After nine years together, Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway will serve as GoDaddy’s final race as a primary sponsor of Danica Patrick. It will also be the company’s final race on the No. 10 Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR).
Over the course of nine years, Patrick and GoDaddy achieved a lot together.
On April 20, 2008, Patrick became first woman to win a major-league open-wheel race in a North American series by winning the IndyCar Series Indy Japan 300 at the Twin Ring Motegi oval in Japan.
In 2010, Patrick began her transition from open-wheel cars to stock cars. She was also voted IndyCar Series Most Popular Driver for the sixth time.
On March 5, 2011, Patrick finished fourth in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and earned the best-ever finish by a woman in a NASCAR national stock-car series, topping a fifth-place run by the late Sara Christian in a NASCAR Sprint Cup race in 1949 at Heidelberg (Pa.) Raceway.
In 2012, Patrick’s first full season in the Xfinity Series, she won the pole for the season-opening race at Daytona and became the first woman since Shawna Robinson in 1994 to win a pole award in the Xfinity Series. She was also voted the Xfinity Series’ Most Popular Driver.
On Feb. 17, 2013, Patrick became the first woman to win a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series pole when she set the fastest time in qualifying for the Daytona 500. She finished eighth in the race, the highest finishing position ever for a woman in the event. That year, Patrick also became the first woman to compete in the full 36-race Sprint Cup schedule.
In 2014, Patrick finished a career-best sixth at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The effort marked the highest finish by a female at the 1.54-mile oval. The previous record was held by Janet Guthrie (10th on March 19, 1978). Only a fifth-place result by Christian in a Sprint Cup race on Oct. 2, 1949 at Heidelberg tops Patrick’s finish in NASCAR’s highest series. Christian also finished sixth at Langhorn (Pa.) Speedway on Sept. 11, 1949 and Guthrie finished sixth at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway on Aug. 28, 1977.
Earlier this year, Patrick set the record for the most top-10 finishes of any female in Sprint Cup competition with a total of six top-10s.
In addition to all of the on-track successes Patrick has enjoyed with GoDaddy, they have done a number of things together away from the track, as well. Patrick joined GoDaddy in the fight against breast cancer with the “Put the Brakes on Breast Cancer” program that helped to raise awareness and funds to fight the disease. She also advocated the importance of STEM education to kids across the country and promoted the need for more women in the technology workforce. Patrick still holds the celebrity record for appearing in the most Super Bowl ads ever, a record that stands at 13 Super Bowl commercials – and all were for GoDaddy.
In honor of Patrick’s longstanding relationship with GoDaddy, her No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet SS will feature a special paint scheme this weekend. The paint scheme celebrates the company’s longtime bond with Patrick by showcasing memorable photos from their nine-year partnership. Some of the memories featured include Patrick with GoDaddy founder Bob Parsons as the duo announced her transition from the IndyCar Series to NASCAR, Patrick’s history-making pole award for the 2013 Daytona 500, and meeting various GoDaddy customers and employees over the years.
This weekend, Patrick will make her third Sprint Cup start at Homestead. She finished a career-best 18th there in November 2014. In three Xfinity Series starts at the track, she earned a career-best effort of 13th in November 2012. Patrick competed in five IndyCar Series races at Homestead and she scored a second-place result in 2010 and earned two top-10s.
When the checkered flag waves on GoDaddy’s final race with Patrick Sunday, she will be looking to once again make memories with her longtime sponsor.
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