Premium Motorsports and Danica Patrick "Come Full Circle"

Long -Time Sponsor GoDaddy Backing Danica Once Again

By now, you NASCAR fans have learned that Danica Patrick has secured a one-race deal will put her in the No. 7 GoDaddy Chevrolet Camaro for the historic 60th running of NASCAR’s biggest and most prestigious event - the Daytona 500. Danica will run the same car number she competed with in her first foray into stock car racing at Daytona in 2010.

“I keep saying, I couldn’t have written a better story about how this would all fall into place --- going with the flow is working out beautifully,” Patrick said in a statement. “I’ll be back in GoDaddy green, driving the No. 7 Chevrolet with Tony (Eury) Jr. in my ear again. It all makes my last NASCAR race just that much sweeter.”

Below are some more interesting quotes from the principles involved:

Danica Patrick:

“Positive vibes definitely play into on-track performance, and I’m feeling good energy with the sponsor and team we’ve put together for Daytona. My Cup career started out with Tommy (Baldwin, through partnership with Stewart-Haas Racing) and to end it working with him, GoDaddy and the team at Premium (Motorsports), it’s crazy to see how things really have come full circle. It just feels right to be back in the No. 7 GoDaddy Chevrolet again. It’ll be a great combination to close out this chapter for me.” Danica Patrick: “I’m convinced that good vibes translate into performance – and I’m definitely feeling the good energy with this sponsor and team. I’m ready to get back in the No. 7 GoDaddy Chevrolet.”

🚨📝@GoDaddy & @DanicaPatrick reunite for #DanicaDouble and life after racing ➡️https://t.co/0AkQiQcsR6 #NASCAR #IndyCar pic.twitter.com/sCfoW7JO9t

— Danica Racing Online (@DanicaRacing) January 18, 2018

Tommy Baldwin, head of business development for Premium Motorsports: 

“It’s great to have everything come together with Danica and GoDaddy for the Daytona 500. The team is working hard to get things ready and we’re receiving great assistance from RCR (Richard Childress Racing) with engines, engineering support and the pit crew. Having Tony Eury Jr. come on board for this race is good as well since he’s worked with Danica before. That should help give us a leg up on things going into Daytona.”

Tony Eury Jr., Crew Chief:

 Why he would come back for this race“I’ve started this company (Fury Race Cars) and had a lot of fun with it — just helping kids and drivers that want to race. Danica called and asked if I would come do this race with her. I joked and told her, ‘Well, I got you into this mess, so I might as well help get you out of it.’ I have a lot of respect for her. When she came onto the scene, we had a lot of fun. I learned a lot working with Danica. She helped get me on this path to start helping kids with my company and I’ve had a lot of fun with it. We’re friends and have kept in touch over the years. So, it was an easy choice to come do this last race with her.”

What challenges do he anticipates, if any? “I think it’s going to be pretty interesting. They’ve changed the format of Speedweeks a bit. There are only two practice sessions before qualifying and then no practice between that and the qualifying races, so it’s a bit different than what I’ve experienced before. It may take a little bit to get back in the groove, but we’ve got a lot of support in place, so I think we’ll be fine.”

Does he feel any added pressure since this will be Danica’s final NASCAR race? “No, absolutely not. It’s another Daytona for me. I love Daytona and going down there. Having this be Danica’s last NASCAR race will just make it more special. We’ve had a lot of fast cars down there and sat on the pole before (Feb. 2012). We’ve got three weeks to finish getting the car ready. We have to have realistic expectations heading into Daytona, but Danica’s learned a lot about speedway racing since we worked together, so it’ll be fun to get back down there with her and GoDaddy. When she reached out about doing this deal, I made her promise me she’d take me to Indy when she runs the (Indianapolis) 500 in May. That’s a race I’ve always wanted to go to, so I’m looking forward to experiencing that as well.”

Source: GoDaddy Inc.

We’re thrilled @DanicaPatrick will be driving the No. 7 GoDaddy Chevrolet Camaro at Daytona 500. #DanicaDouble #RacingAndBeyond https://t.co/e7VjdlEYDW

— GoDaddy (@GoDaddy) January 22, 2018

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Todd Gilliland Adds More Races to The 2018 Schedule

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series 2018 Roy Contender Adds More Races To Busy 2018 Racing Schedule

David Gilliland Racing (DGR) and CROSLEY Sports Group announced Todd Gilliland will drive the No. 54 Frontline Enterprises Toyota in select races in the NASCAR K&N Pro East Series (K&N) as well as Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) Series during the 2018 season.

Gilliland amassed 18 wins, 25 Top 5’s, 45 Top 10’s and 15 Pole’s in three seasons racing in the K&N East/West Series’ combined. He also won the 2016 and 2017 NASCAR K&N West Series Championships and finished second in the 2017 K&N East Series. As no stranger to the K&N East Series, Gilliland will make his first start of the 2018 season at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway in February.

“Racing in the K&N Series over the last few seasons, I’ve learned how to race well,” Gilliland said. “Now I get to take the beginning of the year to gain more experience and then apply it on a bigger scale when I compete in the truck series for KBM.”

Since Gilliland won’t be eligible to run the larger tracks in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series until he turns 18-years old in May, he will use the first few months of 2018 to race in the other series’. A product of the NASCAR Next program, Gilliland wants to gain experience for when he sits in the No. 4 KBM Toyota Tundra full time.

“Gaining as much experience as possible, especially on the 1.5-mile tracks,” Gilliland explained. “Is going to be huge in helping me and my KBM team as we compete for wins and the ROY title this year.”

Todd won his 2nd consecutive K&N Pro Series West championship in 2017

Only days after his 15th birthday, Gilliland became the youngest driver to compete in the ARCA Racing Series back in May of 2015, at Toledo (Ohio) Speedway. A race he then won, becoming the youngest winner in ARCA Racing Series history. Gilliland will try his hand in the ARCA Series cars again for a few races beginning at Charlotte (N.C) Motor Speedway in May.

“By putting Todd in DGR-CROSLEY equipment for the ARCA and K&N races, we hope the added experience will accelerate the learning curve for him in the truck series,” team owner, David Gilliland said.

For the younger Gilliland to continue running out of the DGR-CROSLEY Racing stable is no surprise. The Gilliland family racing career dates back three generations as Todd’s grandfather Butch won the 1997 NASCAR Winston West Series Championship (now NASCAR K&N West Series) and his father, David competed full time in NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series.

“It’s going to be an exciting week (in Daytona),” the elder Gilliland explained. “Especially with two cars in the field at New Smyrna, we have high expectations of competing for the win with both cars.”

It will be a big week in Daytona Beach, Florida, for DGR-CROSLEY as they have cars competing in the K&N East Series at New Smyrna Speedway, ARCA Racing Series at Daytona International Speedway and the owner, David Gilliland running the Camping World Truck Series race and Daytona 500.

More announcements to come from DGR on the exact races and crew chiefs.

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And now @BrianTheVoice has caught up with @ToddGilliland_ at the @NASCARHall. He’s got a big year with @KBMteam coming up in 2018. #AskMRN pic.twitter.com/41G14S5rdw

— Motor Racing Network (@MRNRadio) January 20, 2018

Stenhouse Jr. Concentrating on His Racing Not Patrick

Ricky Working on Minimizing Pit Road Mistakes

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. experienced his breakout season in 2017. Of course, the racer expects to continue that momentum as he enters his sixth full season driving for car owner Jack Roush in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

In case you do not recall, the driver of the No. 17 Roush Fenway Fusion captured the first win of his #MENCS career when he passed Kyle Busch on the final lap at Talladega Superspeedway in May. Ricky backed that win up with his second restrictor-plate victory two months later at Daytona when he took the checkered flag in the annual Coke Zero 400.

Those two wins propelled Stenhouse Jr. into the NASCAR Playoffs for the first time in his career. He advanced to the Round of 12 before being eliminated.

Unfortunately, last season concluded with the breakup of his personal relationship with fellow driver, Danica Patrick. Patrick and Stenhouse had been a couple since 2013, their first season as full-time drivers in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Their very public relationship made them an anomaly in motorsports – on-track competitors and off-track life partners. 

During their courtship, their shared mentality on track was rooted in mutual respect. Now that they are no longer an “item,” Stenhouse confirmed that he will not race her any differently.

The two will meet on the track at least one more time before Patrick retires in what's now being called the "Danica Double" - NASCAR's Daytona 500 in February and IndyCar Series' Indy 500 in May.

"I don't think I'll race any different," Stenhouse said Tuesday at the NASCAR Media Tour. "I try to respect everybody around me, especially at those speedway races. You don't really want to put anybody in a bad spot because you put the whole field in a bad spot.

"But I think I'll go out and race just like I'm racing everybody else, and see how it plays out. Heck, when we first started racing together (in the XFINITY Series in 2010), we got in crashes anyway, so it is what it is. But I'll just go out and compete as hard as I can. I plan on putting myself in a position to win the race."

8 drivers have won in the No. 26 car, including Ricky Rudd.

Just 26 days until the #Daytona500! pic.twitter.com/pczKRa033V

— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) January 23, 2018

Although Ricky Stenhouse Jr. appears confident following his success on track last season; he knows that he must concentrate on improving for this season in order to compete for a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship.

“I’d like to start out the year at Daytona winning,” Stenhouse said. “If not, I really want to win at Bristol this year. I feel like we had a really fast car in the second race last year, but I sped on pit road. I’m going to have to minimize my mistakes on pit road, I feel like. We sped way too often last year, and it cost us some valuable time and spots.

“For us, as a team, we have to get better at the mile-and-a-half race tracks and then we have to earn more stage points. And that all comes with faster race cars and getting your program better at those race tracks. I felt like there were so many opportunities last year that we missed out on getting stage points—finishing 11th, finishing 12th. So if we can make some adjusts to finish in the top 10 in some of those stages, I think it would be beneficial for us as well.”

Stenhouse earned MENCS Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors in 2013. 

He also has eight career wins in the Xfinity Series, where he won Sunoco Rookie of the Year in 2010 followed by back-to-back championships in 2011 and 2012.

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