Danica Patrick Important Names

Danica Patrick’s No. 10 GoDaddy Breast Cancer Awareness Chevrolet SS for Stewart Haas Racing (SHR) will look the same for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway as it did the last two weekends at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway and Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

But, in addition to the pink paint scheme designed to raise awareness for breast cancer, the car will also feature a multitude of names of those affected by the disease.

Fans who donated at least $10 to the National Breast Cancer Foundation through www.GoDaddy.com/Donate got their name or a loved one’s name on the car. Fans, SHR and GoDaddy employees, crew chief Tony Gibson’s wife Beth, and even Patrick put names on the car of people they care about who have been affected by breast cancer.

One name Patrick put on there is NASCAR.com reporter Holly Cain, who is continuing to battle breast cancer. She has interviewed Patrick many times throughout the last 10 years and both are pulling for a strong recovery.

There are hundreds of names on the car and it is a fitting way to end October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Just after driver introductions at Sunday’s race at Martinsville, Patrick will present a check to the National Breast Cancer Foundation for $50,000 on behalf of GoDaddy. It’s all part of GoDaddy’s initiative to “Put the Brakes on Breast Cancer.”

Patrick is also hoping she can run well at Martinsville for those names on the cars.

She has only three starts at the .526-mile track and did quite well there in 2013. Her first race was in April and she surprised many NASCAR observers with a solid 12th-place result – made more impressive by the fact she started 43rd after an engine change before the race.

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

Patrick backed that up with a 17th-place finish in October 2013 after starting 41st in a backup car after an accident early in practice. Her two Martinsville performances were among the best in her entire rookie season.

This past March, she started an impressive 10th but faded during the race and finished 32nd.

Despite the less-than-desirable finish in her last outing, she and Gibson are hoping they can put together a good run at the short track this weekend – while remembering the good people whose names are on top of the car.

TSC PR