sportsjabber.net

For the first time since 2004, the Indianapolis 500 will not include Danica Patrick. She is skipping it to do the Coca-Cola 600 instead; giving up her self-described favorite race in order to focus on her full-time shift to NASCAR.

Patrick never won the race, but she finished in the top 10 in all but one of her seven starts. She is also the first and only woman to have ever held a lead in that race.

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“I love everything about this place,” Patrick said at Indy last May. “I love the tradition. I love the race itself. So many times you can come away from this event, after 500 miles, and think of how your strategy could have put you in Victory Circle. I think that’s why people love this place and so many people come back.

Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net, an official Google News site generating millions of unique visitors. He’s also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, Walter Football.com, Yardbarker, and Fox Sports

A Fulbright scholar and MBA, Banks has appeared on live radio all over the world; and he’s a member of the Football Writers Association of America, U.S. Basketball Writers Association, and Society of Professional Journalists. The President of the United States follows him on Twitter (@Paul_M_BanksTSB) You should too.

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