Patrick prepares for NASCAR finale

DAYTON A BE ACH, FLA .» Danica Patrick watched drivers turn laps out of the corner of her eye. In her whirlwind preparation for the “Danica Double,” getting a car ready for the first event of the NASCAR season had not been a priority.

But with practice running for Sunday’s exhibition race at Daytona International Speedway — an event Patrick would have been eligible to enter if she had a car — the highest-finishing woman in Daytona 500 history could only follow along on a TV monitor.

“It all came together too late,” she said Saturday. “A couple of days ago I was thinking to myself that we should have run the backup car in the (exhibition) . ... I was like, ‘Man, where was I on that one?’ I didn’t think of it soon enough. It would have been good practice.”

Patrick is retiring after she races in both NASCAR’S Feb. 18 seasonopening Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500 in May.

After a speaking engagement in Grand Cayman, she pulled through the speedway gates for her first stop on a two-race farewell tour. She finally got in her Daytona 500 car Saturday afternoon and briefly led a practice session before settling into 16th for the day.

This offseason, Patrick has been the big headline in auto racing, as has often been the case through the years.

First, she announced her retirement plans, then the end of her five-year relationship with NASCAR driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. She published a wellness book and revealed she’s now dating Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who will be at the Daytona 500.

“He’s going to be here to support me and he’s excited,” Patrick told The Associated Press. “I’m excited to show him what I do.”

A week before her final NASCAR race, she isn’t sure what her emotions will be when the green flag drops for the 500. She thinks she’ll be fine but noted that when she announced her retirement in November she sobbed.