Patrick, the driver of the No. 10 Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, made the announcement in a press conference from the Stewart-Haas headquarters in Kannapolis, North Carolina that Nature’s Bakery would be her primary sponsor for the future.
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Her transition to stock cars was bankrolled by GoDaddy, which announced earlier this year that it would continue a personal services deal with Patrick but would not sponsor her race car.
At the end of 2015, longtime sponsor GoDaddy is pulling the plug on their eight-year partnership with Patrick as they shift their marketing focus outside the USA, leading the team to go out in search for a replacement sponsor. She also promotes a healthy lifestyle, which Nature’s Bakery founder Dave Marson said fits with his brand. She said she didn’t negotiate with any other teams.
“I really feel like family here, and this is where I want to be, and I really am fortunate that I didn’t have to look anywhere else”, she said of remaining at SHR. “I have ambitious goals, too”.
Team co-owner Tony Stewart hailed Patrick’s attention to detail and ability to give feedback on the car.
For her Sprint Cup career, Patrick has six top-10 finishes with a career-best sixth place at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2014.
The identity of her new sponsor, NASCAR on FOX claims it will be someone new to the sport. In 2013, she became the first woman to qualify on the pole for the season-opening Daytona 500.
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She’s twice led laps in the Indianapolis 500, finished a career-best third in that race in 2011 and won her only IndyCar race in 2008, in Japan.
