread out a bit more with the majority of the passing taking place at the end of the 5/8-mile front and back straightaways. At Daytona over the years, it's typical to see either one, long pack of cars circling the oval (restrictor-plate-style "pack" racing) or, in recent years since the repave of the facility in 2010, a two-car "tandem draft," in which pairs of cars align themselves in a draft to make headway toward the front of the field together.

Whichever style of racing will be most prevalent at Daytona this year, it will be different than what Patrick was used to at Indianapolis. However, she has plenty of drafting experience, having competed in one Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) race and three NASCAR Nationwide Series events at Daytona. Both series are feeder systems to the premier Sprint Cup Series.

In her most recent outing at Daytona in July 2011, Patrick worked with Stewart in a two-car draft during the Nationwide Series race and led 13 of 100 laps en route to an impressive 10th-place finish.

While the focus at Daytona this month will be to gain experience and continue her stock-car education, Patrick and the Go Daddy team are still focused on winning. And, why not, when one considers that Trevor Bayne, making just his second Sprint Cup Series start and his first at Daytona, shocked the racing world by winning last year's Daytona 500?

It's been an incredible journey for Patrick since March 2005 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and she's hoping another exciting chapter in her career begins not too far up the road at Daytona.

DANICA PATRICK, Driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet:

What are your overall thoughts heading to Daytona?

"Well, with Daytona, it's a big track. It's an easy track to drive. If you have a fast car, you're going to probably go to the front. I think my inexperience is less of an issue because the car is easy to drive. For me, at a place like Daytona, it reminds me of racing Indy cars. It reminds me of our mile-and-a-half racing, where we'd always be in a pack. There was no bump drafting in IndyCar. That took some getting used to a little bit."

What are your thoughts on the length of the races in NASCAR compared to IndyCar?

"It is a bit of an adjustment getting used to the length of the races. Not so much the distance as it is the amount of hours that you're in the car. When I heard the old stories of people who had snacks in the racecars, I thought it was a joke. But I don't think it's a joke, anymore. I really think there are snacks in the car. So maybe it will be that. Maybe it's making sure I have the right drink in my drink bottle so it keeps me sharp. Whether it's carbohydrates or proteins, I'll leave that up to my trainer to figure that out. Also, focusing on hydration and rest, and making sure that, nutritionally, I'm putting the right thing into my body. As far as working out, I have a feeling the number of races will provide workouts of their own. But I'll keep working out like I normally do."

Can you talk about your long relationship with Go Daddy?

"I was thinking about this the other day. It's really perfect because I am a girl so, therefore, I am a Go Daddy Girl. I enjoy getting made up, and I enjoy being feminine and girly. But then, I also enjoy being in the racecar and being tough. So I think it's that blend of the two - Jillian (Michaels, fellow Go Daddy Girl) said it so well - that strong women can be sexy and soft and beautiful. She said that really well. It's fun to do that. I think something people don't know about me is how much I like being a girl when I'm outside of the racecar, and how much I like getting made up and doing photo shoots and things like that. They're really the perfect sponsor. We have a lot of fun. We poke fun at not only ourselves, but everything, and we try to make people laugh a little."

In IndyCar racing you never competed in more than 17 races in a season and, in 2010, you competed in 32 races between IndyCar, the NASCAR Nationwide Series, NASCAR K&N Pro Series and ARCA. This year, you're scheduled to compete in 43 races with 33 in Nationwide and 10 in Sprint Cup. Can you talk about the number of races you'll participate in?

"Well the schedule itself was a little intimidating to me back in my early IndyCar days. I didn't know how anybody did that many races in a year. But, as time went on, and I adjusted to the schedule of being a professional racecar driver and balancing all the other things that go with it and then introducing a dozen or so NASCAR races to my IndyCar season, all of a sudden, that took me to 30 race weekends. It's not necessarily the amount of racing that happens in the weekend that's so overwhelming, it's the travel. It's the weekends. It's the time that you take away from home. So, going from 30 to 34, 35-ish race weekends are not that big of an adjustment. While there will be a lot more racing with 43 events or 43 races, it's not 43 weekends, so I'm comfortable. I'm ready for it. At the end of the day, when you're having fun with something, you want to do it. So I'm ready."

Can you talk about Tony Stewart since you both have experience in IndyCar racing?

"We don't talk a lot about IndyCar and NASCAR. They're very different worlds. I think it's nice that I know he has the reference and can understand where I'm coming from, perhaps, with some feelings and certain ways I describe the car. But we don't speak specifically about Indy cars because of the difference in cars. So, for me, it's nice to have a guy like Tony who is confident and will help me and give me answers and be honest and want to see me get better. And the IndyCar references are just nice from a background standpoint that he understands what I'm talking about."

It seems as though you have set high expectations for yourself at Daytona. Talk about that.

"It is very high, but I'm kind of curious what you would say about what other people's expectations are for Daytona because I think everyone feels they have a shot to win. As long as their car is relatively fast and there's going to be a little bit of a difference with maybe not doing quite as much tandem running throughout the race, I'll be curious to see how that goes. It's so much faster when you run with somebody, so we'll see how that plays out in the rules that NASCAR put on us to try to make that not happen. But I would imagine you get that from a lot of drivers - that there is that chance. It's like my first time going to the Indy 500 at Indianapolis. I knew I had a fast car. When I got asked how I felt when I was in the lead at the end of the race, I said I felt like that's where I should be all day. So here I am going to the biggest race in a year in a new series just like I was in IndyCar, and I have those expectations. Now, the rest of the season is going to have very different expectation levels. But Daytona is very unique, and there is a real chance for some great results there."

What are your overall thoughts on the season ahead of you?

"Generally, I'm just really ready. I'm excited about the season. I'm excited about the racing. I'm a little bit nervous, too, because I want to do well. Any time you feel like you want to do well, whether it's on the track or doing your job, you get a little nervous because you feel a little pressure to want to do it. But I'm very happy with where I am. I'm very fortunate to have the opportunity I do with two fantastic teams. That's all you can ask for as a driver - to have good racecars and good crew chiefs."

You announced last month that you will not compete in the Indianapolis 500 and, instead, compete in the Sprint Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. Talk about that.

"I'm sure it will be a little strange. I'm sure I'll be paying attention - I love Indy. I'm confident it will work out in the future. But I loved the three weeks of Indy, so when they cut it down to two weeks, I was disappointed. I tried to talk everyone into going back to three weeks again. But I have a feeling my plate's going to be full, and I'll be well-distracted with lots of NASCAR racing and flying all over the country during May and ending up in Charlotte for Memorial Day weekend. I'm excited to see how NASCAR does Memorial Day weekend. I know how it's done in IndyCar, and how to honor the day and what it really means about people serving our country. So I'm excited to see how NASCAR does it."

In IndyCar racing, the biggest race of the season, the Indianapolis 500, is usually the fourth or fifth race of the season. In NASCAR, the Daytona 500, the biggest race of the season, kicks off the season. Talk about that.

"I suppose I thought it was interesting the biggest race of the season is at the very beginning for NASCAR. But being involved in that and seeing what that does, at the end of the day, our sport is about sponsors and sponsors come when people watch. So, when you have the biggest race at the beginning of the year, they start watching. And, with NASCAR, you race every weekend after that and they continue to watch. I think it's quite smart to start out the season with such media coverage, and it starts to develop storylines, and people can start to follow it because there's a long season ahead."

You are scheduled to compete in 10 Sprint Cup races and nine of them have been announced. Would you consider competing in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis?

"Somebody even mentioned something about the All-Star Race (at Charlotte). I was like 'I don't think I'm an All-Star.' They're like, 'Well, there's a fan vote.' We haven't really thought about it. We haven't put ideas down. But, mentioning the Brickyard, that is a great idea. That might be a great place to add the 10th race. I know the IndyCar fans - there are a lot of them there, of course. It would be great to go there and do the big NASCAR race and be around. I love that track. It's my favorite track. So that's a great idea. I'll talk to them about that."

A lot of the attention has been on your relationship with Tony Stewart. Can you talk about working with Ryan Newman?

"For me, with Ryan, he's been really kind to me over the years - especially the last couple of years in NASCAR. He's commented a couple of times to me. Stopped and chatted about doing a good job out there and how's it going. General curiosity. So, I get along great with Ryan. We were actually just talking about some charity stuff, too, with dogs. I know he does a lot with animals. I share the same views as Krissie (Newman), apparently. So I think I'll probably sit down and talk with her about that. But I really like him. I think the team as a whole is going to have a lot of fun."

Are you prepared for the difference in competition between the Nationwide Series and the Sprint Cup Series?

"I'll learn that. That's part of the process of what I've dealt with in Nationwide - getting familiar with what's acceptable on the track. I can put my car into someone's rear bumper as easily as they can put it into mine. It's about learning what that line is, though. So I'll always start from a respectful position of taking my time. I'm not going to go out there and get into everybody or any of that. It's about learning what the limit is on what's acceptable. Also, then, getting comfortable with the car and getting faster. I'm sure you mean a little bit of the driving aggressively and also the speed. I'm sure everybody amps up their game for the big day. So, for me, it's going to come through experience and practice and figuring it out."

Round 1 of 36 - 54th Daytona 500 - Daytona
Car No.: 10 - GoDaddy.com Chevrolet Impala
Teammates: Dave Blaney - No. 36 Chevrolet Impala

Primary Team Members:

Driver: Danica Patrick
Hometown: Roscoe, Ill.
Race Strategist: Greg Zipadelli
Hometown: Berlin, Conn.
Spotter: Mark Robertson
Headquarters: Richmond, Va.
Owner: Tommy Baldwin
Hometown: Bellport, N.Y.

Daytona 500 - Chassis No. 333:

This is a brand new chassis that will make its debut during Daytona (Fla.) Speedweeks in preparation for the 54th Daytona 500 on Feb. 26.

Notes of Interest:

• The 54th Daytona 500 will mark Patrick's first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start.

• Patrick has career totals of one top-five, three top-10s and 18 laps led in 25 career NASCAR Nationwide Series races.
• In three Nationwide Series starts at Daytona, Patrick has improved with each start. She has finished 35th (February 2010), 14th (February 2011) and 10th (July 2011).
• The Roscoe, Ill., native led 13 of 100 laps and drafted with Tony Stewart en route to her 10th-place finish in the Nationwide Series race in July 2011 at Daytona.
• In her lone Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) start at Daytona in February 2010, Patrick started 12th and finished an impressive sixth.
• Been There Before: Patrick has competed in two GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series Rolex 24 At Daytona events on the road course at Daytona. She finished eighth in 2009, driving a Pontiac Crawford for Childress-Howard Motorsports with co-drivers Casey Mears, Andy Wallace and Rob Finlay. In 2006, she co-drove a Porsche Crawford with Rusty Wallace, Allan McNish and Jan Lammers for Howard-Boss Motorsports. The team finished 24th after a mechanical failure just past the nine-hour mark.
• Big Improvement: In the 2011 Nationwide Series season, Patrick's average finish in her first seven races was 31.1, while her average finishing position in the last six events improved to 24.3. For 2012, her average finishing position in the 12 races she competed in was 17.4.
• Four Score: In March 2011, Patrick finished fourth in the Nationwide Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the best-ever finish by a woman in a NASCAR national stock-car series, topping a fifth-place run by Sarah Christian in a Sprint Cup race in 1949 at Heidelberg (Pa.) Raceway.
• History Maker: Patrick became the first woman to win a major-league open-wheel race in a North American series in April 2009 by winning the IZOD IndyCar Series Indy Japan 300 at the Twin Ring Motegi oval in Japan.
• Point Taken: In 2009, Patrick finished fifth in IZOD IndyCar Series points, the best finish ever for a woman in the series.
• Big Stage: In seven Indianapolis 500 starts, Patrick finished in the top-10 six times, including a third-place result in 2009, the best finish ever for a woman in the historic race.

KANNAPOLIS, N.C., (Jan. 31, 2012) – Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) has entered into a collaborative partnership with Tommy Baldwin Racing (TBR) where TBR will field the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet Impala for all 10 of Danica Patrick's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races in 2012.

The alliance guarantees a starting spot for Patrick in her Sprint Cup debut – the 54th annual Daytona 500 on Feb. 26 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.

TBR's No. 36 car, which finished the 2011 season 33rd in points, becomes the No. 10 for 2012. For the 26 races where Patrick is not scheduled to drive, David Reutimann will pilot the No. 10 car. TBR has sponsorship inventory available for these 26 races.

"Tommy Baldwin Racing has proven to be a very strong organization and it's a good fit with Stewart-Haas Racing," said Matt Borland, vice president of competition, SHR. "It's a Chevrolet team led by a racer who knows every inch of a racecar. That kind of technical expertise, along with a company mindset that is similar to ours, provides the ideal environment for Danica to learn and succeed."

TBR was formed in 2009 and has matured from a single-car team to one that in 2012 will field two Sprint Cup entries and a NASCAR Nationwide Series entry. TBR is owned by Tommy Baldwin, who as a crew chief secured five victories, including the 2002 Daytona 500 with driver Ward Burton.

"We're very proud of what we've established at Tommy Baldwin Racing, and the opportunity to partner with Stewart-Haas Racing and aid in the development of Danica Patrick is a testament to all the hard work we've put in over the years," Baldwin said. "Danica will have a great teammate in Dave Blaney, who has been instrumental in getting our race team to where it is today. And with David Reutimann driving the No. 10 car in the races where Danica is not, the team will remain in a strong and competitive position throughout the year."

The agreement means TBR will also work with GoDaddy.com, the world's largest Web hosting provider and Patrick's longtime sponsor.

"Go Daddy is a first-rate sponsor," Baldwin added. "Look how they've supported Danica over the last six years. Go Daddy is a sponsor that knows how to get things done right."

Baldwin will maintain a hands-on presence with the No. 10 car and will work closely with Greg Zipadelli, who serves as SHR's director of competition. Baldwin and Zipadelli have similar backgrounds, as both grew up in the Northeast – Baldwin in Bellport, N.Y., and Zipadelli in Berlin, Conn. – and made a name for themselves as successful crew chiefs within the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour before rising up the ranks as crew chiefs in the elite Sprint Cup Series.

"Working with Tommy will be like old times," Zipadelli said. "We both grew up together and competed against each other in Modifieds and we did the same thing when we got to Sprint Cup. To finally be able to work with each other and help Danica Patrick make a successful transition from Indy cars to stock cars is a challenge we're both looking forward to.

"Partnering with Tommy and his team provides Danica with the foundation she needs to succeed. With a guaranteed starting spot, we can go into each weekend and simply learn. It's all about getting her comfortable in the car, and with the variety of tracks she's running, seat time will be incredibly valuable. A guaranteed spot in the race ensures that she'll have the opportunity to make as many laps as possible."

Patrick's 10-race Sprint Cup schedule is as follows:

• Feb. 26: Daytona 500
• May 12: Darlington (S.C.) Raceway
• May 27: Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway
• Aug. 25: Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway
• Sept. 2: Atlanta Motor Speedway
• Sept. 16: Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill.
• Sept. 30: Dover (Del.) International Speedway
• Nov. 4: Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth
• Nov. 11: Phoenix International Raceway

One more race is still to be determined, with the plan being to assess Patrick's development as the season progresses and then choose the remaining venue based on need and competitive reasoning.

"Our goal with Danica's schedule is to try and maximize her 10 races so that she's as prepared as she can possibly be for a full-time Sprint Cup schedule in 2013," said Stewart, co-owner of SHR with Gene Haas, founder of Haas Automation – the largest machine tool builder in the western world. "There are short tracks, intermediate 1.5-mile ovals, and some unique tracks like Darlington and Phoenix. The point is to expose her to as many challenges as possible so that she'll know what to expect in 2013."

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (Dec. 20, 2011) -- Super Bowl 2012 will mark a product milestone for Go Daddy. The world's largest provider of Web hosting, domain name registrations and net-new SSL Certificates, is known for its edgy ads with smokin' hot Go Daddy Girls, but for the first time ever, Go Daddy is using one of its two edgy new Super Bowl commercials to specifically reference its cloud-based offerings.

Go Daddy has long delivered services "in the cloud" -- providing individuals and businesses more efficient and less expensive online options. Now, it's taking its product marketing to Super Bowl viewers with fun references to Go Daddy's innovative offerings such as 4th Generation Hosting, known as 4GH.

The 30-second ad is called The Cloud. It features Go Daddy Girl Danica Patrick and the new Pussycat Dolls, along with several core product references in a "divine" setting. The Cloud is also Go Daddy's most ambitious production in the company's eight-year Super Bowl history. The storyline includes a revealing moment and an extravagant set design.

"How can we produce a Super Bowl ad that's fun, edgy, slightly inappropriate and also speak to cloud-based products?" asked Go Daddy CEO and Founder Bob Parsons. "Like only Go Daddy can ... trust me, it'll be as GoDaddy-esque as ever. Danica will surpass her most revealing Go Daddy moment, from back in 2008 when she gave us the big unzip!"

Danica recently ranked the Internet's Most Searched Athlete and she's also a sort of Super Bowl staple. By most observers' count, Danica has been in more Super Bowl ads than any other celebrity and with this year's campaign, she will have 11 big game ads on her resume, all with Go Daddy Productions.

"Doing Go Daddy's Super Bowl commercials is always interesting, but this year's are epic," Danica said. "The commercials are very funny -- there's physical humor and in the Cloud, there's a big-time dance routine. Yes, I dance. And I'll say this, thedance sequence is as GoDaddy-esque as it gets!"

Go Daddy's other 2012 Super Bowl ad also features Danica, along with her Go Daddy Girl colleague and fitness guru Jillian Michaels. Like Danica, Jillian is a strong woman and successful entrepreneur.

"I like the way Bob and Go Daddy portray women as strong and successful," Jillian said. "Yes, the commercials are edgy and hot ... but the Go Daddy Girls always have the last laugh, they are the ones in control. A lot of people don't realize this, but Bob's executive staff is made up of more women than men."

The 30-second ad featuring Jillian and Danica is designed to bring massive consumer attention to the .CO domain, the Internet's most popular new domain name extension. While Go Daddy is working to keep the specifics of the storyline under wraps for now, it has said the ad features a stunning international supermodel whose world-class body drew this comment from Jillian on-set: "If I made a DVD about how to get a body like hers, I'd be a gazillionaire."

.CO Internet S.A.S. CEO, Juan Diego Calle, makes a cameo appearance in the Internet-Only version of the commercial, along with Bob Parsons. "Not only was filming the Super Bowl ad a fun way to spend a work day, we know it will help take dot-CO to the next level -- driving more business and boosting brand awareness," said Calle. "Last year's Super Bowl ad helped us to finish our first year with more than one million dot-CO domain names registered by people in more than 200 countries - and made dot-CO the hottest new Web address in the world!"

Go Daddy partnered with .CO Internet for the first time in the 2011 Super Bowl with great success. As for its cloud-based products and services, Go Daddy has been in the cloud since before the term was coined. Not surprisingly though, most people have more awareness of Go Daddy's commercial campaigns ... that may change with this year's advertising leap into the cloud.

For the Pussycat Dolls, featured prominently in The Cloud's outrageous dance scene, 2012 marks their first-ever Super Bowl commercial and serves as the unofficial launch of the new Pussycat Dolls.

HOMESTEAD, Fla. (Nov. 19, 2011) -Aric Almirola finished eighth with the No. 88 GT Vodka Chevrolet to lead the JR Motorsports contingent in Saturday's Ford 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The finish secured fourth place in the championship point standings for the JR Motorsports driver as he posted the team's 18th top-10 finish of 2011. Danica Patrick was on the verge of a top-15 run in the No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, but contact with the turn three wall late in the race relegated her to 32nd. Brad Keselowski won the race. He was followed to the line by Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who clinched the 2011 Nationwide Series title.

No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet Key Moments

Start - 12th / Finish - 32nd / Laps Led - 0 / Owner Point Standings - 12th

Patrick's final race of her sophomore campaign started in the 12th position. She spent first quarter of the race occupying a spot inside the top-15.

When the field began ducking onto pit road on lap 86 for green-flag pit stops, Patrick and the GoDaddy.com team cycled ahead several positions. Fortune found the team in the form of a caution flag prior to Patrick's scheduled stop. They came to pit road under caution and lined up for the ensuing restart in 10th.

The team slowly gave up a handful positions over the next 85 laps, dropping to 15th by a caution on lap 176. Shortly after, Patrick made hard contact with the turn three wall, resulting in a trip to pit road for extensive repairs. The GoDaddy.com team then took the repairs to the garage area where their race ended prematurely. Patrick was scored in 32nd on the day.

"Certainly not the finish we wanted," Patrick said after the race. "That's not the number you want to put up going into winter. But I also think the race was the kind of race that I wasn't capable of running one year ago or even earlier this year. There are some positives we can take out of this one."

In 12 starts this year, Patrick holds one top-five and three top-10 finishes. The No. 7 team secured six top-five and 12 top-10s on the season. Impressively, every driver of the No. 7 this season has scored a top-10 finish. The list includes Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ron Fellows, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Jamie McMurray, Patrick and Josh Wise. The team finished its season ranked 12th in owner points.

EVENT - Ford 300 (200 laps / 300 miles)
TRACK - Homestead-Miami Speedway (1.5-mile oval)
DATE - Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011
TV / RADIO - ESPN2 (coverage begins at 4:30 p.m. EST) / MRN (broadcast begins at 4 p.m. EST)

Danica Patrick
No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet

"I remember the car feeling really loose most of the time last year at Homestead. It's a challenging track, even in IndyCar. I think we wasted a lot of good time during practice, because I was unfamiliar with how to drive the corners. Aric (Almirola, teammate) told me, ‘you've got to drive it in the corner, and you've got to get it on the right front.' The corners are very tight compared to a lot of other mile-and-a-halfs. Toward the end of practice we got it better.

"I went into qualifying and surprised myself by qualifying fifth. I feel like I'm getting into the swing of qualifying a little bit more. More than anything, it will be nice to start off the weekend driving the track as it needs to be driven so we can work on the car, as opposed to figuring it out during the last part of practice."

JR MOTORSPORTS NOTEBOOK -

PATRICK SEES IMPROVEMENT THROUGH SOPHOMORE CAMPAIGN - Danica Patrick will put an end to an eventful and noteworthy sophomore season this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway. In 11 starts this year, Patrick earned one top-five and three top-10 finishes. Her fourth-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway rewrote the history books, making Patrick the highest finishing female in any NASCAR national touring series race. The effort bested the 62-year-old record of Sara Christian, who finished fifth at Heidlberg, Pa. on Oct. 2, 1949 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Patrick also has led a career-high 14 laps, 13 of which came in a dramatic finish at Daytona in July when she took the lead with two laps to go. Her victory chances were ruined by a multi-car accident within sight of the checkered flag. Patrick's average finish this year is 16.1 as compared to 28.0 in her 13-race rookie season in 2010.

PATRICK'S MEDIA AVAILABILITY - Danica Patrick will be available to members of the NASCAR media at 10:45 a.m. local time on Friday, Nov. 18 in the Homestead-Miami Speedway media center deadline room.

MILE-AND-A-HALF STRENGTH - Patrick has not finished outside the top-15 in the four 1.5-mile races she's competed in this season (Las Vegas, Chicago, Kansas and Texas). The 29-year-old holds one top-five and two top-10s with an average finish of 10.0 at those facilities.

PATRICK AT HOMESTEAD - Patrick's second-best qualifying effort of her short career came at Homestead last year with a fifth-place start. The mark was eclipsed only by a fourth-place starting spot at Daytona in February. She also led the first laps of her Nationwide Series career at Homestead in 2010, leading once for four laps.

NO. 7 SEASON STATS - Every driver of the No. 7 this season has scored a top-10 finish. The list includes Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ron Fellows, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Jamie McMurray, Patrick and Josh Wise. The No. 7 team holds six top-five and 12 top-10 finishes in 2011. The team occupies the 11th position in owner points.

ALMIROLA WRAPS UP FIRST FULL SEASON WITH JRM - Despite owning 72 starts in Nationwide Series competition over the span of five years, the Homestead event concludes Almirola's first full season with JR Motorsports. His season totals feature one pole (Phoenix 11/12), seven top-five and 17 top-10 finishes, including a string of nine top-10s in a 10-week mid-summer stretch. Almirola has led 101 laps in 2011. He led 66 last week at Phoenix International Raceway. He has earned an average finish of 12.2. He enters the weekend fourth in championship points, trailing third-place Justin Allgaier by 15 points. The No. 88 Chevrolet is ninth in owner points.

ALMIROLA AT HOMESTEAD - Almirola has seven starts at Homestead across NASCAR's top-three series, earning two top-five and two top-10 finishes. His best finish of fourth came during the Sprint Cup Series season finale last year. Almirola's best finish in Nationwide Series competition is 18th.

QUALIFYING EFFORTS - JR Motorsports competed in its first Nationwide Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2005 with driver Mark McFarland. Statistically it is one of the organization's best qualifying tracks. In nine starts there a JRM Chevrolet has qualified in top-10 six times.

ALMIROLA'S APPEARANCES IN HOMESTEAD - Almirola will attend the NASCAR Nationwide Series' Championship Drive event on Thursday, Nov. 17th from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. EST located at Lummus Park, Miami Beach, Fla. Almirola, a Florida native, will be featured in a fan Q & A and then will sign autographs. On Saturday, Nov. 19 from 12 p.m. to 12:30 p.m. EST, Almirola will sign autographs at the JR Nation merchandise hauler, located in the fan concourse area.

WATCH JRM RACING.COM's VIDEO SERIES - In a continued effort to be at the forefront of web-based content through its website www.jrmracing.com, the team has added a multitude of videos into its video gallery. Click here to view race preview videos, the "JRM 360” series and more.

AVONDALE, Ariz. (Nov. 12, 2011) - What began as a promising day for the JR Motorsports teams of Danica Patrick and Aric Almirola ended short of expectations in Saturday's Wypall 200 at Phoenix International Raceway. Almirola and the No. 88 Suave Men team scored its second pole of the season, led the opening 66 laps and looked to be on the verge of its first win of the season. But a pit-road mishap late in the race relegated Almirola to a mid-pack position, where he was caught up in a multi-car crash that netted a 25th-place finish. Patrick and the No. 7 GoDaddy.com team were involved in a crash on the race's opening lap. The team remained focused and managed a 21st-place finish.�Sam Hornish Jr. won his first career NASCAR Nationwide Series race. Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards rounded out the top-three finishers.

No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet Key Moments

Start - 25th / Finish - 21st / Laps Led - 0 / Owner Point Standings - 11th

Patrick's third career start at Phoenix came to an abrupt halt when she was caught up in a multi-car melee on race's opening circuit. The GoDaddy.com Chevrolet received extensive damage after contact to the turn-three wall.

The team gave up two laps making repairs. In spite of the damage, the team kept its poise and used the rest of the race to gain critical information for its short track program. They finished the day in 21st, four laps down to the leaders.

"If I qualified higher I wouldn't have been in that situation," Patrick said. "It was tricky out there today. The track was slick and there was really only one groove to work with. We just tried to salvage what we could with our GoDaddy car."

Next Up for JR Motorsports:
Event: Ford 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway
Date: Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011
TV/Radio: ESPN2 (coverage begin at 4:30 p.m. EST) / MRN (broadcast begins at 4 p.m. EST)
Entries: No. 88 GT Vodka Chevrolet (Aric Almirola), No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet (Danica Patrick)

EVENT - Wypall 200 (200 laps / 200 miles)
TRACK - Phoenix International Raceway (1-mile tri-oval)
DATE - Saturday, Nov. 12, 2011
TV / RADIO - ESPN2 (coverage begins at 3:30 p.m. EST) / MRN (broadcast begins at 3 p.m. EST)

Danica Patrick No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet

"I've said all along how much fun it is to drive in NASCAR. I have the most fun racing these cars and I have high hopes heading into this race. We've ran well at mile-and-a-halfs this year, but short track racing is a different animal. I need to make sure that I still keep expectation levels in check, so I'm not disappointed. This isn't a time for me to start creating false expectations for myself and feeling like I haven't lived up to it. This is the time to continue on the path I've been going and to set goals for myself.

"Phoenix is a little bit different for everybody now. For me, it's probably not the worst thing in the world that everyone will have to start relearning the track. It will be my third time there. That's always a comforting feeling. I think the short track stuff is coming along. I feel like I've had the most trouble with it, and struggled with it. I think it's gone a lot better this year."

JR MOTORSPORTS NOTEBOOK -

SHORT TRACK MUSCLE - Almirola flexed his short track muscle this season in the form of three top-five and six top-10 finishes at the 10 short track races to date. He is averaging a finish of 9.9 in those events. In short track races from July through September this season (Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis, Iowa Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway and Richmond International Raceway), Almirola never finished worse than seventh.

ALMIROLA AT PHOENIX - In four Nationwide Series starts at the facility, Almirola's best finish is sixth, coming last fall in the No. 88 Chevrolet. He also owns three starts in the Camping World Truck Series, securing two top-five finishes and leading 52 laps in those events.

PATRICK'S MEDIA AVAILABILITY - Danica Patrick will be available to members of the NASCAR media at 1 p.m. local time on Friday, Nov. 11 in the Phoenix International Raceway media center deadline room.

PATRICK AND SHORT TRACKS - Patrick owns two starts at Phoenix, finishing a best of 17th in this season's spring event, marking the best short track finish of her Nationwide Series career. Her sixth-place effort at Dover International Speedway in the fall of 2010 became her top stock car finish at a short track. Additionally, she finished 15th in her only start at Phoenix in the IndyCar Series.

NO. 7 SEASON STATS - Every driver of the No. 7 this season has scored a top-10 finish. The list includes Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ron Fellows, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Jamie McMurray, Patrick and Josh Wise. The No. 7 team holds six top-five and 12 top-10 finishes in 2011. The team occupies the 11th position in owner points, sitting 36 points outside the top-10.

NO. 88 SEASON STATS - The No. 88 team's season tally now stands at seven top-five and 17 top-10 finishes. The No. 88 Chevrolet is tied for eighth in owner points. Almirola is currently tied for third in championship points with Justin Allgaier. The pair sits 82 points behind second place, Elliott Sadler.

FORT WORTH, Texas (Nov. 4, 2011) - The wait is over. Go Daddy Girl Danica Patrick's limited NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) is known, as is the car number that will adorn her GoDaddy.com Chevrolet Impala.

In a news conference today at Texas Motor Speedway, SHR co-owner Tony Stewart announced Patrick's slate of Sprint Cup races in 2012 and revealed her new car number and paint scheme.

Patrick, a seven-year veteran of the IZOD IndyCar Series where she became the first woman in series history to win a race, is making the full transition to stock cars in 2012, competing in the entire NASCAR Nationwide Series schedule for JR Motorsports and a 10-race Sprint Cup schedule for SHR.

Patrick's Sprint Cup debut will come in the 54th annual Daytona 500 on Feb. 26 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. Her remaining Sprint Cup races are as follows:

• May 12: Darlington (S.C.) Raceway
• Aug. 25: Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway
• Sept. 2: Atlanta Motor Speedway
• Sept. 16: Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill.
• Sept. 30: Dover (Del.) International Speedway
• Nov. 4: Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth
• Nov. 11: Phoenix International Raceway

Two Sprint Cup races are to be determined, with the plan being to assess Patrick's development in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series as the season progresses and then choose the remaining venues based on need and competitive reasoning.

"Our goal with Danica's schedule is to try and maximize her 10 races with us so that she's as prepared as she can possibly be for a full-time Sprint Cup schedule in 2013," said Stewart, co-owner of SHR with Gene Haas, founder of Haas Automation - the largest machine tool manufacturer in the western world. "In the GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, she'll handle short tracks, intermediate 1.5-mile ovals, and some unique tracks like Darlington and Phoenix. The point is to expose her to as many challenges as possible so that she'll know what to expect in 2013.

"Between our schedule and her full Nationwide Series schedule for JR Motorsports, Danica will gain a lot of experience quickly. At the same time, we'll monitor her progress, and if we feel there's a particular venue or style of track where more seat time would be beneficial, we have two races where we can call an audible and enter her in those events."

"There were a lot of reasons why Stewart-Haas Racing made sense for me, but probably the biggest reason was Tony Stewart," Patrick added. "He's already done what I'm trying to do - make the transition from open-wheel cars to stock cars. If there's anyone who knows what I need to do and what I need to look out for, it's him."

Stewart is a four-time USAC champion and the 1997 IZOD IndyCar Series champion. He is also a two-time Sprint Cup champion with 42 career victories, the most recent of which came last Sunday at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

"Long before I even came to NASCAR, I talked to Tony and used him as a sounding board, whether it was in regard to what I was doing in Indy cars or what I was thinking about doing in NASCAR," Patrick said. "He was always honest with me and really helped prepare me for what was ahead. I know he's going to be very involved in my Sprint Cup career, and with the conversations we've had with each other, we feel this schedule and this plan is the best way to get me acclimated to Sprint Cup racing as quickly as possible."

In addition to the schedule, Stewart and Patrick also took the wraps off the GoDaddy.com Chevrolet Impala Patrick will race for SHR in Sprint Cup. The bright green machine will feature the No. 10, which Patrick used throughout her early racing career in karting before moving to Europe where she competed in Formula Ford and Formula Vauxhall - stepping-stone divisions to Formula 1.

"Obviously, a lot of people associate the No. 7 with me because it's what I ran in IndyCar and it's what I run in Nationwide. But before the No. 7, there was the No. 10," said Patrick, who after leaving Europe continued to work her way up the racing ladder by competing in the Barber Dodge Pro Series and Toyota Atlantic before joining the IZOD IndyCar Series in 2005. "When we were talking about what number we could run in Sprint Cup, I thought it was pretty cool how Tony chose his and how Ryan (Newman) picked his. There was a connection between their numbers and their racing careers. The No. 10 is what I started with, and to have that number back with me as I start my Sprint Cup career shows how everything has come full circle. There's definitely going to be a lot of pride when I step into my No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevy at Daytona."

The number selection is in line with the numbers previously selected by Patrick's SHR teammates Stewart and Newman, as both drivers have personal connections to their respective numbers. Stewart raced the No. 14 in go karts, and it's also synonymous with his hero, racing legend A.J. Foyt. Newman used the No. 39 at the start of his career in Quarter Midgets.

Go Daddy, the world's largest provider of Web hosting[1], domain name registrations and net-new SSL Certificates, is known for its risqu� commercials featuring racing's most popular female driver.

"Danica loves to drive stock cars and that passion comes through when you watch her on the track," said Go Daddy CEO and Founder Bob Parsons. "Adding Danica and the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevy to the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule brings a whole new level of excitement to the series. Our Go Daddy Girl is doing something you have to admire - competing in a male-dominated sport, serving as a role model for young women, and having fun with all of it to boot."

For a photo of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, please contact PR@GoDaddy.com

To find out more about how to get online quickly and affordably, visit www.GoDaddy.com.

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About Stewart-Haas Racing:

Stewart-Haas Racing is the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team co-owned by two-time Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart and Gene Haas, founder of Haas Automation - the largest CNC machine tool builder in the western world. The team fields two entries in the elite Sprint Cup Series - the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet Impala for Stewart and the No. 39 U.S. Army/Tornados/Haas Automation Chevrolet Impala for 2008 Daytona 500 winner Ryan Newman. Based in Kannapolis, N.C., Stewart-Haas Racing operates out of a 140,000-square-foot facility with more than 150 employees. For more information, please visit us on the Web at www.StewartHaasRacing.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/StewartHaasRacing and on Twitter at @StewartHaasRcng.

FORT WORTH, Texas (Nov. 4, 2011) - The JR Motorsports teams of Danica Patrick and Aric Almirola concluded Saturday's O'Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway with finishes of 11th and 19th, respectively. Patrick, sporting a special Dan Wheldon tribute paint scheme on the No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, produced a notable effort after falling a lap down and battling back to secure her sixth top-15 finish of the season. Almirola and the No. 88 GT Vodka team avoided early trouble with a savvy save and even led once for two laps to cap its Texas afternoon. Eventual winner Trevor Bayne took a late lead on lap 195 of 200 and went on to score his first Nationwide Series victory. Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards rounded out the top-three finishers.

No. 7 GoDaddy.com / DanWheldonMemorial.com Chevrolet Key Moments

Start - 11th / Finish - 11th / Laps Led - 0 / Owner Point Standings - 11th

Patrick made quick work by climbing into the top-10 in the early stages of the race. Racing in only her second Nationwide Series event at Texas Motor Speedway, the Roscoe, Ill. native showcased several different racing lines in her quest for speed.

Following green-flag pit stops on lap 49, Patrick cycled to 19th, but made gains into the top-15 shortly after. Despite the effort, the No. 7 GoDaddy.com / DanWheldonMemorial.com team fell a lap down to the leaders by the 68th circuit. The team focused on positioning themselves in place for the lucky dog and narrowly missed the spot by the lap 116 caution. Instead, crew chief Tony Eury Jr. elected not to pit and take the wave-around, cycling back to the lead lap.

The team again fell a lap down after pitting with the field under green-flag conditions. They locked down the lucky dog position with a lap-181 caution and were put back on the lap cycle with the leaders. The team took the opportunity to pit for four tires and fuel. Patrick took the lap 184 restart in 14th and over the next 16 laps, survived one final caution and rallied to cross the stripe in 11th place.

"In the end it was a decent result," Patrick said after the race. "But I think it could have been even better. I just have to work on my restarts. The first two weren't so good and I would lose five or six spots. I have to get those down. I need to learn how to get the car started and how to pick a lane better. That's what I need to work on the most."

Next Up for JR Motorsports:
Event: Wypall 200at Phoenix International Raceway
Date:Saturday, Nov. 11, 2011
TV/Radio: ESPN2 (coverage begin at 3:30 p.m. EST) / MRN (broadcast begins at 3 p.m. EST)
Entries:No. 88 Suave Men Chevrolet (Aric Almirola), No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet (Danica Patrick)

EVENT - O'Reilly Auto Parts Challenge (200 laps / 300 miles)
TRACK - Texas Motor Speedway (1.5-mile quad oval)
DATE - Saturday, Nov. 5, 2011
TV / RADIO - ESPN2 (coverage begins at 12:55 p.m. EST) / PRN (broadcast begins at 12:30 p.m. EST)

Danica Patrick

No. 7 GoDaddy.com / DanWheldonMemorial.com Chevrolet

"It's exciting to be heading into these final weeks of the season. Consistency is a big key to success and being in the Go Daddy car for the last three races is a good thing. It will help me get comfortable with the car and the more time I can spend with my crew leading up to next season the better."

Comments on wearing a special Dan Wheldon Tribute Helmet this weekend:

"I am humbled and proud to be wearing a special paint-out of my helmet in honor of Dan this weekend at Texas. This helmet will be auctioned off after the race with all proceeds, along with my prize money from this race, going to the Dan Wheldon Foundation. Dan was a good friend, and I will miss his great personality and positive attitude. I hope everyone will join me in supporting Susie and their two young boys at DanWheldonMemorial.com."

JR MOTORSPORTS NOTEBOOK -

DANICA PATRICK TO HONOR THE MEMORY OF DAN WHELDON - Danica Patrick and GoDaddy.com will honor the memory of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon, through a memorial paint scheme on the No. 7 Chevrolet at Texas Motor Speedway. The No. 7 hood will showcase Wheldon's "Lionheart" logo in bold letters across a black hood. Underscoring the black letters are the words "Dan Wheldon: 1978 - 2011". DanWheldonMemorial.com will also be featured on the TV panel of the No. 7.

WHELDON TRIBUTE HELMET - Throughout the Texas race weekend, Danica Patrick will wear a special tribute helmet in remembrance of her friend Dan Wheldon. The race-used helmet will be auctioned off via the Dan Wheldon Memorial auction in the coming weeks. Visit DanWheldonMemorial.com for more information.

DANICA PATRICK'S MEDIA AVAILABILITY - Danica Patrick will be available to members of the NASCAR media at 12:15 p.m. CT in the Texas Motor Speedway media center deadline room. She will be addressing the media on the special Dan Wheldon memorial paint scheme that will appear on both the No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet and on her helmet.

PATRICK AT TEXAS - Patrick finished 22nd in her lone stock car start at Texas in the fall of 2010. In eight starts there in the IndyCar Series she earned two podium finishes (3rd in 2007 and 2nd in 2010) and an average finish of 8.8.

NO. 7 SEASON STATS - The No. 7 team holds six top-five and 12 top-10 finishes in 2011. The team occupies the 11th position in owner points, sitting 32 points outside the top-10. Every driver of the No. 7 this season has scored a top-10 finish. The list includes Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ron Fellows, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Jamie McMurray, Patrick and Josh Wise.

SEASON TOTALS FOR PATRICK - On the year, Patrick has one top-five and three top-10 finishes. She has led 14 laps and earned an average finish of 16.1. Patrick holds three top-15 finishes in her last five starts.

PATRICK AT-TRACK AUTOGRAPH SIGNING - Patrick will sign autographs at the GoDaddy.com merchandise hauler (limited to 100 wristbands), located in the fan concourse area, on Friday, Nov. 4, from 4 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. local time.

JR MOTORSPORTS IN THE LONE STAR STATE - The bulk of the team's success at Texas has come in the fall race at the 1.5-mile facility. Since 2006, the organization notched two top-five and four top-10 finishes in seven starts at Texas during the month of November.

QUALITY PASSER - From NASCAR Statistical Services, Almirola is ranked first in the quality passes category at Texas Motor Speedway. A quality pass is defined as passing a car running in the top 15 while under green-flag conditions. The Tampa, Fla. native holds 69 total quality passes, averaging 34.5 per race.

ALMIROLA AT TEXAS - Almirola has two starts at Texas Motor Speedway with a best finish of 12th in the Nationwide Series. He owns eight starts there in Camping World Truck Series competition with one top-10 finish, and two starts at the Sprint Cup Series level.

NO. 88 SEASON STATS - The No. 88 team's season tally now stands at seven top-five and 17 top-10 finishes. Almirola is currently ranked third in championship points (72 points behind second-place Elliott Sadler and four points ahead of fourth-place Justin Allgaier), with the No. 88 Chevrolet eighth in owner points.

ALMIROLA AT-TRACK AUTOGRAPH SIGNING - Almirola will sign autographs at the JR Nation merchandise hauler, located in the fan concourse area, on Saturday, Nov. 5, from 10 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. local time.

WATCH JRM RACING.COM's VIDEO SERIES - In a continued effort to be at the forefront of web-based content through its website www.jrmracing.com, the team has added a multitude of videos into its video gallery. Click here to view race preview videos, the "JRM 360" series and more.

LAS VEGAS (Oct. 12, 2011) - The Andretti Autosport drivers come to Las Vegas this weekend with only a victory celebration on their minds.

Winning the 200-lap IZOD IndyCar Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is the primary goal for Marco Andretti, Mike Conway, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Danica Patrick when the green flag drops at 12:45 p.m. PDT this Sunday, Oct. 16.

Three of the Andretti Autosport drivers have already visited victory lane in 2011 and Andretti, Conway and Hunter-Reay would love to make a repeat appearance in the final round of the 17-race campaign. Patrick, in her final IZOD IndyCar Series race, seeks her second IndyCar victory of her career.

Hunter-Reay, driver of the No. 28 Team DHL/Circle K/Sun Drop Citrus Soda machine, has been one of the hottest racers in the second half of the season. The New Hampshire winner was 21st in the season points after the first eight races, and now ranks seventh after the 16 events. The Fort Lauderdale, Fla., driver is only 19 points out of the top-five entering Sunday's finale. Hunter-Reay finished fifth last week at Kentucky and has two previous starts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Andretti, at the controls of the new No. 26 Team Dr Pepper TEN car, makes his 100th career IndyCar Series start Sunday and the Iowa Speedway champion is set for another strong showing. Marco was battling Dario Franchitti for the lead last week at Kentucky before being knocked out of contention in a pit incident. Andretti seeks to move up in the seasonal point standings at Las Vegas as he holds down the eighth position currently.

Conway, the Long Beach winner, comes to Las Vegas with the new No. 27 Team Grime Boss entry for Andretti Autosport. Conway, the former Formula One test driver, has made a remarkable comeback in 2011 after a vicious crash at Indianapolis last year. The England native has been competitive in his Andretti Autosport mount throughout the 2011 season and is looking for a solid finish at Las Vegas.

Patrick, driver of the No. 7 Team GoDaddy.com car, makes her second appearance at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this year after a fourth place finish in March in the NASCAR Nationwide race. Danica finished tenth last week at Kentucky and moved back into the top-ten in the current points. The 29-year-old veteran from Roscoe, Ill., has finished a record 50 races in a row entering the Las Vegas race.

Practice begins this Thursday on the 1.5-mile oval north of the Las Vegas strip with qualifying set for 3 p.m. PDT Friday. The IZOD IndyCar World Championships will be televised live on ABC-TV beginning at 3 p.m. EDT.

DANICA PATRICK, #7 TEAM GoDaddy.com CAR
"I'm looking forward to the Vegas race this weekend with the GoDaddy.com car. It's going to be a lot closer racing than most mile-and-a-half tracks we've been to. It's the last race of the year and it's always exciting. After the Kentucky race, the championship just got a little more interesting so it should be a good race."

EVENT - Kansas Lottery 300 (200 laps / 300 miles)
TRACK - Kansas Speedway (1.5-mile oval)
DATE - Saturday, Oct. 8, 2011
TV / RADIO - ESPN2 (coverage begin at 3:30 p.m. EST) / MRN (broadcast begins at 3 p.m. EST)

Danica Patrick
No. 7 GoDaddy.comChevrolet

"This will be another track for me to experience in a stock car. The good news is Tony (Eury) Jr. and the Go Daddy crew do a phenomenal job preparing our cars for the racetrack. It will take me a few laps to get up to speed but after that we'll be competitive. I'm familiar with mile-and-a-half tracks and from what everyone says Kansas is very similar to Chicago, so I feel like we'll be in good shape.

"I'm looking forward to next year. It's very important that we end this year strong with our Go Daddy car. We certainly can do that. Personally, I think I've jumped a small hurdle in the process of being more accustomed to these tracks. By season's end there will only be a handful of tracks that I haven't raced on in a stockcar. That will be a big advantage for next year."

JR MOTORSPORTS NOTEBOOK -

NINE OF 12 FOR DANICA - Patrick will compete in her ninth Nationwide Series race of the season at Kansas Speedway. Her season totals include one top-five and three top-10 finishes. She has led 14 laps on the season and earned an average finish of 16.2. Patrick holds two top-finishes in her last four starts. She returns to NNS action for races at Texas Motor Speedway, Phoenix International Raceway and Homestead-Miami Speedway.

PATRICK AT KANSAS - Patrick will make her Kansas Speedway debut in the Nationwide Series this weekend. In the IndyCar Series Patrick holds six starts at the 1.5-mile facility, earning an average finish of 10.3.

JRM'S INTERMEDIATE PROGRAM - JR Motorsports owns four top-five and eight top-10 finishes in 1.5-mile races this season. Drivers Almirola, Kasey Kahne, Jamie McMurray, Patrick and Josh Wise have all contributed to the tally.

NEW LOOK CONTINUES FOR DEGREE MEN CHEVROLET - JRM's flagship No. 88 Chevrolet will feature the Degree Men Adrenaline Series paint scheme for the second time this season. The Degree Men Adrenaline Series responds to increases in physical exertion, making it perfect for a hot afternoon of racing. The special paint features gold, black and silver colors with Degree Men logos on the quarter panels. Degree Men V12, part of the Adrenaline Series, will be featured on the hood of the No. 88.

ALMIROLA AT KANSAS - Almirola has four starts at Kansas Speedway across the Camping World Truck and Nationwide Series. His best showing came in a Billy Ballew-owned truck in 2010 when he finished seventh. Almirola holds two top-five and four top-10 finishes at 1.5-mile tracks this season with an average finish of 10.2 in those events.

NO. 88 SEASON STATS - The No. 88 team's season tally now stands at seven top-five and 17 top-10 finishes, including 10 top-10s in the last 13 races. Almirola is currently ranked fourth in championship points, with the No. 88 Chevrolet eighth in owner points.

NO. 7 SEASON STATS - The No. 7 team holds six top-five and 12 top-10 finishes in 2011. The team occupies the 12th position in owner points. Every driver of the No. 7 this season has scored a top-10 finish. The list includes Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ron Fellows, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Jamie McMurray, Patrick and Josh Wise.

ALMIROLA AUTOGRAPH SIGNING - Aric Almirola will sign autographs at the JR Nation merchandise hauler, located in the fan concourse area, on Saturday, Oct. 8, from 11 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. local time.

JR NATION GREAT GIVEWAY - From Aug. 28 to Oct. 16, 2011, the JR Nation web site, the official fan club site for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and JR Motorsports, is giving away a prize a day for 50 days to both new and existing fan club members. All fans must do is log on to www.jrnation.com and click on the register now banner. In addition to the 50 daily prizes, JR Nation is offering a grand prize of an $888 gift card for use in the JR Nation online store. 10 second-place winners will receive an $88 gift card also for use in the JR Nation online store. Daily prizes include autographed memorabilia from Aric Almirola, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Danica Patrick and Josh Wise.

WATCH JRM RACING.COM's VIDEO SERIES - In a continued effort to be at the forefront of web-based content through its website www.jrmracing.com, the team has added a multitude of videos into its video gallery. Click here to view race preview videos, the "JRM 360" series and more.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (Oct. 8, 2011) -The JR Motorsports teams of Aric Almirola and Danica Patrick emerged from Saturday's Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway with a pair of top-15 finishes. Almirola led the way with a 12th-place finish. The No. 88 Degree Men Chevrolet was solid from the onset. The team climbed to the top position prior to the halfway mark and led 11 laps. After losing vital track position late in the race, they settled for a 12th-place finish. Danica Patrick's stock car debut at Kansas Speedway netted a 15th-place finish, marking her fifth top-15 this season. Brad Keselowski dominated the 300-mile race, leading four times for 173 laps. Carl Edwards, Elliott Sadler, Paul Menard and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rounded out the top-five finishers.

No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet Key Moments

Start - 15th / Finish - 15th / Laps Led - 0 / Owner Point Standings - 12th

Patrick took her 15th-place starting spot and patiently settled in early, learning the nuances of the 1.5-mile speedway. She wisely began adjusting her line around the track in a search for more grip. When the caution flag flew on lap 62, Patrick and the GoDaddy.com crew were riding in 22nd.

The team took the opportunity to pit for the second time. After a stellar stop by the GoDaddy.com team, Patrick lined up in 14th for the restart. Over the course of the next 40 laps, Patrick worked her way into the 13th spot. She then radioed crew chief Tony Eury Jr. of a tight condition on corner exit and dropped to 16th by the lap-143 caution flag.

After the restart, the GoDaddy.com team occupied a position inside the top-20 through the next run. The team took the final restart on lap 178 in 18th, but Patrick tenaciously wheeled her way to 15th�before the checkered flag fell.

"We had a little bit of everything today with our Go Daddy car, loose and tight," Patrick said after the race. "We made it better about halfway through. We ran every lap and finished. For me, these kinds of experiences can definitely help in getting more accustomed to the cars."

SPARTA, Ky. (Oct. 2, 2011) - Ryan Hunter-Reay and Marco Andretti raced for the lead Sunday in the Kentucky Indy 300, but both Andretti Autosport drivers didn't finish where they would have liked.

Hunter-Reay took his No. 28 Team DHL/Circle K/Sun Drop Citrus Soda machine to a fifth place in the 200-lap feature on the fast 1.5-mile oval south of Cincinnati. The Florida racer battled hard in the later stages of the event, running only a few feet from the lead. The tight racing made for some spectacular side-by-side competition, and Ryan was squeezed to the apron of the track several times before having to settle for a top-five finish. The fifth place moves Hunter-Reay up in the IZOD IndyCar Series standings with one race remaining. Ryan is 19 points out of fifth place.

Andretti, coming off a podium finish two weeks ago in Japan, looked primed for another victory Sunday in his No. 26 Team Venom Energy Drink entry. The third generation driver battled inches apart from Dario Franchitti in a mid-race dice for the lead. Unfortunately, Andretti's race ended much too soon where he exited his pit box on lap 140 and was struck by Alex Lloyd who turned into Andretti's car in an attempt to pit. The contact knocked Andretti out of the race and ended a solid chance for his second 2011 victory. Marco was awarded with 27th place which hurt his chances for a possible top-five placing in the final point standings.

Danica Patrick, who won the pole at Kentucky in 2005, drove competitively in the top-ten from her 14th starting position. Patrick ran as high as seventh in the No. 7 Team GoDaddy.com car before taking the checkered flag in tenth. Danica's finish vaulted her back into tenth in the season standings. Andretti Autosport now has three drivers in the top-ten in points.

Mike Conway, the Long Beach winner, suffered through a tough day in the No. 27 Team @FollowAndretti machine after qualifying 12th Saturday. The personable Brit finished 18th Sunday.

Young Stefan Wilson scored his second Firestone Indy Lights win of the 2011 season by wheeling his Andretti Autosport car from the pole (with a track record) and leading the most laps Sunday afternoon. The win for Wilson, the younger brother of IZOD IndyCar Series driver Justin Wilson, moves him to second in the series standings with one race remaining at Las Vegas in two weeks.

The final race of the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series, the INDYCAR World Championships, is set for Sunday, Oct. 16, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway beginning at 12:45 p.m. PDT and will be televised live on ABC-TV.

DANICA PATRICK, #7 TEAM GoDaddy.com CAR
-Ended the race in 10th place
"Congrats to Ed [Carpenter] and Sarah Fisher Racing. Ed has run really well here in the past and this win is well deserved." "It was a good day for us. We had a little more downforce than most. I didn't feel like I had a lot of speed. It seemed like I would get a good run for a few laps and then just lose my speed. We will figure it out so we can have a good race in Vegas. I want to finish the year out on a good note for my crew and for Go Daddy."

SPARTA, Ky. (Sept. 29, 2011) - Marco Andretti is set for another sensational oval track performance this weekend at Kentucky Speedway.

The 24-year-old third generation driving star from Nazareth, Pa., comes to the fast 1.5-mile oval south of Cincinnati with momentum. Last week's productive testing session has Andretti ready to match his come-from-behind Iowa Speedway victory in June.

Andretti, driving the No. 26 Team Venom Energy Drink machine, also scored an impressive podium finish two weeks ago at the road circuit in Motegi, Japan with a third place. Marco is no stranger to Kentucky Speedway podium with a third in 2008. In his last four starts in Sparta, Marco has four top-ten finishes including sixth last year.

With two races remaining in the 17-event IZOD IndyCar Series, Andretti currently ranks seventh in points and has a strong shot at a top-five finish.

Andretti leads a four-driver Andretti Autosport effort for Sunday's 200-lap Kentucky Indy 300, set to start at 2:45 p.m. EDT Sunday and televised live on VERSUS TV.

Ryan Hunter-Reay, the New Hampshire winner, is seeking to reverse his recent fortunes with two straight knockouts at Baltimore and Japan. Hunter-Reay was running fourth in the streets of Baltimore when his car was hit from behind, and was struck by a similar fate at Japan while running eighth. Despite the past two races, the driver of the No. 28 Team DHL/Circle K/Sun Drop Citrus Soda entry still has a chance of a top-five placing in the final point standings.

Danica Patrick, who won the pole in her first Kentucky Speedway appearance in 2005, returns to the track after consecutive top-ten finishes in 2009 and 2010. The driver of the popular No. 7 Team GoDaddy.com car has always been competitive at Kentucky and looks to move back into the top-ten in points with a strong showing Sunday.

This year's Long Beach champion, Mike Conway, is prepared for a solid oval track run this weekend in the No. 27 Team @FollowAndretti car. Conway, who missed last year's Kentucky event due to Indy 500 injuries, continues to improve his oval track skills with each event after a road racing background that included a role as a Formula One test driver.

Practice and qualifying is scheduled for Saturday at Kentucky Speedway with television coverage of the race beginning at 2 p.m. EDT Sunday on VERSUS.

DANICA PATRICK, #7 TEAM GoDaddy.com CAR
"I'm looking forward to going back to Kentucky. Last year we had a pretty good race, running up in the lead pack and finishing in the top-10. But I know we want to do even better for the GoDaddy.com team, and I think if we have a good qualifying session, we'll have a chance at the top-five. We'll just need to be consistent and use the practice time to get the right qualifying setup."

MOTEGI, Japan (Sept. 17, 2011) - Marco Andretti scored his best road course finish of the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series when he drove the No. 26 Team Venom Energy Drink car to third place Sunday in the Indy Japan finale at Twin Ring Motegi.

Andretti, the Iowa oval winner in June, started tenth and drove brilliantly to return to the podium after 63 laps at the 2.98-mile, 14-turn road circuit. Scott Dixon and Will Power finished in front of Andretti Sunday. Andretti's previous 2011 best road racing finishes were fourth at Brazil and Toronto. The third place finish moved Andretti into seventh in the current IZOD IndyCar Series point standings with two races remaining on the 17-race campaign. Marco is now just 25 points from the top-five in the standings.

Mike Conway, the Long Beach champion, fought his way from 20th to record a ninth place finish Sunday in a spirited drive in the No. 27 Team @FollowAndretti entry. Conway ran as high as fifth on lap 42 but was forced off the course on lap 55. The personable Brit came from 12th to ninth in the last eight laps.

Danica Patrick, driving the No. 7 Team GoDaddy.com car, drove from 23rd to place 11th as she battles to get into the top-ten in the point standings. With this finish, Patrick extended her series record of 49 consecutive races without a DNF.

The hard luck award went to Ryan Hunter-Reay, who was attempting to score his eighth straight top-ten finish in the No. 28 Team DHL/Circle K/Sun Drop Citrus Soda machine. Hunter-Reay, who started 17th Sunday, was running eighth on lap 57 when his car was struck from behind by Sebastien Bourdais. Hunter-Reay's car spun off the track and stopped in the sand area. Assisted by the safety team, Hunter-Reay was able to return to the race a lap down and finished a disappointing 24th Sunday.

The Andretti Autosport team now packs up its cars and equipment for the 6,500-mile trip back to Indianapolis and prepares for the Oct. 2 Kentucky Speedway race.

DANICA PATRICK, #7 TEAM GoDaddy.com CAR
-Finished the race in 11th place
"It was kind of a funny race - picking off spots from other accidents and others making mistakes and then from strategy. It was nice to be able to make it on two stops and we were able to save the fuel when we needed. Then on the last stint Graham [Rahal] came out right behind me and I had to drive hard, and wasn't able to save as much fuel and still stay ahead of him and I did. It was nice to be able to because obviously he's a pretty fast car. Overall today was a decent result for the GoDaddy.com team having started in the back of the field."

MOTEGI, Japan (Sept. 13, 2011) - The history of Andretti Autosport at the 1.5-mile Twin Ring Motegi oval has been impressive.

Danica Patrick made worldwide news when she drove her Andretti machine to the IZOD IndyCar Series win in Japan in 2008. Dan Wheldon won back-to-back races in 2004 and 2005 and Tony Kanaan was victorious in 2007. And team owner Michael Andretti even won the CART race at Motegi in 2000.

But after 14 years of competition at the oval, the Andretti Autosport team now prepares for the switch to the 2.98-mile, 13-turn road circuit in the Indy Japan The Final event this Sunday, Sept. 18.

With three drivers in the winner's circle this year, Andretti Autosport brings a solid lineup to the new course with Marco Andretti, Mike Conway and Ryan Hunter-Reay attempting to score another 2011 victory and Patrick trying to return to the Motegi winner's circle.

Andretti, driving the No. 26 Team Venom Energy Drink car, will make his sixth Motegi start, and the Iowa Speedway winner looks for another strong performance after a tough finish at the Baltimore Grand Prix. Andretti has been very competitive at Motegi in the past and expects to transfer his past success to the new road course. Andretti currently ranks eighth in the IZOD IndyCar Series points.

Hunter-Reay, the New Hampshire winner, has recorded seven consecutive top-ten finishes this year an d has two top-tens in his three Motegi showings. Hunter-Reay currently ranks seventh in the IZOD IndyCar Series point standings and is poised for a top-five finish in the final standings with three races remaining. In his last seven races, Ryan has scored 214 points, vaulting him from 18th to 7th in the No. 28 Team DHL/Circle K/Sun Drop Citrus Soda machine.

Conway, the Long Beach champion, suffered a tough break at Baltimore when his car had a mechanical problem while running sixth. The driver of the No. 27 Team @FollowAndretti entry comes to Motegi with high hopes at the road circuit. Conway has been victorious in the Far East previously when he captured the prestigious Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix in 2006.

Patrick, at the helm of the No. 7 Team GoDaddy.com car, makes her seventh Motegi start with six past top-eight finishes including the popular 2008 triumph. Danica has also taken the checkered flag in fourth, fifth, sixth and eight in other Motegi showings.

The Indy Japan The Final race will be televised live on VERSUS TV at 11:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday, Sept. 17.

DANICA PATRICK, #7 TEAM GoDaddy.com CAR
"We've always done pretty well at Motegi, so it will be interesting to see if any of our success on the oval transfers to the road course. The key for the GoDaddy.com team is to use our practice time wisely to get a good sense of the setup we need for the race, since the course is new to us. The IndyCar fans in Japan are very passionate about the sport, so it will be a good boost to see all of them for the final race at Motegi."

RICHMOND (Sept. 9, 2011) - It was a matter of survival for the JR Motorsports teams of Aric Almirola and Danica Patrick Friday night in the Virginia 529 College Savings 250 at Richmond International Raceway. Almirola was forced to dodge a melee of accidents with the No. 88 AdvoCare Chevrolet. He was involved in a pair of incidents himself but still rallied to a seventh-place finish. It marked the No. 88 team's ninth top-10 finish in the past 11 races. Patrick and the GoDaddy.com/Get Your.NET team were models of persistence. Twice the team fell a lap down, and twice they battled to earn their laps back. Patrick gained more valuable seat time at another short track en route to an 18th-place finish. Kyle Busch held off all challengers in the race's waning laps, earning his eighth victory of 2011. He was followed by Carl Edwards, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ryan Truex and Kenny Wallace.

No. 7 GoDaddy.com/Get Your.NET Chevrolet Key Moments

Start - 32nd / Finish - 18th / Laps Led - 0 / Owner Point Standings - 12th

Patrick's debut at Richmond International Raceway was without the No. 7 team's typical Go Daddy green colors. Instead, Patrick ran a "Remembering 9/11" car as part of the "Honoring our Heroes" program. With a 32nd starting position, Patrick began a march forward and ran in 28thby lap 10.

The GoDaddy.com/Get Your.NET team held the position for a time but fell a lap down to the leaders on lap 35. The team caught a much needed break with a caution on lap 68 that allowed Patrick to receive the wave around and put her back on the lead lap.

With a little helpful coaching from crew chief Tony Eury Jr. on her line entering the corner, Patrick improved to 20th by lap 93, but shortly after fell a lap down to the leaders. The team positioned themselves for the "lucky dog" on several occasions, but never occupied the spot when the caution flag flew. Patrick's break came with a lap-212 caution that allotted her the wave around for the second time.

She lined up for the final restart and over the final 30 laps gained two positions on her competitors to finish 18th.

"Racing at these short tracks is an experience," Patrick said after the race. "It was tough out there at times tonight. I can't say we're thrilled with an 18th-place finish, but it was about learning tonight. Thanks to Tony Jr. and everyone on this Go Daddy team for their efforts this weekend."

Next Up for JR Motorsports:
Event: Dollar General 300 at Chicagoland Speedway
Date:Saturday, Sept. 17, 2011
TV/Radio: ESPN2 (coverage begins at 3:30 p.m. EST) / MRN (broadcast begins at 3 p.m. EST)
JRM Entries:No. 88 Suave MEN Chevrolet (Aric Almirola), No. 7 Air Hogs Chevrolet (Jamie McMurray)

EVENT - Virginia 529 College Savings 250 (250 laps / 187.5 miles)
TRACK - Richmond International Raceway (.75-mile D-shaped oval)
DATE - Friday, Sept. 9, 2011
TV/RADIO - ESPN2 (coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. EST) / MRN (broadcast begins at 7:15 p.m. EST)

Danica Patrick
No. 7 GoDaddy.com/Get Your.NET Chevrolet
"This truly is a weekend of remembrance for Americans everywhere. I think a lot of people will remember this anniversary in their own way, but for me, it's an absolute privilege to be part of the Honoring our Heroes program this weekend. It's a testament to the entire NASCAR community that so many drivers and teams have embraced the importance of this program. Go Daddy has done a great thing by putting a special paint scheme on our No. 7 car, and it looks quite different than the Go Daddy green we're used to. It's a fitting tribute. I don't know how many people know this, but Bob (Parsons, Go Daddy Founder and CEO) took the time to design this paint scheme himself. Bob is a veteran of the Vietnam War, so this is something that he was very passionate about. Every star you see on the car is meant to serve as a memorial for each life lost on 9/11. I think there are 2,976 stars in all. Looking at all those stars covering the car really puts the magnitude of what we lost that day into perspective."

JR MOTORSPORTS NOTEBOOK -

REMEMBERING SEPT. 11, 2001 - This weekend the entire NASCAR community, along with NASCAR Lionel Collectibles, will pay tribute to the 10th anniversary of the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, with multiple NASCAR drivers piloting special "Honoring our Heroes" paint schemes. In part of the remembrance, Danica Patrick will drive a unique version of the No. 7 Go Daddy.com/Get Your.NET Chevrolet for JR Motorsports. Patrick's Chevrolet features a black paint-out that is blanketed with a star-covered design. A patriotic ribbon with the words "Remembering 9/11" also graces the hood. Each star integrated into the paint scheme represents a life lost during the attacks. The Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, a charitable organization founded in 2001 by the family of Stephen Siller -an FDNY firefighter who lost his life in the attacks, will have its logo on the C-post of the No. 7 Chevrolet. The "Honoring our Heroes" program is designed to help raise funds to build homes for the only three surviving quadruple amputees of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - United States Army Specialist Brendan Marrocco, United States Marine Corps Corporal Todd Nicely and United States Marine Corps Corporal John Peck.

PATRICK'S MEDIA AVAILABILITY - Danica Patrick will be available to members of the NASCAR media on Friday, Sept. 9 at 12:30 p.m. EST in the infield media center.

PATRICK TO ATTEND LIONEL NASCAR COLLECTIBLES PRESS CONFERENCE AT RIR - Patrick will participate in the Lionel NASCAR Collectibles press conference in the Richmond International Raceway media center on Friday, Sept. 9 at 3:45 p.m. EST. Patrick joins several other NASCAR drivers, along with Howard Hitchcock, Vice President of Lionel NASCAR� Collectables for a special check presentation benefitting the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation. Please note, questions during the press conference should be limited to the "Honoring our Heroes" program. Additional competition-related questions may be addressed during Patrick's media availability scheduled for Friday, Sept. 9 at 12:30 p.m. EST in the infield media center.

DANICA'S SEASON TOTALS - In seven races this season, Patrick holds one top-five and three top-10 finishes, two of which came in her last three starts. She has led 14 laps and earned an average finish of 16.0. Following the Richmond event, Patrick will be back with the No. 7 GoDaddy.com / Get Your.NET team in races at Kansas Speedway (Oct. 8), Texas Motor Speedway (Nov. 5), Phoenix International Raceway (Nov. 12) and Homestead-Miami Speedway (Nov. 19) before running the fulltime Nationwide Series schedule in 2012.

NO. 7 SEASON STATS - The No. 7 team holds six top-five and 11 top-10 finishes in 2011. The team occupies the 12th position in owner points.

ADVOCARE DEBUT - JR Motorsports welcomes AdvoCare as primary sponsor of the organization's flagship No. 88 Chevrolet with driver Aric Almirola. AdvoCare, a premier health and wellness company offering world-class energy, weight-loss, nutrition, and sports performance products, will also see action with the No. 88 team at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Oct. 14. They will continue to serve as an associate sponsor with for the entirety of the 2011 season.

ALMIROLA AT RICHMOND - Almirola made his first career Nationwide Series start at Richmond in 2006, and has competed at Richmond three times since. Driving for JRM behind the wheel of the No. 7 Chevrolet, he earned his best finish of 11th last fall. It marked the first and only time he has driven the No. 7 Chevrolet for JRM.

SHORT TRACK SEASON STATS - In eight short track races this season, Almirola holds three top-five and five top-10 finishes. He scored those finishes in races at Bristol Motor Speedway, Dover International Raceway, Iowa Speedway and Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis.

MOUNTING SUCCESS FOR ALMIROLA - In their last 10 starts, Almirola and the No. 88 AdvoCare team have secured five top-five and eight top-10 finishes. Almirola has scored more points than any other Nationwide Series regular during that span, earning a total of 352 points and averaging 35.2 points per race.

NO. 88 SEASON STATS - The AdvoCare team's season tally now stands at six top-five and 15 top-10 finishes. They are ranked eighth in owner points

ALMIROLA AUTOGRAPH SIGNINGS - Aric Almirola will sign autographs at the JR Nation merchandise hauler, located in the fan concourse area, on Friday, Sept. 9, from 3 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. EST.

JR NATION GREAT GIVEWAY - From Aug. 28 to Oct. 16, 2011, the JR Nation web site, the official fan club site for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and JR Motorsports, is giving away a prize a day for 50 days to both new and existing fan club members. All fans must do is log on to www.jrnation.com and click on the register now banner. In addition to the 50 daily prizes, JR Nation is offering a grand prize of an $888 gift card for use in the JR Nation online store. 10 second-place winners will receive an $88 gift card also for use in the JR Nation online store. Daily prizes include autographed memorabilia from Aric Almirola, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Danica Patrick and Josh Wise.

WATCH JRM RACING.COM's VIDEO SERIES - In a continued effort to be at the forefront of web-based content through its website www.jrmracing.com, the team has added a multitude of videos into its video gallery. Click here to view race preview videos, the "JRM 360" series and more.

BALTIMORE (Sept. 4, 2011) - The inaugural Baltimore Grand Prix turned into one of the biggest street parties seen in the Maryland city in decades Sunday around the inner harbor of downtown Baltimore.

A huge crowd welcomed the IZOD IndyCar Series to the "Charmed City" in the first-time downtown street race and the racing portion proved to the icing on the cake for the community.

Danica Patrick topped the four Andretti Autosport drivers Sunday with a sensational drive from 23rd to sixth in the No. 7 Team GoDaddy.com car on the tough, demanding 2.0-mile 12-turn circuit around Camden Yards, the Baltimore Convention Center and four major hotels.

Ryan Hunter-Reay was challenging for a podium finish in the No. 28 Team DHL/Circle K/Sun Drop Citrus Soda machine at the halfway point of the 75-lap feature when his car was struck from behind in turn three by Ryan Briscoe and was forced to pit on lap 38. Hunter-Reay's crew made a quick rear suspension repair and Ryan charged from 19th to eighth in the final 25 laps. The eighth place finish moved Hunter-Reay into seventh in the IZOD IndyCar Series point standings with three races remaining.

Mike Conway, in the new No. 27 Team Buffalo Wild Wings entry, suffered through a rough day from his eighth starting position. The personable Brit moved to sixth early in the race before suspension problems caused two long pit stops. Conway placed 23rd Sunday in Baltimore.

Marco Andretti, eighth in IndyCar Series points, was knocked out of the race after his No. 26 Team All Natural Snapple car was hit in the side in the big lap 36 tangle in Turn Three. At least 15 cars were involved in the melee and Andretti's mount was sidelined from the incident.

The Andretti Autosport team will now pack for the long trip to Motegi, Japan for the road course event set for Sunday, Sept. 18. The race will be shown live on VERSUS TV at 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 17.

DANICA PATRICK, #7 TEAM GoDaddy.com CAR

-Finished the race in sixth place
"What a great way to finish a challenging weekend. We took a chance on the fuel strategy and it worked in our favor. We ran out of fuel coming into the pits after the checkered which is fine by me. My guys had great pit stops which is key. I'm glad we had a solid finish for the GoDaddy.com car which we will use as momentum going into the road course in Japan."

BALTIMORE (Aug. 31, 2011) - Long Beach Grand Prix champion Mike Conway has a couple of advantages this weekend, Sept. 2-4, when the IZOD IndyCar Series rolls into the streets of downtown Baltimore for the inaugural Baltimore Grand Prix, the 14th round of the 17-race racing trail.

Conway, driving the No. 27 Team Buffalo Wild Wings machine, has already seen the racing surface around the famed Oriole Park at Camden Yards and the inner harbor in Baltimore, and one of the track streets has to be a favorite for British driver with Conway St. as the back straightaway.

Conway, in his third race back from the horrific 2010 Indy 500 crash, charged to the front of the field in California last April to capture North America's most prestigious street race. Now, the personable 28-year-old wants to have his name be the first on the Baltimore Grand Prix trophy.

The tricky 2.0-mile, 13-turn Baltimore circuit will pose some unique challenges to the drivers when practice begins at 12:05 p.m. EDT Friday. They will have to negotiate through streets which include four major hotels, the Baltimore Convention Center and the famed Camden Yards ball park.

Ryan Hunter-Reay has been latest Andretti Autosport driver to reach victory lane after his strong drive on the oval at New Hampshire. The Florida racer has six consecutive top-ten finishes including third on the road course at Toronto and Mid-Ohio. The driver of the No. 28 Team DHL/Circle K/Sun Drop Citrus Soda car is a former street track winner and will be ready for the new challenges of the Baltimore Grand Prix. Ryan is currently eighth in season points.

Marco Andretti, currently seventh in the IZOD IndyCar Series point standings, is the IndyCar Series driver who lives closest to the Baltimore area in his native Nazareth, Pa., so a good run for the driver of the No. 26 Team All Natural Snapple car would be imperative for the 24-year-old third generation racer and his local fans. Andretti won earlier this year at Iowa Speedway and is expected to be a contender in Sunday's main event.

Danica Patrick, one of the most popular IndyCar Series drivers, makes her debut in Baltimore in the No. 7 Team GoDaddy.com entry this weekend. Patrick comes back to her road racing roots with a street race. Danica's racing career began in karting and took her to tough European circuits as a teenager before hitting the IndyCar Series in 2005.

DANICA PATRICK, #7 TEAM GoDaddy.com CAR

"I always think it is great when we head into new markets, especially markets that are big. I'm sure there will be a great fan turnout since the race is new to everyone in Baltimore. We will make the most of our track walk tomorrow once we get to the track and try to learn as much as we can from that before heading into practice on Friday. It would be great if the GoDaddy.com car starts off strong on Friday and we can build from there."

SONOMA, Calif. (Aug. 28, 2011) - The demanding Infineon Raceway 2.3-mile road circuit proved to be a challenging track Sunday for the Andretti Autosport drivers. But all of them reached the finish line in the sun-drenched event.

Recent New Hampshire winner Ryan Hunter-Reay piloted the No. 28 Team DHL/Circle K/Sun Drop Citrus Soda machine from his 19th starting position to record an impressive top-ten finish in the 75-lap Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma. Hunter-Reay battled his way through a tough field in some dramatic wheel-to-wheel action to notch 10th position. It was the Florida driver's sixth consecutive top-ten as he now fights for a top-ten placing in the final IZOD IndyCar Series point standings.

Hunter-Reay was one of two drivers to pass nine cars in Sunday's Northern California race, the most passes in the feature event.

Mike Conway, the Long Beach winner in the No. 27 Team @FollowAndretti car, finished 16th after a late pit stop for tires. Conway, who qualified seventh Saturday, ran consistently in the top seven through the first half of the race before the late stop relegated him to the 16th spot.

Danica Patrick fought a sliding car most of the day in the No. 7 GoDaddy.com entry to finish 21st. Patrick's Go Daddy squad attempted a different race strategy by pitting early in the contest and racing out of the leaders' plan pit sequence.

Marco Andretti, the Iowa champion in the No. 26 Team All Natural Snapple car, started 14th and raced competitively Sunday before a broken front wing late in the race forced an additional pit stop. Andretti ended up 24th in the race.

There is no break for the IZOD IndyCar Series as the campaign travels across country to the inaugural Baltimore Grand Prix next Sunday, Sept. 4. The new Grand Prix course in the inner harbor of Baltimore remains in good shape following a tough two days of weather from Hurricane Irene. Practice runs begin this Friday with qualifying set for Saturday. The first-ever Baltimore Grand Prix will be televised live on Sept. 4 on Versus TV at 2 p.m. EDT.Text

DANICA PATRICK, #7 TEAM GoDaddy.com CAR
Finished the race in 21st
"During the beginning of the race, the car was incredibly loose which made it very uncomfortable. We came in for our second pit stop, changed the tires and took some front wing out, which really helped the car. It's not the result that we wanted for the GoDaddy.com car, but hopefully we'll come back and make up for it at Baltimore."

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (Aug. 25, 2011) -- Putting the pedal to the media metal, and with Go Daddy CEO and Founder Bob Parsons at her side ... Danica revealed her racing future today.

"We can finally put the rumors to rest -- I am going full-time NASCAR with Go Daddy next year," Danica told a crowded news conference at Go Daddy's Scottsdale headquarters a few minutes ago. "I am going to race a full Nationwide schedule and limited Sprint Cup schedule in my GoDaddy.com Chevrolet next season."

For the NASCAR Nationwide Series races, she'll drive with her current stock car team, JR Motorsports, owned by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. In the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Danica will be with Stewart-Haas Racing, co-owned by two-time Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart and Gene Haas, founder of Haas Automation. Both series will be financially fueled by Go Daddy, her long-time sponsor who first signed the Go Daddy Girl in 2006.

"I am very fortunate to have a forward-thinking, powerhouse sponsor like Go Daddy," Danica said. "Go Daddy is definitely committed and focused, which is why they are at the top of their industry."

"I have so much respect for Danica, and not just because she looks stunning in her Go Daddy firesuit," Parsons said. "She's got it all ... she's a competitor, she's focused, she's a risk taker, she's tenacious, she's got business savvy and look at what she's already accomplished before ever driving a full NASCAR schedule."

Danica finished fourth in the Nationwide Series this year in Las Vegas, which ranks as the best-ever result for a female driver in any of NASCAR's top three national touring series.

"Danica has done a great job in a short amount of time for JR Motorsports," said Earnhardt Jr. "Her work ethic is probably the best of anyone in the sport. People don't understand how difficult it is to do what she did -- racing two totally different cars at the same time. I'm glad she gets the opportunity to devote all of her attention to this car, because I think she's going to continue getting better. Danica has earned her place on the track, and I look forward to having her and Go Daddy back in the No. 7 car next year."

Just last month, Danica led 13 of the 100 laps in the Nationwide Series race at Daytona (Fla.), and was up front with two laps to go, drafting with her JRM teammate Aric Almirola. Earlier in that same race she paired up to draft with her new team owner and fellow driver, Tony Stewart.

"I see great things for Danica," said Stewart shortly before today's news conference. "Danica doesn't hold back. She really is a fearless competitor. She's taken a systematic approach to her stock car career, which is smart. I think with the support she has from Go Daddy, Dale Jr. and all of us at Stewart-Haas Racing, Danica has a very promising NASCAR future."

Danica has been under intense media scrutiny. The spotlight has focused on her both on and off the track. Go Daddy, known for its edgy advertising, has featured their racy Go Daddy Girl in five consecutive Super Bowl campaigns and has leveraged her looks and feisty persona to help create a little marketing magic.

Go Daddy is the world's largest provider of Web hosting, domain name registrations and net new SSL Certificates. Danica is often prominently positioned on Go Daddy's website.

"Danica transcends sports," Parsons said. "And she's the 'real deal' on the race track too. I know if I were driving a race car, I wouldn't want Danica in my rear view mirror!"

For a photo of the JRM 2012 GoDaddy.com No. 7 Chevrolet, please contact PR@GoDaddy.com.

For more info, please contact: PR@GoDaddy.com, mdavis@DaleJr.com or Mike.Arning@TrueSpeedCommunication.com.

To learn more about how Go Daddy can help you get online quickly and affordably, visit www.GoDaddy.com.

INDIANAPOLIS (August 25, 2011) - Andretti Autosport and Danica Patrick announced today that they have a mutual agreement to part ways at the conclusion of the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series.

Patrick, who has driven for Andretti Autosport since 2007, will pursue other interests in 2012.

Michael Andretti, president and CEO of Andretti Autosport, said he wishes Patrick nothing but the best in her upcoming endeavors and that she is always welcomed to come back to his organization.

"Danica enjoyed the most success ever by a female driver in the world of motorsports and was a leading marketing force within IndyCar," said Andretti. "I wish her only continued success in her career. I want to thank Danica for her valued time with our team. "

Patrick became the first female driver to win a major open-wheel event in April, 2008 when she drove the No. 7 Andretti Autosport car to victory at the Twin Ring Motegi oval track in Japan. In addition, she recorded 16 top-five finishes and 45 top-tens in her five years at Andretti Autosport. She placed fifth in the 2009 final IZOD IndyCar Series point standings.

"While I'm excited for what lies ahead in the coming year and beyond, I also have to thank Andretti Autosport for the opportunities they've given me over the past several seasons," said Patrick. "I've grown a lot as a driver with Andretti Autosport and I'm thankful I was able to be a part of the organization. It's great to be competitive each week and I was in large part because of my crew and engineers and their dedication to success. I earned my first major auto racing victory with the Team in Japan in 2008 and that wouldn't have been possible without the Team's hard work and support."

Andretti Autosport is one of the nation's leading sports properties and plans to announce the status of longtime sponsor GoDaddy.com in the near future.

SONOMA, Calif. (Aug. 24, 2011) - Ryan Hunter-Reay looks to continue his podium streak this weekend at Infineon Raceway when the IZOD IndyCar Series returns to the wine country for the 13th round of the 17-race campaign, the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma set for Sunday, Aug. 28.

Hunter-Reay, official winner of the New Hampshire race on Aug. 14, has totaled 146 points in the past four races to vault from 15th in points to eighth with five races remaining in the 2011 trail. Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon have scored 140 points in the same time frame.

Hunter-Reay, with third place finishes at Toronto and Mid-Ohio road circuits in the No. 28 Team DHL/Circle K/Sun Drop Citrus Soda machine, is anxious to come to the picturesque Napa Valley road course after a solid testing run last week. The Florida native has scored three consecutive top-ten finishes the last three races at Infineon Raceway including fourth in 2008.

The Andretti connection to Northern California racing dates back to 1983 when team president and CEO Michael Andretti won the Formula Atlantic race in Sonoma. He also won three CART races (1987, 1991 and 1992) at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, Calif.

Marco Andretti, currently seventh in the IZOD IndyCar Series point standings, has a fond spot for the Napa Valley also. Not only is his grandfather Mario's winery nearby, Andretti scored his first IndyCar victory at Infineon Raceway in 2006 at the famed 2.3-mile, 12-turn track. Andretti took his second career win earlier this year at Iowa on the small oval with the No. 26 Team All Natural Snapple car.

Another Andretti Autosport winner this year, Mike Conway seeks another impressive run with the No. 27 Team @FollowAndretti entry at Sonoma after he recorded his first podium finish at Infineon Raceway in 2009, a third place in his rookie season. Conway won the prestigious Long Beach Grand Prix in April.

Danica Patrick, one of only five drivers to have raced in all six previous IZOD IndyCar Series at Infineon Raceway, has scored three top-ten finishes at the legendary road circuit. The driver of the No. 7 Team GoDaddy.com car has a best of sixth in the 2007 Sonoma race.

The Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma will be televised live on VERSUS TV Sunday at 4 p.m. EDT.

DANICA PATRICK, #7 TEAM GoDaddy.com CAR
"I always enjoy competing in Sonoma. The track provides a great challenge for the drivers with variations in elevation and different types of corners. We always seem to have exciting races there, and I'm sure the GoDaddy.com team will able to put on a great show for the fans this weekend. Aside from the on-track excitement, it's always great to be in Northern California. Wine country is one of my favorite places to visit, so I always make sure I carve time to explore something new when I'm up there."

MONTREAL (Aug. 20, 2011) - JR Motorsports saw promising runs for all three of its entries fade late in Saturday's Napa Auto Parts 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Both the No. 5 Canadian Tire Chevrolet of Ron Fellows and the No. 88 GT Vodka Chevrolet of Aric Almirola were victims of contact - ironically from the same competitor - in the closing stages of the 74-lap race, relegating them to finishes of 11th and 20th, respectively. Danica Patrick looked to be on the cusp of a respectful top-15 run, but brake issues in addition to a broken rear axle on the last lap left the GoDaddy.com team to salvage a 24th-place finish. Marcos Ambrose drove his way to his fourth series victory. He was followed to the line by Alex Tagliani, Michael McDowell, Steven Wallace and J.R. Fitzpatrick.

No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet Key Moments

Start - 25th / Finish - 24nd / Laps Led - 0 / Owner Point Standings - 10th�

Danica Patrick's debut on a road course in Nationwide Series competition began with a 25th-place start. When the race began, crew chief Tony Eury Jr. was banking on pit strategy to leverage Patrick closer to the front and allow the Roscoe, Ill. native to hang on to a solid finishing position.

Patrick wheeled the GoDaddy.com machine to 12th before coming to pit road for her first pit stop under caution on lap 16. The team would line up for the ensuing restart in 20th. By the race's halfway mark, Patrick was shown in 13th. Several laps later when the race's second caution emerged, the No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet stayed out, propelling Patrick into the top-10.

On lap 50, Patrick radioed the crew that she had brake issues. She immediately came to pit road for four tires and fuel. The crew took additional time on pit road to bleed the brakes in order to give Patrick the necessary stopping power around the 2.7-mile course. She fell to 28th as a result.

The GoDaddy.com team eventually worked their way back to 14th for the final restart. However, trouble found Patrick on the white-flag lap when the rear axle on her machine broke, a direct result of a wheel-hop going into the hairpin corner. She finished 24th.

"I felt like we had a really good run going," Patrick told reporters after the race. "We gained some track position and worked our way up to eighth. But after that the brakes went to the floor. The guys did a great job to keep me on the lead lap after we pitted to fix them. My Go Daddy car is a little beat up today, but overall I think it was an OK day."

Next Up for JR Motorsports:
Event: Food City 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway
Date: Friday, Aug. 26, 2011
TV/Radio: ESPN (coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. EST) / PRN (broadcast begins at 7 p.m. EST)
JRM Entries: No. 88 Degree Chevrolet (Aric Almirola), No. 7 TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet (Josh Wise)

EVENT - NAPA Auto Parts 200 (74 laps / 200.54 miles)
TRACK - Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (2.709-mile 15-turn road course)
DATE - Saturday, Aug. 20, 2011
TV / RADIO - ESPN (coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. EST) / MRN (broadcast begins at 2 p.m. EST)

Danica Patrick
No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet

"This will be a new experience for me, running a road course (in a stock car) this weekend. It's going to be an interesting weekend. Fortunately, I was able to test with the Go Daddy team at Road Atlanta in preparation for the Montreal race. I'm grateful for that. Ron (Fellows) was there, and he offered a lot of insight for me.

"The 7 team has had some strong runs at the previous road races this year. We'd like nothing more than to continue that this weekend. But realistically, I think if we keep our nose clean and keep all four wheels on the racetrack, we can come out of this one with a decent finish."

JR MOTORSPORTS NOTEBOOK -

PATRICK'S STOCK CAR DEBUT ON ROAD COURSE - Danica Patrick will see Nationwide Series action for the first time at a road course this weekend. Patrick, along with teammate Ron Fellows, participated in a road-course test with the No. 7 GoDaddy.com team at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Ga. earlier this summer.

DANICA'S SEASON -Patrick has competed in six races this season, earning one top-five (Las Vegas) and three top-10s (Las Vegas, Chicagoland and Daytona). She holds an average finish of 14.7 and has led 14 laps on the season.

PATRICK'S 2011 NNS SCHEDULE - Following the NAPA Auto Parts 200, Patrick will compete in five more Nationwide Series races in 2011, including Richmond International Raceway (Sept. 9), Kansas Speedway (Oct. 8), Texas Motor Speedway (Nov. 5), Phoenix International Raceway (Nov. 12), and Homestead-Miami Speedway (Nov. 19). GoDaddy.com will sponsor Patrick's remaining races.

NO. 7 SEASON STATS - The No. 7 team holds five top-five and 11 top-10 finishes in 2011. The team occupies 11th position in owner points, but sits only 10 points out of ninth place.

SEASON FINALE FOR FELLOWS - Ron Fellows, a native of Windsor, Ontario, Canada, will compete in his third and final race this season for JRM. Known for his road-course talents, Fellows drove to a runner-up finish with the team earlier this summer at Road America, along with a top-10 finish last weekend at Watkins Glen. He owns eight career starts with the organization, earning one win (Montreal '08), four top-fives and six top-10 finishes.

HISTORY AT Circuit Gilles Villeneuve - Fellows is a past winner of the Montreal event in 2008. With the win, he was part of NASCAR history, as he became the first Canadian to win a NASCAR event on Canadian soil. He qualified sixth and led seven laps en route to his fourth series victory. The win was also the first road-course victory for JRM. In four starts at the facility, Fellows has one win and two top-five finishes. He holds the additional distinction of being the oldest winner of the race at 48 years, 10 months and five days old.

FELLOWS IN NNS - Fellows' Nationwide Series history goes back 14 years to 1997. In his 20 career races, he scored four wins, nine top-five, and 12 top-10 finishes. Fellows earned two poles, led 206 laps, and has an average finish of 15.2. He holds one top-five and two top-10 finishes in two series starts this year.

TWO FOR CANDIAN TIRE - Montreal marks the second consecutive race for sponsor Canadian Tire on the No. 5 Chevrolet with driver Ron Fellows. Canadian Tire is the largest automotive retailer in Canada with more than 480 stores. The retailer first graced the panels of Fellows' JRM Chevrolet at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in 2010.

CONSISTENT FINISHES - After driving to his sixth top-10 finish in the last seven races, Almirola is ranked fourth (-70) in the championship hunt. He sits 46 points behind third-place Elliott Sadler and 10 points ahead of fifth-place Justin Allgaier.

ROAD RACIN' WITH ALMIROLA - Almirola raced to an 11th-place finish at Montreal in 2007. The Tampa, Fla. native earned a top-10 finish at Watkins Glen International last weekend with the No. 88 Chevrolet, marking his best finish on any road course in Nationwide Series competition.

NO. 88 SEASON STATS - The No. 88 team owns five top-five and 13 top-10 finishes this season. The team is ranked eighth in owner points.

BUY FOUR TICKETS GET ONE FREE FOR WIN DALE JR.'S RIDE RAFFLE - August is the final month to enter for a chance to win the keys to Dale Jr.'s Camaro. The Dale Jr. Foundation is giving fans the opportunity to win one of three prizes with the purchase of a $25 raffle ticket, including a shot at Earnhardt Jr.'s own 2011 Chevrolet Camaro. As a special incentive this month, if fans buy four raffle tickets, they'll get a fifth free. The contest will run through Sept. 1, 2011, with all proceeds benefitting The Dale Jr. Foundation. For complete details visit www.windalejrsride.com.

WATCH JRM RACING.COM's VIDEO SERIES - In a continued effort to be at the forefront of web-based content through its website www.jrmracing.com, the team has added a multitude of videos into its video gallery. Click here to view race preview videos, the "JRM 360" series and more.

LOUDON, N.H. (Aug. 14, 2011) - Ryan Hunter-Reay recorded his first IZOD IndyCar Series win of the 2011 season Sunday in a wild finish at the one-mile oval track at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

The driver of the No. 28 Team DHL/Circle K/Sun Drop Citrus Soda car fought off some tough competition and intermittent rain showers to collect Andretti Autosport's third 2011 victory in the MoveThatBlock.com 225 in the series' return to the New Hampshire track after a 13-year absence.

Hunter-Reay's victory was the second straight oval win on the IZOD IndyCar Series for Andretti Autosport. Marco Andretti won at Iowa in June. Teammate Mike Conway won on the streets of Long Beach in April.

Starting fifth in the 27-car field, Hunter-Reay battled with the leaders through the first 75 laps before a yellow flag came out for a steady rain. On the restart on lap 107, leader Dario Franchitti made contact with second-place Takuma Sato and spun on the front straight. In the maylay, Hunter-Reay jumped to the lead and held the advantage for the majority of the 225-lap contest.

With 20 laps remaining the race, rain returned and the yellow flag was flown. Hunter-Reay cruised the oval track slowly in the lead with the field fighting heavier rain drops. In a controversial move, INDYCAR officials made the decision for a restart on lap 216. Hunter-Reay led the field on the slippery conditions but a crash on the front straightaway with several cars made for no start (or aborted start). According to the rules, an aborted restart reverts the field back to the previous lap.

With rain continuing, the car were pulled into the pit lane and halted for a red flag. After several minutes, the IndyCar Series officials called the race official with Hunter-Reay as the victor.

The win was Ryan's fifth in Indy car racing and his second oval win. He dominated the Milwaukee Mile race in 2004 for his first oval win.

Andretti Autosport's Danica Patrick also fought a tough race, running in the top-five but ultimately recording a sixth-place finish in the No. 7 Team GoDaddy.com car.

Both Andretti and Conway retired from the event with separate incidents. Andretti, driving the No. 26 All Natural Snapple Honda/Dallara/Firestone entry, placed 24th, while Conway, in the No. 27 Team @FollowAndretti machine, placed 25th.

The Andretti Autosport organization now prepares for a return to the popular Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., on Aug. 26-28 in the Northern California wine country.

DANICA PATRICK, #7 TEAM GoDaddy.com CAR

Finished the race in sixth place

"I take full responsibility for the last yellow and the mess that it created; I came out of (turn) one and the car just turned on me. I think I was one of many drivers that thought the race shouldn't be going green at that point. It was pretty slippery out there so I was surprised that we were going to chance it. I had a solid car throughout the entire race. I think we had a decent outcome for the GoDaddy.com car and it's great to finish on a good note after a challenging weekend."

LOUDON, NH (Aug. 10, 2011) - Marco Andretti is anxious for another short oval race in the IZOD IndyCar Series.

In his last oval event at Iowa Speedway, the third-generation star put on a spectacular charge to take the lead and fight off Tony Kanaan to the finish line for his second IndyCar Series career victory.

Andretti, driving the No. 26 Team Venom Energy Drink Honda/Dallara/Firestone car, led a total of 42 laps on the tight oval track and had to work his way through a tight field to secure the advantage with just 18 laps remaining.

The popular Nazareth, Pa., racer returns to the small oval action this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway when the IZOD IndyCar Series makes its return to one-mile surface for Sunday's MoveThatBlock.com 225. Andretti's father, Michael, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Andretti Autosport, finished second twice at NHMS in the CART Series.

The one-mile oval will be a new one for the IZOD IndyCar Series drivers, as no current competitor in the 26-car field has raced at New Hampshire previously.

Andretti leads the Andretti Autosport squad into the Northeastern racing plant in an effort to jump into the top-five in the 2011 point standings, as Marco ranks sixth in the current points, just 10 markers from the top-five. After the grueling come-from-run at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course last Sunday where he started 19th and placed seventh, Andretti seeks another sensational showing back on the ovals.

Joining Andretti in his team's driving contingent is veteran Ryan Hunter-Reay, third at Mid-Ohio in the No. 28 Team DHL/Circle K/Sun Drop Citrus Soda machine. Hunter-Reay, after a slow start, has been moving up the standings rapidly and now is just 12 points from the top-ten. Hunter-Reay is no stranger to short oval racing, having dominated at the Milwaukee Mile several years ago when he led every lap in the 250-mile race.

Danica Patrick, the only woman to win in the IZOD IndyCar Series, also is primed for a strong performance at New Hampshire after a top-five finish at Milwaukee this year. The driver of the No. 7 Team GoDaddy.com Honda/Dallara/Firestone entry is a crowd favorite who hopes to have the NHMS fans on their feet in Sunday's 225-lap main event.

Long Beach Grand Prix winner Mike Conway put on a tremendous drive last Sunday at Mid-Ohio, but the personable British driver was forced to retire from the race with 22 laps to go with a mechanical problem. Conway, who wheeled the No. 27 Team @FollowAndretti Honda/Dallara/Firestone car, had vaulted from 17th to sixth at the Honda Indy 200 before ending his day.

Sunday's MoveThatBlock.com 225 is scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. EDT and will be televised live on ABC-TV.

DANICA PATRICK, #7 TEAM GoDaddy.com CAR

"I'm looking forward to this weekend's race in Loudon. I was at the track last season in the stock car, so I'm hoping my experience with the track will be helpful in some ways. It's also helpful to at least know what the track is like heading into it even if the two styles of cars are completely different. We get a great deal of track time before qualifying so I think the GoDaddy.com car will be strong."

LEXINGTON, Ohio (Aug. 7, 2011) - Ryan Hunter-Reay drove the entire 85-lap Honda Indy 200 Sunday without his water bottle in hot and steamy weather conditions, but he was able to taste the champagne after taking the checkered flag.

The driver of the No. 28 Team DHL/Circle K/Sun Drop Citrus Soda Honda/Dallara/Firestone machine challenged Dario Franchitti for second place late in the race and settled for third place and a spot on the victory podium. The tough conditions at the physically-demanding circuit is never easy on the IZOD IndyCar Series drivers, but Hunter-Reay's late race charge was more impressive doing it without the aid of some water during the event.

Starting fifth, Ryan played the waiting game by saving ethanol fuel and conserving his Firestone tires. After the last round of pit stops, Hunter-Reay stalked the current point leader Franchitti to within a few tenths of a second as the race came to a close. A couple of attempts to pass Franchitti left the Florida racer having to settle for third. The finish was the second podium finish in the last three races for Hunter-Reay.

Marco Andretti came from 19th to place seventh in a spirited drive on the rolling hills of Mid-Ohio. The No. 26 Team Venom Energy Drink Honda/Dallara/Firestone racer was impressive on his restarts Sunday and came back to score another top-ten finish. Marco continued to work on closing the gap for a top-five placing in the IndyCar Series point standings.

Danica Patrick led the Mid-Ohio for a little time Sunday as her Team GoDaddy.com crew attempted a different race strategy early in the contest. Danica didn't pit on the first round of stops and searching for a yellow flag to help her gain some additional positions. Unfortunately, the No. 7 Team GoDaddy.com driver was forced to make ground after a green flag stop and finished 21st.

Mike Conway drove a superb race Sunday but has a 26th finish to show for it. The personable British drive r possibly made the most on-track passes of the day and was challenging Tony Kanaan for fifth on lap 62 when a mechanical failure knocked out the shifting mechanism on his No. 27 Team @FollowAndretti Honda/Dallara/Firestone entry. Conway, the Long Beach Grand Prix winner, started 17th and vaulted to sixth Sunday before he was forced to retire from the event.

It is a short turnaround for the Andretti Autosport squad with the upcoming New Hampshire one-mile oval track next on the schedule Sunday, Aug. 14. The New Hampshire race will be televised live on ABC-TV beginning at 3:30 p.m. EDT.

DANICA PATRICK, #7 TEAM GoDaddy.com CAR

* Finished the race in 21st place "It was a tough day for the GoDaddy.com car. A couple of the yellows didn't work in our favor, and we just didn't quite have the speed to make up lost opportunities. It's so difficult to pass on this track, and you need that speed from the start. The guys did a good job in the pits, so I wish we were able to pull off a stronger finish."

LEXINGTON, Ohio (Aug. 3, 2011) - The hot temperatures and the rolling hills of the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course make for the toughest conditions on the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series.

And the Andretti Autosport drivers are well-prepared for the difficult task this weekend in the annual Honda Indy 200 at the challenging 2.25-mile, 13-mile permanent road circuit.

The G-loads inside the cockpit and increased summer heat on the drivers have proven to exhibit extreme levels of fatigue. The mental strength to fight through the physically-exhausting battle is always a key to a successful run at Mid-Ohio.

Recent testing at Mid-Ohio has given the Andretti Autosport drivers a positive outlook when practice starts Friday afternoon at 3:45 p.m. (Eastern). Marco Andretti, Mike Conway, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Danica Patrick all completed solid testing runs in their preparation for the 200-mile feature, the 11th round of the 17-race 2011 campaign.

Developing a strong balance in their Honda/Dallara/Firestone cars is a big task for any IndyCar Series driver at Mid-Ohio. But the four Andretti Autosport racers now feel confident entering this weekend's events including Friday's practice, Saturday's qualifying and Sunday's main event.

Hunter-Reay, in the No. 28 Team DHL/Circle K/Sun Drop Citrus Soda car, Conway, in the No. 27 Team @FollowAndretti entry, and Patrick, in the No. 7 Team Go Daddy car, finished seventh, eighth and ninth respectively at the Edmonton race two weeks ago, and Andretti is seeking a strong performance to move him into the top-five in series points in the No. 26 Team Venom Energy Drink mount.

The green flag for Sunday's 85-lap Honda Indy 200 will be televised live on VERSUS starting at 2 p.m. (Eastern).

DANICA PATRICK, #7 TEAM GoDaddy.com CAR

"I have been good at Mid-Ohio and I have been bad too over the years. It is very much a rhythm track. You really need a car under you that has a nice balance. You need a car that you can hustle around Mid-Ohio. The track will get more grip as the weekend goes along. If you get a proper car setup under you and you can really push the car, you can be fast at Mid-Ohio. That is very important.

"You want to start towards the front of the grid because there are just not a lot of places to pass. That is the theme at permanent road circuits. You have to qualify well to race well. In Edmonton, the GoDaddy.com car drove well on restarts and passed a number of cars on track. We'll try to do the same thing in Mid-Ohio."

EDMONTON, Alta, Canada (July 24, 2011) - Andretti Autosport drivers fought their way through a tough field Sunday at the City Centre Airport circuit in Edmonton to collect three top-ten finishes in the 10th round of the IZOD IndyCar Series.

Ryan Hunter-Reay finished seventh in the 80-lap Edmonton Indy in the new 2.25-mile circuit followed by his Andretti Autosport teammates Mike Conway and Danica Patrick, eighth and ninth respectively. Marco Andretti drove the No. 26 Team Dr Pepper machine to 15th at the checkered flag. Andretti remains seventh in the current point standings, just 12 markers out of fifth place.

Starting seventh, Hunter-Reay battled in the top three in the middle of the race in his No. 28 Team DHL/Circle K/Sun Drop Citrus Soda Honda/Dallara/Firestone entry before making contact in turn five with second place Takuma Sato. The Florida driver was attempting to take the second position on lap 35. The IZOD IndyCar Series officials determined Ryan forced the contact and hereceived a "drive-through-the-pits" penalty. Hunter-Reay, a podium finisher at Toronto two weeks ago, then charged from 13th to seventh at the new 13-turn track.

Conway, at the controls of the No. 27 Team @FollowAndretti car, came from his 20th starting position to take eight at the finish, while Patrick drove the No. 7 Team GoDaddy machine, from 22nd to ninth. Patrick's 13 passes tied with J.R. Hildebrand for the most of any driver in Sunday's Edmonton Indy. Patrick is currently 11th in the point standings.

After two consecutive Canadian races in July, the four Andretti Autosport drivers return to the U.S. this week for day of testing this Thursday at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, the next stop on the 17-race IZOD IndyCar Series. The Honda Indy 200 is scheduled for Sunday, August 7, at the picturesque 2.258-mile, 13-turn permanent road course. The 85-lap, 191-mile Mid-Ohio contest will be televised at 2 p.m. EDT on VERSUS TV.

DANICA PATRICK, #7 TEAM GoDaddy.com CAR

Secured a ninth place finish

"We had a really solid race. We had some strong restarts and my crew was fantastic in the pits. Near the end of the race, I just didn't have the speed to hold my position. At the end of the day, it was a good top-10 finish for the GoDaddy.com car, which is great momentum heading into Mid-Ohio."

EDMONTON, Alberta, Canada (July 20, 2011) - Momentum is on the side of Andretti Autosport as the four-car contingent heads to the new 2.25-mile, 13-turn road circuit at the City Centre City near downtown Edmonton this weekend for the 10th stop in the 17-race IZOD IndyCar Series.

The Edmonton Indy will serve as Andretti Autosport's next target to the top of the victory podium after Marco Andretti's win at Iowa and Ryan Hunter-Reay's strong third place finish in the streets of Toronto in the past two IZOD IndyCar Series events. Andretti, at the controls of the No. 26 Team Dr Pepper Honda/Dallara/Firestone entry, also made a sensational drive from 20th to fourth at Toronto and currently ranks seventh in the 2011 standings, just five points out of the top-five.

Hunter-Reay, the most experienced of the Andretti Autosport drivers at Edmonton, placed fifth in last year's Edmonton Indy and has another top-ten finish to his credit at the Canadian airport track. Hunter-Reay figures to be a leading contender Sunday with his No. 28 Team DHL/Circle K/Sun Drop Citrus Soda Honda/Dallara/Firestone machine.

Long Beach winner Mike Conway returns to Edmonton in 2011 after missing last year's event due to his Indy 500 injuries, but the personable Brit has been strong on the street circuits for Andretti Autosport in the No. 27 Team @FollowAndretti Honda/Dallara/Firestone car.

Popular Danica Patrick looks to improve her top-ten series point standing at Edmonton with the No. 7 Team GoDaddy.com Honda/Dallara/Firestone entry on the all-new Edmonton course. Patrick has finished every IZOD IndyCar Series race in the last 43 starts, dating back to 2009 at Long Beach. Danica has the longest consecutive finishing record in IZOD IndyCar Series history.

The 100-lap Edmonton Indy will start Sunday at 12:45 p.m. (MDT) and will be telecast live on the VERSUS network beginning at 2 p.m. (EDT).

DANICA PATRICK, #7 TEAM GoDaddy.com CAR

"I've never had much luck at Edmonton, but with the new track configuration, it will hopefully give us a clean slate. The layout is supposed to allow for better passing opportunities and will hopefully give us a chance to perform a lot better than we have in the past with the GoDaddy.com car."

JR MOTORSPORTS TEAM PREVIEW
No. 88 Suave Men Chevrolet / No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet

EVENT - Subway Jalapeno 250 (100 laps / 250 miles)
TRACK - Daytona International Speedway (2.5-mile tri-oval)
DATE - Friday, July 1, 2011
TV / RADIO - ESPN (coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. EST) / MRN (broadcast begins at 7:30 p.m. EST)

Aric Almirola

No. 88 Suave Men Chevrolet
"It's tough to believe we're already half way through the year. We've had our ups and downs, but we're growing as a team. The good news is we've made a lot of gains from where we were at the beginning of this year, and that's what we need to be doing. If we can put some of this bad luck behind us and keep ourselves out of trouble on the racetrack, we can consistently run up front, there's no doubt in my mind.

"Daytona is fun for me because it's my home track. I'll have friends and family here for the races. The Eurys are masters of putting together good restrictor-plate cars so we're excited for the Daytona night race. Back at Talladega we had a car that could pull up and push well. If we can get hooked up with someone that pulls well, I think we've got a good chance. "

Danica Patrick

No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
"Looking back at the spring Daytona race, it was a huge learning experience for me. We saw a lot of different situations with our Go Daddy car. We ran in the pack for some of the day, but we also were able to get out front and see what that was like, too. I felt like I had a decent understanding of how to push the car in front of me. When I got out front that was a different story. Learning what to do when there's a car pushing you is still something I need to work on. There is a lot going on out there and it can be difficult at times.

"I know Tony Jr. and the crew are anxious to get into victory lane after what happened with Ron Fellows last week. We'd like nothing more than to run a solid race and come out of Daytona with a great finish. It's a matter of keeping ourselves out of enough trouble to be there in the closing laps. "

JR MOTORSPORTS NOTEBOOK -

TAKING THE JALAPENO 250 - Dale Earnhardt Jr. drove to victory in the Subway Jalapeno 250 last year with the No. 3 Wrangler Chevrolet. After qualifying third, Earnhardt led the final 33 laps to score his 23rd win in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Earnhardt Jr.'s entry into the race was part of a tribute to his father's 2010 induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Earnhardt Jr. drove a blue and yellow paint scheme similar to the Wrangler Jean Machine Dale Earnhardt Sr. drove in the mid-1980s.

JRM's DAYTONA SUCCESS - Dating back to 2006, Daytona International Speedway is tied with Bristol Motor Speedway as JRM's most successful track statistically. The organization secured one win, five top-five and nine top-10 finishes in 20 starts at the 2.5-mile facility. The team's win, along with three top-fives and six top-10 finishes, have come in night races at the track.

PATRICK AT DAYTONA - Patrick makes her fourth stock car start at the famed Daytona International Speedway this Friday. In 2010, the facility was the site of her first stock car start in ARCA competition. She earned a top-10 finish in that event and since has started two Nationwide Series races at Daytona, finishing 35th in 2010 and 14th in 2011. Patrick's fourth-place start at Daytona this spring was also her best Nationwide Series start.

DANICA'S SEASON - This season, Patrick has competed in five races, earning one top-five (Las Vegas) and two top-10s (Las Vegas and Chicagoland). She also holds an average finish of 15.6

PATRICK'S 2011 NNS SCHEDULE - Following the Subway Jalapeno 250, Patrick will compete in six more Nationwide Series races in 2011, including Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (Aug. 20), Richmond International Raceway (Sept. 9), Kansas Speedway (Oct. 8), Texas Motor Speedway (Nov. 5), Phoenix International Raceway (Nov. 12), and Homestead-Miami Speedway (Nov. 19). GoDaddy.com will sponsor Patrick's remaining races.

NO. 7 SEASON STATS - The No. 7 team holds two top-five and six top-10 finishes in 2011. Dale Earnhardt Jr. , Ron Fellows, Danica Patrick and Josh Wise have shared driving duties in the No. 7 Chevrolet throughout the year, each scoring a top-10 finish. The team occupies 12th position in owner points.

ALMIROLA AT DAYTONA - With only three starts to his credit at Daytona, Almirola owns one pole and one top-five start with a best finish of 19th. His average start at the facility is 6.3. A native of Tampa, Fla., Almirola considers Daytona his home track.

NO. 88 SEASON STATS -The No. 88 team owns one top-five and seven top-10 finishes this season. Almirola is currently ranked sixth in the championship driver points (-75). The No. 88 team is 11th in owner points.

MEDIA AVAILABILITY - Patrick will be available to members of the NASCAR media on Thursday, June 30, at 4:30 p.m. EST in the Daytona International Speedway infield media center.

JRM AUTOGRAPH SIGNINGS - 100 tickets will be distributed beginning on Thursday for Danica Patrick's autograph signing at her merchandise hauler on Friday, July 1, from 5 p.m. to 5:20 p.m. Aric Almirola will also sign autographs at the JR Nation merchandise hauler in the fan concourse area on Friday, July 1, from 5:30 p.m. - 6 p.m. EST.

WIN DALE JR.'S RIDE - There is still time to win the keys to Dale Jr.'s Camaro. The Dale Jr. Foundation is giving fans the chance to win one of three prizes with the purchase of a $25 raffle ticket, including a shot at Earnhardt Jr.'s own 2011 Chevrolet Camaro. The contest will run through Sept. 1, 2011, with all proceeds benefitting The Dale Jr. Foundation. For complete details visit www.windalejrsride.com.

WATCH THE "JRM 360" VIDEO SERIES - In a continued effort to be at the forefront of web-based content through its website www.jrmracing.com, the team has added a video series entitled "JRM 360". It's a light-hearted look at the inner workings and extraordinary personalities at JRM's shop in Mooresville, N.C. A daily briefing column that gives fans the scoop on day-to-day activities at the shop is also part of the line-up this season.

LOS ANGELES, June 2, 2011 - PRNewswire - William Rast, the "New America" denim culture brand, founded by Justin Timberlake in 2005, and winner of the 100th Anniversary Indianapolis 500, has signed a multi-year endorsement agreement together with their eyewear license partner Viva International Group, for racing superstar Danica Patrick to endorse William Rast Eyewear and William Rast Racing Eyewear. Patrick will be wearing William Rast, on and off the racetrack and be featured in upcoming campaigns.

Patrick's endorsement of William Rast, coincides with the consumer launch of the William Rast Eyewear line this year, which includes both optical frames and sunglasses for women and men; and a special William Rast Racing Eyewear collection, that features sporty, athletic styles with upgraded materials and features.

William Rast, known for its contemporary American made premium denim for women and men, has had a strong connection to the world of racing since its inception by bringing its New America esthetic and philosophy to iconic races and events. This year at the Indy 500, William Rast not only announced the partnership with Danica Patrick, but also won the prestigious race with the William Rast car piloted by Dan Wheldon.

Colin Dyne, Chief Executive Officer William Rast says: "William Rast's New America culture is centered around updating and modernizing iconic Americana values and traditions. What better time for us to take a bold step in showing our true New America values, than at the Centennial celebration of the Indy 500, a true celebration of not only American heritage and tradition but also the future of racing, and by partnering with one the world's most iconic and groundbreaking athletes, Danica Patrick."

Frank Rescigna, president of Viva says: "We are excited to be partnering with Danica Patrick and be part of this great American tradition, adding William Rast's modern attitude to this classic event. Danica is a perfect fit for the William Rast brand, and is an ideal ambassador for the William Rast Racing Eyewear collection."

"That's what you have to do here at Indy; you have to take that chance and set yourself apart," Patrick said. "Which is why I love this partnership with William Rast and William Rast Eyewear. Fashion is very personal and it directly reflects your style and how you do things. I am very driven and focused on my performance, and to me, this brand reflects my attitude, personal style, drive and desire to win. And we all know at Indy -] it's all about the Win."

ABOUT WILLIAM RAST

William Rast, the 'New America' denim culture brand, was conceptualized and founded by Justin Timberlake in 2005. The company is operated through subsidiaries of People's Liberation, Inc. under management of CEO, Colin Dyne. Originally comprised of only denim, the brand has expanded into a complete lifestyle collection, including leathers, outerwear, wovens and knits; known for delivering quality, fashion forward design, and premium fit. Grounded in the iconography of American denim heritage and biker culture, yet re-]packaged and presented in a contemporary context, William Rast has found its place on the floors of top-]tier department stores and boutiques across the globe, and has become a staple for denim fans worldwide. The company operates William Rast retail stores at Century City Mall in Los Angeles, Aventura Mall in Miami, Valley Fair Mall in San Jose and Desert Hills Premium Outlets in Palm Springs; as well as its webshop at http://www.williamrast.com/.

LOS ANGELES, June 2, 2011 - PRNewswire - William Rast, the "New America" denim culture brand, founded by Justin Timberlake in 2005, and winner of the 100th Anniversary Indianapolis 500, has signed a multi-year endorsement agreement together with their eyewear license partner Viva International Group, for racing superstar Danica Patrick to endorse William Rast Eyewear and William Rast Racing Eyewear. Patrick will be wearing William Rast, on and off the racetrack and be featured in upcoming campaigns.

Patrick's endorsement of William Rast, coincides with the consumer launch of the William Rast Eyewear line this year, which includes both optical frames and sunglasses for women and men; and a special William Rast Racing Eyewear collection, that features sporty, athletic styles with upgraded materials and features.

William Rast, known for its contemporary American made premium denim for women and men, has had a strong connection to the world of racing since its inception by bringing its New America esthetic and philosophy to iconic races and events. This year at the Indy 500, William Rast not only announced the partnership with Danica Patrick, but also won the prestigious race with the William Rast car piloted by Dan Wheldon.

Colin Dyne, Chief Executive Officer William Rast says: "William Rast's New America culture is centered around updating and modernizing iconic Americana values and traditions. What better time for us to take a bold step in showing our true New America values, than at the Centennial celebration of the Indy 500, a true celebration of not only American heritage and tradition but also the future of racing, and by partnering with one the world's most iconic and groundbreaking athletes, Danica Patrick."

Frank Rescigna, president of Viva says: "We are excited to be partnering with Danica Patrick and be part of this great American tradition, adding William Rast's modern attitude to this classic event. Danica is a perfect fit for the William Rast brand, and is an ideal ambassador for the William Rast Racing Eyewear collection."

"That's what you have to do here at Indy; you have to take that chance and set yourself apart," Patrick said. "Which is why I love this partnership with William Rast and William Rast Eyewear. Fashion is very personal and it directly reflects your style and how you do things. I am very driven and focused on my performance, and to me, this brand reflects my attitude, personal style, drive and desire to win. And we all know at Indy - it's all about the Win."

ABOUT WILLIAM RAST

William Rast, the 'New America' denim culture brand, was conceptualized and founded by Justin Timberlake in 2005. The company is operated through subsidiaries of People's Liberation, Inc. under management of CEO, Colin Dyne. Originally comprised of only denim, the brand has expanded into a complete lifestyle collection, including leathers, outerwear, wovens and knits; known for delivering quality, fashion forward design, and premium fit. Grounded in the iconography of American denim heritage and biker culture, yet re-packaged and presented in a contemporary context, William Rast has found its place on the floors of top-tier department stores and boutiques across the globe, and has become a staple for denim fans worldwide. The company operates William Rast retail stores at Century City Mall in Los Angeles, Aventura Mall in Miami, Valley Fair Mall in San Jose and Desert Hills Premium Outlets in Palm Springs; as well as its webshop at http://www.williamrast.com/.

JR MOTORSPORTS TEAM PREVIEW
No. 88 GT Vodka Chevrolet / No. 7 Go Daddy Chevrolet No. 5 TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet

EVENT - Scotts EZ Seed 300 (300 laps / 159.9 miles)
TRACK - Bristol Motor Speedway (.533-mile oval)
DATE - Saturday, March 19, 2011
TV / RADIO - ESPN2 (coverage begins at 2 p.m. EST) / PRN (broadcast begins at 1:30 p.m. EST)

Aric Almirola No. 88 GT Vodka Chevrolet

"I love racing at Bristol. I liked it a lot back when it was the old surface, and I like it with the variable banking, too. There is just something about that place that really gets me fired up to go racing. What's not to like?You've got cars racing two-wide, and sometimes three-wide all day long. For a race car driver, there is nothing better than going to a little short track and having the option to run all the way up against the fence or right down on the yellow line.

"Bristol is unique in that it's one of the few concrete tracks we race on. It makes racing a little different than your typical asphalt tracks. The concrete doesn't change as much where the temperatures are concerned. You're always trying to watch and see how much rubber the racetrack is taking, so you know how to adjust on your car. The pit road is tricky, too. You've got to make sure you know where you're heading on pit road and where your stall is. It's an exciting race for the fans, and there is a lot going on out on the track."

Danica Patrick No. 7 Go Daddy Chevrolet

"I'm really looking forward to running at Bristol. This is my first trip to the track, and I can't wait for the challenge. Obviously it's a well known circuit that always has exciting events. I've heard that it's similar to Dover, a track at which I ran last season. Hopefully, that will provide a good baseline for what I can expect out there. It will be my fourth race of the season and it would be great to finish my early-season Nationwide Series run on a high note before I move over to begin the IndyCar season in late March.

"As far as Bristol goes, I haven't seen it yet. I know that Dario (Franchitti) really liked it when he came and tried NASCAR. Nevertheless, it's going to be an experience just like Dover, and you can't get good at short track racing until you start doing it."

Dale Earnhardt Jr. No. 5 TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet

"I'm looking forward to working with Shine (Chris Heroy) again. He's the lead engineer on the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team, and we are fortunate that they're letting him work on this Nationwide deal since we have a third car on the track. Shine is very smart. I think he's got what it takes to be a good crew chief, and this gives him a little bit of a pressure-free opportunity to do it. I'm not sure if he'd agree that it's pressure free, but we're not running for points. We're out here to have a good time and get as much as we can for Taxslayer.

"I'm just as much interested in how our other JR Motorsports teams run this weekend. Obviously Danica has been doing well, but this is a track she's never been to. We've got four practices on Friday, which is a good thing for her. She'll use up every one of them and soak in as much knowledge as she can before Saturday's race. Our 88 bunch needs to run better. We've come out of the box a little stale, and everyone has been working hard to get faster. This could be the track to turn it around. I know Aric likes Bristol a lot. Pops (Tony Eury Sr.) likes Bristol, and both have been successful there. That team needs a good solid run this weekend to get things back on track."

JR MOTORSPORTS NOTEBOOK -

REWRITING THE RECORD BOOKS - After a fourth-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Patrick and the No. 7 Go Daddy team snapped the 62-year-old record for highest finishing female in a NASCAR national series race. The previous record was held by Sara Christian, who finished fifth at Heidelberg Raceway (Pa.) on Oct. 2, 1949. Patrick also became the first female to score a top-five finish in a Nationwide Series race. Additionally, she was the first woman to lead a lap at Daytona in a NASCAR national series race (includes NSCS, NNS and NCWTS), according to NASCAR statistical services.

EARNHARDT AT BRISTOL - In nine NNS starts, Earnhardt Jr. holds one win (fall 2004), five top-five and seven top-10 finishes at BMS. He notched two poles (spring 1998, fall 2004), has led 211 laps, and earned an average finish of 6.9.Earnhardt Jr. hasn't finished worst than seventh in his last six NNS starts at BMS.

ALMIROLA AT BRISTOL - Almirola holds three NNS three starts at BMS, with a best finish of 10th... Five starts in NSCS competition, earning one top-10 and two top-15s... three starts in NCWTS, with one top-five and two top-10 finishes... scored a second-place finish in his most recent start (2010) at Bristol in the NCWTS.

DANICA'S SEASON - Patrick earned one top-five, one top-10 and three top-20 finishes in 2011. Prior to the start of this season, her best NNS finish was 19th at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2010.

WEEKEND SWEEPS - Earnhardt Jr. raced to three weekend sweeps during his Nationwide and Sprint Cup career to date. He swept the spring Talladega races in 2003, the season opening Daytona events in 2004, and most recently, the Bristol night races in 2004.

SHORT TRACK SUCCESS- Four of JRM's nine career victories have come with the No. 88 Chevrolet at track's one-mile in length or smaller, including Bristol Motor Speedway (Aug. 22, 2008), Dover International Speedway (May 31, 2009), Iowa Speedway (Aug. 1, 2009) and Memphis Motorsports Park (Oct. 24, 2009). JRM has led 422 laps on short tracks, a statistic dating back to 2006.

BULLRING STATS FOR JRM - JRM holds one win, four top-five and six top-10 finishes at Bristol with drivers Earnhardt Jr., Brad Keselowski and Scott Wimmer. The team has led 88 laps at the facility.

TEAM JRM POINT'S POSITION - Patrick and the Go Daddy team are currently ranked fourth (-13) in the driver point standings and eighth in owner points. Driver Aric Almirola is ranked seventh (-26) in driver points and the No. 88 GT Vodka Chevrolet is 13th in owner points.

PATRICK'S MEDIA AVAILABILITY - Patrick will be available to members of the NASCAR media on Friday, March 18 at 1:15 p.m. in the BMS infield media center deadline room.

DRIVER APPEARANCES - JR Motorsports drivers Aric Almirola and Josh Wise will appear at the JR Nation merchandise hauler in the fan concourse area to sign autographs on Saturday, March 19 from 11 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.

DANICA'S 2011 NNS SCHEDULE - Bristol marks Patrick's final race with JR Motorsports in the Nationwide Series until the Chicagoland Speedway event (June 4). She'll return at Daytona International Speedway (July 1), Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (Aug. 20), Richmond International Raceway (Sept. 9), Kansas Speedway (Oct. 8), Texas Motor Speedway (Nov. 5), Phoenix International Raceway (Nov. 12), and Homestead-Miami Speedway (Nov. 19).

NEW JRM RACING WEBSITE - JRMracing.com is the digital home of the JR Motorsports NASCAR Nationwide Series race teams. Visit it for more information about the company, its history, and drivers, including Aric Almirola, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Danica Patrick and Josh Wise.Watch exclusive video content, including pre and post race reports with drivers and crew.

JR MOTORSPORTS TEAM PREVIEW
No. 88 TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet / No. 7 Go Daddy Chevrolet
EVENT - Sam's Town 300 (200 laps / 300 miles)
TRACK - Las Vegas Motor Speedway (1.5-mile tri-oval)
DATE - Saturday, March 5, 2011
TV / RADIO - ABC (coverage begins at 3 p.m. EST) / PRN (broadcast begins at 2:30 p.m. EST)

Aric Almirola

No. 88 TaxSlayer Chevrolet

"It's been an unfortunate couple of weeks for our TaxSlayer.com team. I'm anxious to get to Las Vegas, where I'm hopeful we can turn this thing around and get back to the business of competing for a championship. I've said all along that's what we're here to do, and we've gotten behind the eight ball a little bit. We're as good as any team in this garage. "

"Vegas is not only a great destination for a race, but it's a fun track to drive. The variable banking gives you options on what line to work around the track. There are also some bumps getting into the corner that can affect the car's stability, so it's a place where you've got to remain focused."

Danica Patrick

No. 7 Go Daddy Chevrolet

"Phoenix was a tough one, that's for sure. But you know what, we were able to come out of there with the car in one piece, and we put together another improved race with the Go Daddy car. That's what this year is really going to be about, seeing continued improvements.

"Now it's off to Las Vegas and I just want to try to keep things moving forward. I specifically remember the trouble we ran into in Vegas last year with lapped traffic. It was one of those deals where I was still so new to this type of racing that we got mixed up in something, which could have easily been avoided. I want to make sure we can avoid that type of trouble and just have another decent day with the Go Daddy team."

JR MOTORSPORTS NOTEBOOK -

VEGAS BREAKTHROUGH - JR Motorsports' first victory as a company came in Nationwide Series competition at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with Mark Martin on March 1, 2008. After qualifying 17th, Martin led 12 laps en route to his 48th career victory. JRM has two top-fives and three top-10 finishes in eight starts there.

TEAM JRM POINTS POSITION - Patrick and the Go Daddy team are currently ranked fourth (-20) in the driver point standings. Aric Almirola is ranked sixth (-22) in driver points.

ALMIROLA AT VEGAS - Almirola has three starts in NASCAR Camping World Truck Series competition at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, earning three top-10 finishes. He has averaged a finish of 8.0 and led four laps. Almirola also owns three starts at the Sprint Cup level at the 1.5-mile facility.

PATRICK AT VEGAS - This marks Patrick's second Nationwide Series start at Las Vegas. Last spring she started 37, and finished 36th, after a crash 86 laps into the event.

DANICA'S 2011 NNS SCHEDULE - Patrick will compete in 12 Nationwide Series races in 2011, including the next two events at Las Vegas and Bristol. The remainder of her schedule features races at Chicagoland Speedway (June 4), Daytona International Speedway (July 1), Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (Aug. 20), Richmond International Raceway (Sept. 9), Kansas Speedway (Oct. 8), Texas Motor Speedway (Nov. 5), Phoenix International Raceway (Nov. 12), and Homestead-Miami Speedway (Nov. 19). GoDaddy.com will sponsor 11 of Patrick's 12 races with Tissot returning as a primary sponsor for the Chicagoland event.

JR MOTORSPORTS TEAM PREVIEW
No. 88 TaxSlayer Chevrolet / No. 7 Go Daddy Chevrolet
EVENT - Bashas' Supermarkets 200 (200 laps / 200 miles)
TRACK - Phoenix International Raceway (1-mile oval)
DATE - Saturday, Feb. 26, 2011
TV / RADIO - ESPN2 (coverage begins at 5:30 p.m. EST) / MRN (broadcast begins at 5 p.m. EST)

Aric Almirola No. 88 TaxSlayer Chevrolet

"Last week was a tough race for our 88 team. At Daytona you always want to come out of the box strong, and man, did we have a fast car. We definitely would have been up front with the leaders, but we had a motor issue and it cost us a good run. That's just part of racing. Sometimes things are just out of your control, and you've got to continue to be focused and move on.

"I'm confident we'll be strong at Phoenix, and it's going to be fun driving the TaxSlayer Chevrolet this weekend. It's a cool-looking car. I think it will look awesome on the track. Last fall at Phoenix we put together a good race. We were running well and then Pops (Tony Eury Sr., crew chief) made a call for a two-tire stop and that gave us the necessary track position our team needed. At these short tracks it's all about track position. Phoenix is a slick track and it can be tough to get your car handling well in turns one and two. But if you're successful in doing so, you can usually get hooked up in three and four, too."

Danica Patrick No. 7 Go Daddy Chevrolet

"I enjoyed running Phoenix last year even though things didn't exactly turn out the way I had hoped. It's always cool to race close to home. We typically get a good turnout from Go Daddy because they're headquartered in Scottsdale. So there are a lot of Go Daddy employees that come out and enjoy the racing. It's a lot of fun to have them at the race.

"It was great to be able to piece together a solid run last weekend at Daytona. Last year it seemed we could put good pieces of a race together, but never an entire one. That's going to be a big part of this year. If our Go Daddy team is able to continue to put entire races together, I think we can continually reach our goal of top-15 finishes. Obviously, Phoenix is going to be a different test for us than Daytona. Phoenix is a driver's track. It's going to be close quarters, bumper-to-bumper racing, and that is something I'm still getting adapted to."

JR MOTORSPORTS NOTEBOOK -

WELCOME TAXSLAYER - JRM is proud to feature TaxSlayer on the hood of its flagship No. 88 Chevrolet this weekend at Phoenix. TaxSlayer is an established firm with a solid reputation and over 40 years in the tax preparation business. This event marks its first of nine races as the team's primary sponsor. TaxSlayer will have two primary races on the No. 88 Chevrolet with Aric Almirola, six races on the No. 7 Chevrolet with driver Josh Wise, and one on Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 5 Chevrolet at Bristol.

GO DADDY/DANICA HOMECOMING - This weekend will be a homecoming race for both GoDaddy.com, the primary sponsor of the No. 7 Chevrolet, and driver Danica Patrick at Phoenix. Go Daddy's headquarters are stationed in nearby Scottsdale, Ariz., while Patrick resides in the Phoenix area.

ALMIROLA AT PHOENIX - With three Nationwide Series starts to his credit at Phoenix, Almirola's best finish is sixth, coming last fall in the No. 88 Chevrolet. Almirola also led eight laps during that event, a personal best for his 2010 NNS season. In three truck series starts, he's secured two top-five finishes and led 52 laps.

PATRICK AT PHOENIX - In Patrick's lone stock car start at PIR she finished 32nd after two on-track incidents led to cosmetic damage. Patrick also finished 15th in her only start at PIR in the IndyCar Series.

SOLID SHOWING - Patrick is fresh off a competitive run in the season opening race at Daytona International Speedway. She raced solidly among the front runners in the event and led a lap, becoming the first woman to lead a lap at Daytona in a NASCAR national series race (includes NSCS, NNS and NCWTS). Patrick's fourth-place start and 14th-place finish were also a NASCAR career best for the Roscoe, Ill. native.

TEAM JRM POINT'S POSITION - Patrick and the Go Daddy team are currently ranked seventh (-10) in the driver point standings and 14th in owner points. Driver Aric Almirola is ranked 11th (-16) in driver points and the No. 88 TaxSlayer Chevrolet is 19th in owner points.

PATRICK'S MEDIA AVAILABILITY - Patrick will be available to members of the NASCAR media on Friday, Feb. 25, at 1:15 p.m. in the PIR infield media center deadline room.

DRIVER APPEARANCES - JR Motorsports drivers Aric Almirola and Josh Wise will appear at the JR Nation merchandise hauler in the fan concourse area to sign autographs on Saturday, Feb. 26, 2011, from 11 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.

DANICA'S 2011 NNS SCHEDULE - Patrick will compete in 12 Nationwide Series races in 2011, including the first four events of the year at Daytona, Phoenix, Las Vegas and Bristol. The remainder of her schedule features races at Chicagoland Speedway (June 4), Daytona International Speedway (July 1), Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (Aug. 20), Richmond International Raceway (Sept. 9), Kansas Speedway (Oct. 8), Texas Motor Speedway (Nov. 5), Phoenix International Raceway (Nov. 12), and Homestead-Miami Speedway (Nov. 19). GoDaddy.com will sponsor 11 of Patrick's 12 races with Tissot returning as a primary sponsor for the Chicagoland event.

NEW JRM RACING WEBSITE - JRMracing.com is the digital home of the JR Motorsports NASCAR Nationwide Series race teams. Visit it for more information about the company, its history, and drivers, including Aric Almirola, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Danica Patrick and Josh Wise. Watch exclusive video content, including pre and post race reports with drivers and crew.

JRM QUICK FACT - JRM has scored a top-five finish at every track on the current Nationwide Series schedule.

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Feb. 9, 2011) - Danica Patrick, the 28-year-old racer who transitioned into NASCAR Nationwide Series competition last year with JR Motorsports in the No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, has finalized her 2011 Nationwide Series plans. JR Motorsports general manager Kelley Earnhardt, on behalf of the team and primary sponsor GoDaddy.com, announced those plans today.

Patrick's tour will closely resemble her rookie campaign in that she will compete in a cluster of races on the front and back ends of the Nationwide Series schedule. She will appear in select races during the middle parts of the year while competing full time in the IZOD IndyCar Series. Patrick's 2011 NASCAR plans feature 12 races across 10 NASCAR markets. Four of those markets will host Patrick for the first time in a stock car.

As announced last October, Patrick will compete in the first four Nationwide Series races - Daytona International Speedway (Feb. 19), Phoenix International Raceway (Feb. 26), Las Vegas Motor Speedway (March 5) and Bristol Motor Speedway (March 19).

Patrick will continue with races at Chicagoland Speedway (June 4), Daytona International Speedway (July 1), Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (Aug. 20), Richmond International Speedway (Sept. 9), and Kansas Speedway (Oct. 8). She will conclude her second NASCAR season with the final three races on the Nationwide Series schedule - Texas Motor Speedway (Nov. 5), Phoenix International Raceway (Nov. 12) and Homestead-Miami Speedway (Nov. 19).

"This is going to be an exciting year in the No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet," said Patrick, who scored a career-best fifth-place start and 19th-place finish in the 2010 finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. "I have a much different perspective heading into this season. I know a little more of what to expect, and I'm not as out of my element. I've had a year to work with my team, and there is a comfort level that comes with returning to some of these tracks. It's obvious experience goes a long way in this sport. Thanks to everyone at Go Daddy and JR Motorsports that have been incredibly supportive throughout this process."

Race tracks that were not on Patrick's 2010 schedule but among her 2011 plans are Bristol, Richmond, Kansas and Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, which is located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Patrick has raced at Richmond and Kansas in the IZOD IndyCar Series. GoDaddy.com sponsors Patrick in both open-wheel and stock car racing.

"Danica is smart, she's beautiful and she's successfully competing in a male-dominated sport," said Bob Parsons, the company's CEO and founder. "To jump into a stock car and take on veteran NASCAR drivers is a testament to Danica's grit - our Go Daddy Girl is an undeniable inspiration for anyone who dreams big!"

GoDaddy.com, the world's largest Web hosting provider and top domain name registrar, will serve as primary sponsor for 11 of the 12 races with Patrick on the No. 7 Chevrolet. This season marks Patrick's fifth year as a Go Daddy Girl for the Internet powerhouse.
ABOUT JR MOTORSPORTS: JR Motorsports is the management company and racing operation for Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR's eight-time Most Popular Driver and winner of more than 40 NASCAR-sanctioned races. JR Motorsports competes in multiple racing divisions, including the NASCAR Nationwide Series; however, the Dale Jr. business model has grown well beyond the race track and now includes multiple business ventures.