Danica Patrick to Run Indy and Daytona 500 Before Retiring Next Season

[Paul Jeffrey]

Female racing icon Danica Patrick has confirmed her intention to race at the 2018 Indy 500 and Daytona 500 before calling time on her high profile racing career.

A clearly upset Danica Patrick has today confirmed she will be stepping away from full time racing competition after 2018's Indy and Daytona 500 events, marking the end of what has been a spectacular period of time in the spotlight for Americas most famous female racing driver.

"Nothing that was being presented excited me, then about three weeks ago, I just blurted out, 'What about Indy? Let's end it with the Indy 500,'" she said. "This ignites something in me. But I am done after May. Everyone needs to put their mind there. My plan is to be at Indy, and then I'm done."​

Although in receipt of plenty of the motorsport headlines over in the USA, Patrick has had anything but a successful career on track in first the IndyCar Series and recent years driving in the high profile NASCAR series, securing a lone pole position in her 189 NASCAR Cup starts.

With her NASCAR full time career effectively over at the end of the year, Patrick will be taking one final tilt at the big Daytona 500 round as well as ending her career for good where it all started, over in the IndyCar series at the world famous Indy 500, a race the controversial driver promised she would never return to when leaving to form a career in NASCAR back in 2011..

"I know I always said I'd never go back to Indy, and I was always being honest," she said. "Well, things change. I know now you can never say never. I'd been going through this in my head and kept asking myself, 'How am I going to get the words out and say it's over?' And trust me, I lost my (stuff) a few times over that.

"But this seems right, and this seems good."
​

Patrick has yet to confirm which team(s) she will be competing in at Daytona and Indy next year, although it is certain the American will be keen to secure drives in machinery capable of taking the fight to the front running drivers, something that looks increasingly difficult considering many of the top outfits already have firm driver plans in place for the coming season and Patrick appears to be struggling to secure the necessary sponsorship required to fund a top team drive in either American series, one of the contributory factors to her decision to walk away from the sport at the end of the 500 in May:

"I didn't want to be pushed into anything, and everyone can relate, sometimes things just shift and change around you," she told AP. "Especially with me and the sponsor situation. I've never been there before. I've always had a sponsor. It forces you into thinking about things and nothing was lining up easily. If I don't feel like I can run better than where I am, then I don't want to do it. And, there have been times that I could not have been more miserable.

"That's not why I come, and I feel like it takes away from everything else I accomplished. I don't want to be remembered for the things that didn't go as well. I want to be remembered for the things that went well."​

Danica Patrick has made 189 career starts in the NASCAR Cup Series, securing seven top-10 finishes and a sole pole position at the 2013 running of the Daytona 500. According to Motorsport.com Patrick has raced in 53,321 laps of competition and has led for 64 of those laps... not exactly a world beater on track, but without doubt a trend setter for other women looking to make the break into top level professional motorsports.

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Do you think Patrick can have one more turn in the spotlight before retirement next year? Can she achieve success at Indy after so long away from the series? Let us know in the comments section below!

 

[NASCRAP]

She is only allowed to drive because of her physical beauty. She has no talent.

 

[DND]

Saying no talent got me to take a moment and look at RacingReference.com and aside from 1 victory in Indy Car she had 370 starts (Nascar/Indy) and had 19 top 10 finishes. So 95% of her starts she finished 11th or worse over a 13 year career. Longevity cannot be attributed to her skills and therefore your assessment is correct. She Stinks.

 

[Dennis Phelan]

There are drivers with worse looks and fewer skills than she has and they have drives. I've always had fun watching her.

 

[Juicy Juice]

Here's hoping there comes a day when female drivers are represented well enough that physical beauty doesn't have to be the first thing that comes up when they get mentioned!

 

[NASCRAP]

mod-edit: how about keeping this thread on topic

 

[Will Mazeo]

I'm just wondering what she did so special to deserve a Penske ride. I dont care if you are male or female, just want to see your lap times, wins and championship. She has one win and that's it.
I believe she'd be an amazing endurance driver tho. Back when she was in ICS she was really good at bringing the car back home with minial damage, always followed strategy well. Should have gone to one of these instead of NASCAR.

 

[DND]

Here's hoping there comes a day when female drivers are represented well enough that physical beauty doesn't have to be the first thing that comes up when they get mentioned!

I think that day is here. Susan St. James and Janet Guthrie came before Danica, but the marketing of Danica gave way to very talented drivers like IMSA series Christina Nielson aka two time GTD champion. I think Danica will be remembered more for Go Daddy than go fast.

 

[alexSchmurtz]

I can't help thinking about this picture each time her lonely Indycar win is mentioned...

 

[NASCRAP]

 

[John Addison]

Instead of running at Indy and Daytona I wish she would just run home and stay there. She has always been nothing more than a marketing tool. And an annoyance.

 

[MPortnoy]

"Nothing that was being presented excited me, then about three weeks ago, I just blurted out, 'What about Indy? Let's end it with the Indy 500,'" ​

​

Racing doesn't excite me anymore....Ohh wait, I know!! Let's run in circles for 500 miles

 

[Chobonator]

Here's hoping there comes a day when female drivers are represented well enough that physical beauty doesn't have to be the first thing that comes up when they get mentioned!

You'll be waiting for a long time.

 

[NASCRAP]

Here's hoping there comes a day when female drivers are represented well enough that physical beauty doesn't have to be the first thing that comes up when they get mentioned!

Women aren't as good as men at any competitive endeavor. That is an evolutionary fact.

 

[randMracer]

Yup and Kyle doesn't have much room to talk crap. He wasn't that good when he was active. And anybody that still wears a pony tail while going bald, is an idiot anyway.

 

[randMracer]

As my grandmother used to say, "Well bless her heart, at least she tried."

 

[KODIAK]

Do a piece on Courtney Force

 

[pixeljetstream]

Women aren't as good as men at any competitive endeavor. That is an evolutionary fact.

Higher life expectancy is a pretty good competition to win. Enduring pain as well, despite coping with intimidating supremacist thoughts and harassments in daily life.

 

[Austin Ogonoski]

Here is why people don't like Danica:
Her marketing team pushed revisionist history.

Auto racing fans are for the most part fairly intelligent, at least when compared to stick & ball sports fans. The majority of these people know the following names: Janet Guthrie. Michele Mouton. Shirley Muldowney. Ashley/Brittany/Courtney Force. Erica Enders. Leah Prichett. Susie Wolff. Angelle Sampey. Katherine Legge. Sarah Fisher. Cristen Powell. Rhonda Hartman-Smith. Lori Johns.

Women competing in auto racing has been a non-issue since the late 1970's/early 1980's. There have been truckloads of females before Danica, and they've also had solid rides. Mouton was an Audi factory driver in the WRC's most dangerous cars. Cristen Powell had Reebok come on board for a season. Angelle Sampey had Winston. The Force sisters had BP/Castrol.

They've also won. A lot.

Her marketing team portrayed Danica as the first professional female driver ever, and implied she was smashing down gender barriers left and right. The barriers Danica was said to be breaking, had already been broken down some thirty years ago by Mouton & Muldowney. It was insulting as an auto racing fan to see the rightful pionneers outright ignored. Footage of Mouton & Muldowney tearing it up exists. Why aren't you showing it? Why aren't you interviewing them? Who's this Danica girl and why should I care about her mid-pack finish in front of an abysmal crowd when Ashley Force just won the biggest event in drag racing?

It rubbed people the wrong way.

And of course her stats didn't help.

 

[randMracer]

I don't see what the big deal is and what did she hurt? Of course they were going to market her, she was a woman in NASCAR. She was marketed just like all the rest of the drivers. That's part of the game.

Everyone hating her apparently has some type of insecurity issues going on. Because all she did was bring more fans to NASCAR. A lot of little girls looked up to her and admired her for what she was doing. And if you have a problem with that then there is something wrong with you.

She finished 27th this year and that put her ahead of a lot more experienced drivers. In 2016 she did even better. She wasn't the best, but she also wasn't the worst. So hating on her is irrelevant and pretty ignorant.