Danica Patrick announced today that she will not be racing in the Indianapolis 500 this year.

Patrick will race in the 2012 Coca-Cola 600 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway instead. The Coca-Cola 600 takes place the same day as the Indy 500.

USA Today reports that Danica announced her move to NASCAR last August. Patrick did say that she would return to the Indy 500 in the future and might even attempt to do an Indy 500 / Coca-Cola 600 double.

“I hope to do (the Indy 500) in the future. Maybe it’ll be a double. But at this point, after a lot of conversations, it’s just going to be the Coke 600. I think it’s going to be a big challenge, but I’m looking forward to it.”

Sprint Cup team owner Tony Stewart said that the decision to miss the Indy 500 was Patrick’s. Stewart said:

“We didn’t tell her she couldn’t run the 500. Obviously, she’s running the Nationwide car full time, and it’s a good weekend to get a lot of laps in the car… I’d say it was probably an easier decision for her to not do it because she’s running the Nationwide race. She’s got a lot of stuff going on. To run the Nationwide side and the Cup side would be really impossible.”

Danica Patrick has raced seven Indy 500s. She was the first woman to lead the race when she was a rookie in 2005. She earned her best result at the Indy 500 in 2009 when she finished third.

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Danica Patrick Will Skip Indy 500 [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

After finishing 10th in the Indy 500, and leading laps late in the race the constant Danica Patrick to NASCAR rumors will not go away. In fact it seems each and every day new rumors come out that Danica Is NASCAR bound in 2012. This time Godaddy.com CEO Bob Parsons is the one fueling the rumors. He fully expects Danica to make the jump in 2012 and that his company will continue to sponsor her.

Said Parsons:

She hasn’t told me she will, but I believe she will and we’ll be ready. Here’s the fact: She loves NASCAR, it’s much more exciting than Indy Car, with all due respect, and the TV audience for NASCAR is off the hook.

Those are pretty strong words coming from the guy who makes Danica’s ability to run the car a reality. However, we have to look at where Danica would fit in the garage of NASCAR. Without a doubt she would need a least one full year in the Nationwide Series and it seems she could expand her par time ride at JR Motorsports into a full time ride in 2012, but a cup ride may be a little harder to come by.

Since NASCAR team owners are capped at owning four teams we can rule out a few teams already. Roush Fenway Racing is locked in long term with most of their drivers; the same could be said about Hendrick Motorsports. Stewart-Haas racing and Joe Gibbs racing both have room for team expansion, and of the two it would seem that Stewart Haas would be the favorite. Tony Stewart, team owner, has mentored Danica on her entry into NASCAR and is a converted open wheel racer himself.

Go Daddy CEO expects Danica to switch to NASCAR is a post from: The Inquisitr

Dan Wheldon may have won this years Indy 500 but it’s really Justin Timberlake who will be taking home the biggest benefit, that’s because Wheldon was driving the Timberlake clothing line sponsored William Rast car.

Wheldon jumped out of the #98 car and written across his chest was the name “William Rast” which could also be spotted all over his ride.

After the win it was Justin who took to Twitter immediately to Tweet:

What a Memorial Day Weekend! The William Rast car won the Indy 500!!!!

So there you have it, William Rast apparently won the Indy 500, but in all seriousness congratulations to Wheldon for his second career win at the event.

Justin Timberlake Clothing Line William Rast Wins Indy 500 is a post from: The Inquisitr

TAG Heuer has a sexy new piece of kit that will appeal to fancy watch collectors and racing fans alike.

The watchmaker has been around for a century and a half, and part of the reason TAG Heuer watches are so valued is the precision with which they measure time. The tie in with the Indianapolis 500 is a natural one, says the company, because in motorsports, sometimes a fraction of a second determines a race’s victor.

TAG Heuer describes the Indy 500 Centennial Chronograph’s sexy styling:

The Limited Edition Chronograph boasts a grey stylized dial patterned after the famed “Yard of Bricks” start/finish line of the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway and a printed “INDY 500″ logo inside the counter at 6 o’clock. Its distinctive case back marks the 100 year anniversary of the great race.

Inspired by a racecar’s dashboard, the 44 mm dial hosts three counters: a small second at 3 o’clock, a chronograph minutes counter with double hands at 9 o’clock, and a 1/10th of second counter at 6 o’clock.  The date window, which is positioned at 12 o’clock, is flanked by hand-applied indexes, as well as luminescent hands and markers for optimum readability.

Other distinguishing details include a fixed polished bezel with a tachymeter scale in black and “INDY 500″ in red and a fine-brushed, 44mm steel case with scratch resistant sapphire crystal.  It is also water resistant to 200 meters.

1,000 units of the Indy 500 Centennial Chronograph have been produced, one of which will be presented to the winner. The rest of us can buy it for $1650.

TAG Heuer Introduces Limited Edition ‘Indy 500 Centennial Chronograph’ is a post from: The Inquisitr

Donald Trump was suppose to serve as the celebrity pace-car driver on May 29th at the 100th Anniversary of the Indianapolis 500, however the real estate mogul and reality TV star has been forced out of the competition as claims of racism circle the possible U.S. Presidential nominee.

For his part Donald has put his own spin on the dismissal, announcing that it would be “innapropriate” to join the race as the celebrity pace car driver when “he may be announcing shortly his intention” to run for the officer of the President of the United States. Donald also said that appearing for race lessons would be impossible closer to race week because of his busy schedule.

In reality Trump was pushed out of the race when race fans, local Indy citizens and even Indiana state lawmaker State Rep. Jeb Bardon requested that he be ousted.

Rep Baron said on the legislative floor:

“The folks I have talked to indirectly have shared concern with the situation.”

Those concerns regard Trump’s constant questioning as to whether Obama was born outside the United States and qualified to attend two Ivy League Schools. Trump also recently made comments about “the blacks” which has led many people to feel that he is a racist, an image the race circuit does not want to be associated with.

A Facebook page asking to have Trump removed from the Indy position has more than 17,000 likes.

In the next week a replacement celebrity driver will be announced.

Donald Trump Forced To Drop Out Of Indy 500 Appearance is a post from: The Inquisitr

After a horror year off the track including allegations of tax evasion, Helio Castroneves won his third Indianapolis 500 on Sunday.

Castroneves started the race in pole position, but it took until the 185th lap until he clearly broke away from the field, winning in the end by 1.9819 seconds. Castroneves previously won the Indy 500 consecutively in 2001 and 2002.

“I think my tears speak for everything,” Castroneves said after the race. “I have to thank the Lord for giving me this opportunity. And I have to thank my team because they gave me my life back. And to the fans, you guys kept me strong. You are the best. I’m honored to have fans like you….Let’s celebrate now — yeah, baby!!!”

Model IndyCar driver and GoDaddy girl Danica Patrick never got close to leading, but used a strict fuel strategy to take out a tidy third, behind Dan Wheldon.

The race was also notable for the return of the Andretti curse. Mario Moraes drifted to the outside and made contact with Marco Andretti, sending both cars into the wall going into the second turn. Andretti didn’t return to the race until lap 61.

Indy 500 results: Helio Castroneves wins, Danica Patrick third is a post from: The Inquisitr