Motor racing-Patrick to drive for Ed Carpenter at Indy 500

13 GoDaddy Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing when she concludes her racing career at the Indianapolis 500 in May, her team said on Wednesday.

The official announcement comes three weeks after Patrick, the first and only woman to win an IndyCar race, suggested in a news conference that she would be driving for the team at the May 27 event.

"I love how everything is coming full-circle. I am going to close out my racing career at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the place where so many amazing things have happened for me," Patrick said in a statement.

"I'm back in GoDaddy green and joining a great team. Ed Carpenter Racing is consistently competitive at Indy. I can't think of a better way to finish out my racing career than at the Indianapolis 500 with this team and GoDaddy."

Patrick, who won the Indy Japan 300 in 2008, announced last November that she was retiring from motor racing but only after racing in both the Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500, which was dubbed the "Danica Double".

She raced into the spotlight in 2005 when she became the first woman to lead the Indianapolis 500 and was awarded Rookie of the Year honours.

Patrick has six top-10 finishes in seven attempts at the world-renowned race, including a career-best third in 2009, but has not competed in the event since 2011.

In the first leg of the "Danica Double", which also marked the final NASCAR event of her career, Patrick got caught up in a crash barely halfway through the Daytona 500.

Patrick chose her Indy 500 car number herself, and while 13 is considered by many to be unlucky, the 35-year-old American shrugged off that idea.

"Back in the day, the colour green was also said to be bad luck in racing," said Patrick, referencing the paint scheme of her GoDaddy cars. "I think it's cool. I'm a firm believer that superstitions are only real if you believe them." (Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto Editing by Christian Radnedge)