WCW: Racing Legend Danica Patrick

One of the first names that come to mind when you think of women in motorsports has to be Danica Patrick who has had a stellar career.

For several years, Patrick was the belle of the ball at many Indy Car events, eventually trying her hand at NASCAR racing. She has found success at every level of racing she has tried and has been sponsored and featured by many companies during her racing career.

Early Success for Danica

Patrick was born in Beloit, WI, in 1982 and found success at local tracks while racing go-karts. She began racing at the age of 10 and won on the national stage with her go-kart racing skills by the age of sixteen. This early success led her to leave school early after signing on to race Formula Fords and Vauxhalls in the United Kingdom in 2000. This was the beginning of her professional racing career, which would eventually grow to be something admired by every racing fan in the country.

A Festival Not Often Led by Americans

While racing in the UK, Danica Patrick placed second at the 2000 Formula Ford Festival. She accomplished this feat while a teenager, a woman, and as the first American to ever reach this level of success at the event. This made Patrick a trailblazer in the racing world. This level of success has opened doors for other Americans, men and women alike, to attempt to race the Formula Fords and find their way to the podium.

A Return to the US

Danica returned to the United States in 2002 after being signed to her first Indy-car contract in America. Bobby Rahal was the driver who signed Patrick to this contract, giving her the opportunity to showcase her talents in her home country. Not long after this signing, she was promoted and competed in the Toyota Formula Atlantic open-wheel cars, where she ranked third in overall drivers’ points in 2004. This ranking was despite the fact that she never won a race in the Toyota Formula Atlantic series.

The Indianapolis 500 Beckons

A finish of third in drivers’ points for the Toyota Formula Atlantic series meant Danica Patrick would have a chance to qualify for the Indianapolis 500. At that time, there had only been three other women ever to qualify for this prestigious race, Janet Guthrie, Lyn St. James, and Sarah Fisher. Danica qualified for this race and made an impressive showing when she went to the Brickyard and raced in front of the entire world.

During practice at the Indy 500, Patrick posted the fastest lap of all races at 229.88 mph. Unfortunately, she could not perform as well during official qualifying, but that didn’t stop her from stamping her name on this race on Memorial Day. When the official race began, she was in the pack and found her way to the front three different times. She became the first woman to ever lead the Indy 500, and she did so by leading 19 laps. The final result of her first Indianapolis 500 showed Danica Patrick finishing fourth, the best finish a woman has ever had at this race.

Awards and Recognition put Danica Patrick at the Top

Danica was named Rookie of the Year for the Indy Car Series in 2005 and quickly became the Indy Racing League’s Most Popular Driver three years in a row, 2005, 2006, and 2007. Her name was on fire, her racing career had taken off, and Patrick was setting new records for women in racing wherever she went. It seemed there wasn’t anything that could stop her from reaching the top of this mountain.

Another Milestone Achieved

In 2007, Danica became part of the Andretti Green Racing team, and only a year later, she achieved what no other woman ever had. On April 20, 2008, Danica Patrick won her first IRL event. This was the 50thrace of her career in this series, and it certainly will be a date that lives in her memory and in racing history for a long time.

The race she won is the Firestone IndyCar 300 held at the Twin Ring Motegi course in Motegi, Japan. It took a bit of cunning and luck for Danica to secure the win. Instead of taking the final pit stop, she chose to stay out on the track and made her way to secure the checkered flag by more than five seconds over the next racer. The car she was driving during this race was a Dallara-Honda for the AGR team.

Silencing the Critics

Although Patrick had made a name for herself for a few years, and she had been one of the most popular racing drivers in the world, before the event in Motegi, she had not won an IRL event. This brought the ire of many critics who thought she was taking the place of a more qualified driver. The win in Japan coupled with her sixth-place finish in drivers’ point for that year hushed many who criticized her and her place in motorsports.

A New Barrier Broken

Starting in 2010, Patrick began racing in NASCAR’s lower-tier Nationwide Truck Series while still competing in IndyCar racing. The next year, she moved to NASCAR full-time, competing in the truck series and the Spring Cup series, the top tier of NASCAR. It was in the Sprint Cup Series that she broke yet another barrier. Danica Patrick became the first woman to start a Sprint Cup race from the pole by winning this position for the 2013 Daytona 500. She also became the first woman to lead a lap in that race and finish the race in eighth-place.

The Racing Career Comes to an End

After crashing during the Indy 500 in 2018, Patrick announced her retirement from racing. She has broken through many barriers that women and Americans had not yet achieved during her short career in racing. Patrick continues to stay in the public view with books she has co-written along with an appearance in the movie Charlie’s Angels. Danica Patrick is an inspiration to women who want to experience the fun and lifestyle found in the male-dominated world of motorsport racing.