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Stewart Haas Racing has announced, in collaboration with Tommy Baldwin Racing, that Danica Patrick will be entered in the Oct. 21 Hollywood Casino 400 to complete her 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 10-race schedule.
One of the main reasons for choosing that 1.5 mile oval is the extra day of practice being permitted due to the repaving of the facility.
“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.”
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.
In her only NASCAR appearance there, last October, she started and finished 15th in the Nationwide Series race. She also has one IndyCar pole (July 2005) at the oval.
“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.”
One of the main reasons for choosing that 1.5 mile oval is the extra day of practice being permitted due to the repaving of the facility.
“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.”
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.
In her only NASCAR appearance there, last October, she started and finished 15th in the Nationwide Series race. She also has one IndyCar pole (July 2005) at the oval.
“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.”