CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Danica Patrick didn't get to film a Super Bowl commercial for the first time since 2006, but she won't rule out that her Super Bowl ads will stop at 13. Or 14, if she counts the ad last year that was pulled before it ran.
Patrick had appeared in Super Bowl ads for sponsor GoDaddy for eight consecutive years and was prepared for a ninth in 2015 before GoDaddy decided to change the ad after protests that the ad (in which Patrick had a short cameo) promoted puppy mills.
GoDaddy, which still has a personal services deal with Patrick while not sponsoring her race car, has opted not to have a Super Bowl ad this year.
"I wasn't in one last year technically," Patrick said when asked about not being in a Super Bowl ad Thursday during the preseason NASCAR media days at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. "It crossed my mind the other day. I was thinking what I'm usually doing in the offseason. ... I knew pretty early on at the end of last year that the Super Bowl wasn't in the plans.
"Yeah, it's disappointing. But I've been in a lot of them."
Patrick, who will be sponsored on the race track primarily by Nature's Bakery this year, said she hopes she can return as a pitchwoman during a Super Bowl.
"I feel like there will be another one in the future at some point for someone else, hopefully," Patrick said.
For now, Patrick will concentrate on making her current sponsors happy. The first adjustment will be not having a green race car for the majority of the season as she has had in the past.
"It is going to be a new car to look for, for sure," Patrick said. "I'm sure it's going to feel a little foreign for the first few weeks. But I have such optimism and happy feelings about the new sponsor with Nature's Bakery. So I have a feeling I'll get used to it pretty quick."