Danica Patrick’s 2011 NASCAR Schedule Announced

by | Feb 9, 2011 | NASCAR

Danica Patrick’s 2011 NASCAR Schedule Announced

Patrick to compete in 12 Nationwide Series races with JR Motorsports, 11 with Go Daddy

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. For more information on Patrick and Go Daddy racing, visit www.GoDaddy.com/Danica.

Fans Can Receive Race Weekend Updates via Text Message

by | Feb 9, 2011 | NASCAR

Fans Can Receive Race Weekend Updates via Text Message

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Further enhancing its highly successful Fan Texting Service, which allows fans to communicate with track officials on various issues, Daytona International Speedway will launch a new option that allows fans to sign up for and receive event updates directly to their Sprint® smart phones or other similarly capable device.
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RYAN NEWMAN – Hoping To ‘Filter’ Out Team’s Bad Racing Luck at Daytona

by | Feb 9, 2011 | NASCAR

RYAN NEWMAN – Hoping To ‘Filter’ Out Team’s Bad Racing Luck at Daytona

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. (Feb. 8, 2011) – To say that restrictor-plate racing has been the Achilles’ heel for Ryan Newman and his No. 39 Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) team is without a doubt an understatement.

For Newman, it’s been an ongoing series of “wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time” incidents at both superspeedways on the circuit since joining SHR in 2009. In fact, over the past two seasons, the South Bend, Ind., native and his No. 39 Chevrolet have become the poster child for rotten luck and hard crashes at the high-speed racetracks at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway and Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
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KURT BUSCH READY FOR “SPEED WEEKS 2011” AT DAYTONA

by | Feb 8, 2011 | NASCAR

-NASCAR’s 2004 Champ Anticipating “Wild & Wide-Open” Races On Daytona’s Fresh Pavement-

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 8, 2011) – Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Dodge out of the Penske Racing stable, says that Speed Weeks 2011 at Daytona International Speedway could present the most excitement that fans have witnessed since the track staged its first stock car race back on Feb. 22, 1959.

“It will be wild and wide-open racing, that’s for sure,” said Busch, the 2004 NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion who will be competing in both the Feb. 12 Budweiser Shootout and Feb. 20 Daytona 500 on the 2.5-mile tri-oval. “With the new pavement, you can pretty much throw the handling aspect out the window.”
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