Danica Patrick will race her 10th and final Sprint Cup Series event on Oct. 21 at Kansas Speedway.
Patrick is driving a 10-race schedule this season and the final event was not announced until Tuesday.
Stewart-Haas Racing and Tommy Baldwin Racing field the No. 10 Chevrolet for Patrick in a joint agreement. They decided Kansas was the best place for Patrick because it will be open for an additional day of practice due to its recent repave.
“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 February at the Daytona 500. In addition to Kansas, she has races remaining this season at Bristol, Atlanta, Chicago, Dover, Texas and Phoenix.
Patrick raced at Kansas in the IndyCar Series. She won her first career pole there in 2005, and qualified third or better in three of her six starts at Kansas. She also had three top-10 finishes there in IndyCar.
Her lone NASCAR appearance at Kansas was last year in the Nationwide Series. She started 15th and finished 15th.
“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.”
Please read our comment policy before commenting.