Danica Patrick will run 2018 Daytona 500, Indianapolis 500, then retire

The trailblazing female driver sounds like she’s ready to define her own retirement plan from NASCAR and racing in general.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is hanging up his driving gloves after the Ford EcoBoost 400 on Sunday. Grudgingly, Matt Kenseth might be too. Danica Patrick is leaning in that direction as well, but she still has the biggest race in NASCAR and open-wheel racing to run before she does.

Jenna Fryer of the AP says that Patrick informed her that she will run the 2018 Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500 and then call it a career. That would make for a fitting end for the driver, who made history in NASCAR but rose to prominence in IndyCar.

Fryer’s report also suggests that Patrick, as she has stated for months, initially was reluctant to give up on racing for a living. But as she came to terms with the fact that she might be forced in that direction — and indeed, there haven’t been any real strong rumors of her linking up with a full-time NASCAR Cup Series ride for 2018 — she came up with the idea to go big before she goes home.

"“Nothing that was being presented excited me, then about three weeks ago, I just blurted out, ‘What about Indy? Let’s end it with the Indy 500. This ignites something in me. But I am done after May. Everyone needs to put their mind there. My plan is to be at Indy, and then I’m done.”"

What teams Patrick would driver for in each race remain a mystery. Chip Ganassi Racing is said to be the top candidate for Indy, which raises the obvious question of whether Ganassi would field a third car for her at Daytona as well, making her a one-off teammate to Kyle Larson and Jamie McMurray. She can’t go back to Stewart-Haas Racing, her soon-to-be-ex-team, since that organization will already be fielding four cars at the 2018 Daytona 500.

Next: No regrets for Junior before final Cup Series race

Expect there to be plenty of thought pieces about Patrick and her legacy over the months to come. In the meantime, her fans know that if all goes according to plan, they’ll be able to see her race Sunday at Homestead and then in the two biggest contests of 2018 before they bid her adieu.