Danica Patrick announces retirement from full-time racing

But Patrick says she will race in the Daytona 500 and Indy 500 in 2018.

Danica Patrick will not race full-time after the conclusion of the current NASCAR season, but the celebrated driver will race in the 2018 Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500 before she wraps up her racing career.

An emotional Patrick made the announcement Friday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the site of the season-ending NASCAR Cup Series championship race on Sunday. Fighting back tears, the 35-year-old said she was “grateful for all the opportunities.”

Patrick’s father, mother, sister, brother-in-law, and her boyfriend, NASCAR driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr., were in attendance during the announcement. Several times Patrick had to stop and compose herself.

“I feel like I should be doing this,” Patrick said. “Sometimes we just get kind of nudged there. Sometimes we get big nudges and sometimes it's little. I’ve never had sponsor issues. It made me think about things. I’m excited about the next phase, trust me.”

Patrick began racing in NASCAR on a part-time basis in 2010 with much fanfare after becoming the highest-finishing female driver in the Indianapolis 500 (third, 2009) and the first to win an IndyCar race. She left open-wheel racing and shifted to NASCAR full-time in 2012, first in the Xfinity Series then in Cup beginning in 2013.

Patrick is the only woman to have led laps in both the Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500. And her ability on the track and her marketability off it transformed her into one of the most famous athletes in the world.

But Patrick’s on-track struggles in recent years have caused her star power to diminish, and she’s also struggled to attract the necessary sponsorship to remain associated with top-tier teams. She announced in September she was leaving Stewart-Haas Racing, co-owned by three-time Cup champion Tony Stewart, due to a lack of sponsorship.

Patrick did not disclose which team(s) she will join to race in the Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500, but said she was “down the line” with several teams and an announcement would come later.

Patrick had seven top-10 finishes in 189 Cup starts, with a best of sixth.

Patrick made seven starts in the Indianapolis 500 from 2005-11, placing in the top 10 six times.