Danica Patrick to be first woman to host ESPYs

Danica Patrick will become the first woman to host ESPN’s sports awards show in July.

Patrick, who is racing for the final time in Sunday’s Indianapolis 500, was announced as the show’s host Wednesday night. She said in an interview on SiriusXM Tuesday night that she met boyfriend Aaron Rodgers for the first time at the 2012 ESPY Awards.

“We met at the ESPYs back in 2012. We remember meeting each other, it was quick,” Patrick said (via ESPN). “I got his email address. … It wasn’t until, obviously, recently that we actually had phone numbers. We referred to each other as Chicago and Green Bay. It was very cute.”

Patrick and Rodgers went public with their relationship in January of 2018 and Rodgers was atop the pit box for Daytona 500 in February. That race was Patrick’s final NASCAR start. Her final racing start comes at Indianapolis, where she rocketed to fame in 2005 with a fourth-place finish. She finished third in the Indy 500 in 2009.

Patrick will start seventh on Sunday and spent the day Tuesday doing media events for the race. The 2018 ESPY Awards are on July 2018.

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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.

Follow @NickBromberg on Twitter

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