I thought it might happen eventually, but the day has come. Danica Patrick announced that she won't be returning to drive the #10 car for Stewart-Haas Racing in 2018. Although she hasn't specifically said that she won't be returning to NASCAR at all, there also doesn't seem to be much buzz indicating that there will be an open seat with her name on it. She has made statements recently that she's getting ready for opportunities outside of racing, so maybe this is it.
I have to wonder what this means for Danica's cardboard prospects going forward. Panini has got to have a few of her stickers around, so she'll likely show up in products for a while, but without a consistent ride there may not be too much they can do with her. Most of my favorite drivers are out of the game now or on their way out, so I don't know what comes next for me with NASCAR in general and racing cards in particular.
This Muscle Car Memorabilia card comes from 2012 Press Pass Redline, and it's an eBay pickup from a while back. It's numbered # 02 / 25. The card has a nice big piece of sheet metal embedded in it, and a picture of Danica Patrick's #10 GoDaddy car. There are still plenty of her cards that I don't have yet, but if new ones aren't being produced, I think I'll lose some of my interest in the older ones as well.
