DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Danica Patrick confirmed on Thursday that she will not participate in the 2013 Indianapolis 500, but she didn't rule out future ones.
It was the first time the former IndyCar star publicly acknowledged reports she would not participate in the May event in which she competed seven times with six top-10s before last season.
"I can confirm to you today I will not be doing the Indy 500,'' the Stewart-Haas Racing driver said during the first of a three-day Sprint Cup test at Daytona International Speedway. "The team and I decided to focus on Cup. It's going to be plenty of work as it is.
"It's going to be important for me running for the championship full time for the first time to really keep myself focused on the Cup car. But if I do do the Indy 500 moving forward it will be with [sponsor] GoDaddy.''
Newton: The Great Equalizer?
Danica Patrick has one thing working in her favor as she embarks on her first full-time season in Sprint Cup: The new "Gen 6" car should help level the playing field, writes David Newton. Story
Patrick is preparing for her first full season in Cup after finishing 10th in the Nationwide Series last season. She explored the possibility of competing in the Indy 500 but opted to focus entirely on the Coca-Cola 600 that is run the same day at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Patrick also skipped the 500 last season to make the Charlotte race one of her 10 in a limited Cup schedule.
Patrick said her Nationwide Series schedule hasn't been set, but she acknowledged there are negotiations with Turner Motorsports to run select races.
espnW.com, citing sources, reported last week that Patrick would run a 10-race schedule for Turner beginning with the Feb. 23 opener at Daytona.
Patrick said she would like to drive part-time in NASCAR's second-tier series, but she said sponsorship and dates have not been finalized.
David Newton covers NASCAR for ESPN.com. He can be reached at dnewtonespn@aol.com.
