Danica Patrick

At 42 years old, Danica Patrick has this physical status:

IndyCar Series career

After the team discovered the funds to run a third car, Rahal Letterman Racing named Patrick to their IndyCar Series roster for 2005. She debuted at Homestead-Miami Speedway in September, beginning ninth and suffering a minor concussion that required her to be hospitalized for a light concussion. Patrick started second and led 32 laps in the season's fourth race, before settling for her best finish of the season, fourth. She started fourth and missed out on winning the race after establishing the fastest overall time at the Indianapolis 500, but she was not able to save fuel to conserve gasoline. She came in fourth after leading 19 laps and winning multiple firsts for women at the track. Patrick claimed pole position in Kansas Speedway's eighth race, becoming the second woman in IndyCar Series history to do so after Sarah Fisher in 2002. She held two more pole positions at Kentucky Speedway and Chicagoland Speedway to equal Tomas Scheckter's record for the most pole positions in a rookie season. Patrick retired at California Speedway in 2005 after a match with Jaques Lazier, finishing her rookie season with 325 points (11th in the points' standings) and seven top-ten finishes. She was named Rookie of the Year for both the Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar Series.

Patrick returned to Rahal Letterman Racing for the 2006 season. Rusty Wallace, Allan McNish, and Jan Lammers co-driving a Howard-Boss Motorsports Daytona Prototype-class Pontiac Crawford on January, making her endurance racing debut at the 24 Hours of Daytona. The quartet was in contention for the win but was forced to resign from overheating problems. Despite being third in third place for the season-opening Toyota Indy 300, her team lost after teammate Paul Dana was killed in a practice session crash on the day of the race. Patrick's 2006 IndyCar campaign began at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, where she finished sixth; she placed eighth at the Indy Japan 300 at Motegi. Patrick placed eighth after starting tenth at the Indianapolis 500. The remainder of her season was modest, with four top-tens, including a season-high finish at the Firestone Indy 200 in Nashville Speedway and then ABC Supply Company A.J. Foyt 225 at Milwaukee Mile. Patrick finished ninth in the final standings with 302 points. In recognition of her service and accomplishment, the March of Dimes awarded her the title of Sportswoman of the Year in November.

Patrick moved to Andretti Green Racing in place of Bryan Herta in its No. 68 in the 2007 season. Honda 7 Dallara-IR05 Honda. She began her season with two top-ten finishes in the first four races (eighth at St. Petersburg and seventh at Kansas). Patrick debuted in eighth place in the Indianapolis 500. She rode competitively with the leaders and ended in the same way she started when the race was suspended by rain after 166 laps. Patrick achieved her second straight eighth-place finish at ABC Supply Company A.J. Foyt 225, which was overshadowed by a physical confrontation with Dan Wheldon, was reformed after a private meeting with IndyCar president Brian Barnhart. She earned a third place at the Bombardier Learjet 550, her second best finish in her career, and improved on this result by clinching second at the Detroit Indy Grand Prix at Belle Isle Street Circuit on the season's penultimate race, the Detroit Indy Grand Prix. Patrick rounded off the year by placing eleventh at the season-closing Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 at Chicagoland Speedway, placing seventh in the drivers' standings with 424 points and eleven top-ten finishes.

Patrick earned her second best homestead finish of second with Andretti Green Racing in the 2008 season, her second with Andretti Green Racing. She followed up with another top-ten finish at St. Petersburg, completing her tenth-place finish. Patrick took the lead of the Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi on April 20, having been forced to make pit stops for fuel and holding the first position for her maiden IndyCar victory. She became the first woman to win a top-level sanctioned open wheel auto racing competition. Patrick finished 19th after a hubcap failure in the season's fourth round at Kansas Speedway. She resigned from the sport early after crashing with Ryan Briscoe in the pit lane after qualifying fifth for the Indianapolis 500. Patrick ranked inside the top ten for five of the next six races this season. An incident with Milka Duno in practice escalated into a fight before walking away. With a best of fifth at Infineon Raceway, she ended the season with three more top-ten finishes. Patrick finished sixth in the final standings with 379 points, his highest placed American of the season.

She made her second appearance at the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2009 and teamed up with Casey Mears, Andy Wallace, and Rob Finlay in the No. 125. 2 Daytona Prototype class Pontiac Crawford DP08 fielded by Childress-Howard Motorsports, placing eighth in class and overall after overcoming multiple mechanical challenges. Patrick has returned to Andretti Green Racing for the 2009 season. After fighting with Raphael Matos in ninth place during the first race of the season, she came 19th in the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Patrick finished fourth and fifth in the next two races of the season at Long Beach and Kansas. By finishing in third place in her first appearance in five attempts at the Indianapolis 500, she earned her highest finish in five attempts. This was a new record for the highest-placed finish for a woman in Indianapolis 500 history. She had seven top-ten finishes this season, with her best being a pair of fifth places at the Milwaukee and Richmond races. Patrick placed fifth overall in the point standings for the season, her highest finish to date. This fifth-place finish was not only the highest among any of the Andretti competitors, but it wasn't the first of any non-Penske or Chip Ganassi Racing driver of the season. She signed a three-year contract extension in December, with the option of a third in 2012.

Patrick returned to drive in the IndyCar Series in the IndyCar Series as a member of JR Motorsports in the NASCAR Nationwide Series (now Xfinity Series). She started her season poorly this year, crashing to just finish 15th at the inaugural So Paulo Indy 300 after spinning in inclement weather. Despite this, Patrick made her debut in seventh place in the second round of the season's second round. She qualified at the Indianapolis 500 for a career low 23rd, but Patrick suffered with her car in the event, finishing sixth, despite placing sixth. The Firestone 550 at Texas Motor Speedway was her best show of the season, with her leading one lap and finishing second. Patrick set a new series record for the most consecutive races running at the end of her 29th appearance at the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, defeating her not to finish. She closed her season on a high note in the final IndyCar race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, allowing her to finish tenth in the drivers' standings with 367 points.

Patrick's contract began in January 2011 and she warned Andretti team owner Michael Andretti of her departure, and she told him of her plans for 2012. In comparison to her previous two years at Andretti, she had a rough start to the 2011 season. After collisions with Justin Wilson and J. R. Hildebrand relegated her to twelfth, Patrick sustained car damage at the season-opening Grand Prix in St. Petersburg. In qualifying for the Indianapolis 500, she had a rough time. Despite rain threatening to prevent her from setting a lap time, her car failed a technical inspection, and she was pushed back of the qualifying line and finished sixth. Patrick led ten laps in the race but was tenth after saving fuel. She then had six top-ten finishes going into the season's final run, with her best finish (fifth) at the Milwaukee 225. Patrick was one of nineteen drivers to avoid a fifteen car pile-up that killed Dan Wheldon; the race was called off and she and the remainder of the field were not awarded. This was her final regular season IndyCar race as she announced in August 2011 that she would not be focusing on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Series full-time from 2012. Patrick came in tenth in the drivers' standings, with 314 points.

Patrick's last run in the Indianapolis 500 was the 2018 Indianapolis 500. She lost control going into turn two on Lap 68 and crashed into the outside wall, having trouble with the car setup. Patrick recovered on track and then struck the inside wall. Patrick came in seventh place and was ranked eighth in seventh place and ranked thirtieth.

Stock car career

Patrick started racing by competing in the No. 66 ARCA Racing Series for the first time. At Daytona International Speedway, JR Motorsports Chevrolet is the seventh on the track. She ended up in sixth place after spinning early in the competition. After being trapped in a 12-car accident, Patrick started 15th and ended 35th in the season-opening Nationwide Series race. She finished 36th in the Sam's Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the season's third race, colliding with Michael McDowell on the 82nd lap. Although Patrick suffered during her rookie season, she had her best finish of the year at the season-ending Ford 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where she finished 19th. With 1,032 points in 13 starts, she came in 43nd in the drivers' standings. Patrick took part in the Dover International Speedway K&N Pro Series East race in September to broaden her stock car racing experience. After briefly leading the race, she came in sixth.

Patrick stayed at JR Motorsports for the 2011 Nationwide Series, and he did a part-time schedule with twelve races. At the season's first two races at Daytona and Phoenix International Speedway, she came in 14th and 12th. Patrick was the top finisher in national NASCAR history at Las Vegas last year, finishing second in the Sam's Town 300 race, the highest in her Nationwide Series career. She finished tenth in the Subway Jalapeo 250 at Daytona on the third lap of the season, after leading a total of 13 laps before being involved in a multi-car accident crashing to the checkered flag on the last lap of the competition. Patrick's best result in the remainder of the season was an eleventh-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway; she came 26th in points, with 321 accrued.

Patrick raced full-time in the Nationwide Series for JR Motorsports in 2012 and began racing in a limited schedule with ten races in the Sprint Cup Series with Stewart-Haas Racing in an agreement with Tommy Baldwin Racing (TBR) in the No. ten. 10 Chevrolet Impalas. Because TBR has boosted its top-35 owner points from the No. 1 position. Dave Blaney took the 36-year-old No. 3 to the new No. 1 on the 36. She had been promised a spot in the Daytona 500 for ten years. Patrick began her season by qualifying on the pole for the DRIVE4COPD 300, making her the second woman to achieve this feat in national NASCAR since Shawna Robinson in 1994. After one lap when she was involved in a four-car accident, she was disqualified, finishing 38th, 74 laps behind race champion Matt Kenseth, she was out of contention in the Daytona 500. Patrick finished her first full-time Series season with four top-ten finishes and tenth in the final points standings. She had her best showing at Texas Motor Speedway, where she came eighth, earning her her eighth best result on the season. Patrick's best road course finish in her NASCAR career came at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, finishing ninth and leading a season-high 20 laps.

In June, team owner Tony Stewart invited Patrick to compete in the fund-raising Prelude to the Dream dirt track race at Eldora Speedway. After hitting the wall and being off the pace, she came in 15th place in 15th place. She was fast in her fourth Cup appearance, leading to a crash on lap 436 from contact with Regan Smith, which became her first did not finish (DNF) in the series. Patrick finished 24th in his first lead lap at the AAA Texas Motor Speedway, the last car to finish on the same lap as the leaders. Patrick spun Landon Cassill in turn one at the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, but she ended up wrecking her car on the outside wall. "Rule No. 66," Cassill, who managed to save his car, sang on his radio: "Rule No." Learn how to hurt someone without breaking yourself," 1 in stock car racing learns how to wreck someone. Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman's final run of the season were embroiled in controversy, as her car leaked oil and NASCAR chose not to wave the caution flags, resulting in an accident between Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman. Both the team and the team's representatives chastised this decision. Patrick was not ranked in the final standings after she did not participate in the full championship, so she was ineligible to receive points in her ten starts, with no top-tens, two DNFs, and an average finish of 28.3 in her ten starts.

Patrick returned to Stewart-Haas Racing in 2013 for her first complete season in the Sprint Cup Series. Tony Gibson, the ex crew chief of Ryan Newman's teammate, was sent by her pit crew. Patrick was simultaneously the first woman to clinch the pole position for the Daytona 500 and the first female to do so in the Sprint Cup Series. She rose to the top ten for the majority of the season, but she fell from third place in the first three laps to finish eighth, becoming the highest placing woman driver in the Daytona 500's history. She started 5 laps with a select group of only 14 drivers in both the Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500. Patrick finished ninth and advanced to the Sprint All-Star Race in the May exhibition Sprint Showdown at Charlotte Motor Speedway by a fan vote. She started from the 22nd position and ranked two positions higher than that.

Patrick suffered in the season opener before struggling to finish in the top-fifteen in the next seven months. She had one top-ten finish in 36 races, an average finish of 26.1, five DNFs, and ranked 27th in the standings with 646 points. After a season-long war with Ricky Stenhouse Jr., she came second in the Rookie of the Year standings. Patrick led the Nationwide Series in the season-opening DRIVE4COPD 300 and the first two races at Talladega Superspeedway, Aaron's 312, in the No. 304. Turner Scott Motorsports has a 34-year-old Bentley. After a distinct engine failure and crash, she ended up thirty-sixth and thirty-ninth.

Patrick stayed with Stewart-Haas Racing in the 2014 Sprint Cup Series. She was eligible for the Sprint Unlimited after being involved in a multi-car accident as she dominated the pole for the 2013 Daytona 500. Patrick started twenty-seventh on the Daytona 500 and led briefly during the pit stop cycle before Aric Almirola clipped her, knocking her car into a wall that had no SAFER barrier; she finished 40th. She set three records during the season: the first female to lead at the Aaron's 499 was the highest finish for any woman on the circuit, and her finish at 22nd was the highest for any woman at the track. When Patrick put her car fourth on the grid for the Coca-Cola 600, she had the best qualifying result for any woman on a non-restrictor plate track.

With a sixth finish at Oral-B USA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 1978, she earned her second top-ten finish in the Sprint Cup Series, beating the record of Janet Guthrie's tenth-place finish. Daniel Knost, the season's best three races, was later named as her full-time crew chief for 2015. Patrick ranked 28th in points, one position down from the previous year, despite finishing with 89 more points than her rookie season. She also had an average finish of 23.7, 2.4 places higher than her rookie year, with three top-tens and four DNFs. Patrick rode for Turner Scott Motorsports in its No. 1 early in the season. At the season-opening DRIVE4COPD 300, 34 cars are listed, starting third and finishing 19th.

Patrick stayed with Stewart-Haas Racing in 2015 for another year. She started her Sprint Unlimited career by finishing tenth after escaping with collateral damage from a multi-car accident. Patrick came from the back of the field for the season-opening Daytona 500, finishing 21st. She defeated Janet Guthrie for the highest tens in Sprint Cup Series history after scoring two top-tens (seventh at the STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway and ninth at the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway). During the pit stop cycle, Patrick rode two laps of the Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway, finishing 16th, and Quaker State 400 made history by becoming the first woman to start a hundred Cup Series events. She had twenty-five owner and drivers points deducted and suspended by NASCAR until the end of 2015 for an intentional retaliatory crash involving David Gilliland. Patrick scored 716 points in 36 races, placing her 24th in the drivers' standings, the highest in her career. She had two top-ten finishes, an average finish of 23.5, and she had failed to finish four times.

Patrick had signed a multi-year deal with Stewart-Haas Racing in 2016, which allowed her to remain with the company for the remainder of 2016. For the forthcoming season, she also switched crew chiefs from Daniel Knost to Billy Scott. She resigned after making contact with Greg Biffle on the 184th lap, spun into the grass, and severely damaged her car's front end at the first race of the season, the Daytona 500. After Patrick wrecked her car at the Auto Club 400, he was fined $20,000 for gesturing to Kasey Kahne. She was involved in a high-speed accident with Matt Kenseth at Talladega, which necessitated a chest radiograph. Patrick struggled with form during the season, but she did manage to post a career-best 22.0 in the fifth year in a row. Her best result of the season came in the fall Charlotte race, with her placing eleventh in 11th, and she led a career-high 30 laps. Patrick finished 24th in the final drivers' standings, but she earned fewer points than the previous year, at 689 accrued, and did not finish three races she entered.

Patrick remained with Stewart-Haas Racing for the duration of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. With a fourth finish at the Advance Auto Parts Clash exhibition show in Daytona, she began her career in her best finish in any NASCAR Cup Series event. Patrick was recognized in 33rd place for the season-opening Daytona 500 after she was forced to leave the sport due to a multi-car accident. She finished tenth at Dover on June 4 in her first top-ten finish in seventy-seven races. Patrick revealed on November 17 that after the season's conclusion at Homestead-Miami, she would not participate in the 2018 Daytona 500 and the 2018 Indianapolis 500, she would withdraw from full-time racing. She stalled halfway through when her right-rear tire burst after glancing the wall and collided heavily with another wall. Patrick ended the 2017 season with a top-ten, eleven DNFs, and an average finish of 23.8. She scored 511 points, putting her 20th in the drivers' standings.

Patrick would be reunited with longtime partner GoDaddy for sponsorship of the "Danica Double" and assistance as she began to her life as a business woman and entrepreneur in January 2018. Patrick elected Premium Motorsports to drive her No. 1 in her final NASCAR race at the 2018 Daytona 500. After discussions with Chip Ganassi Racing, 7 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 did not give up in a race seat, the team did not give up in a race seat. Her last Daytona 500 came to an end early on lap 102, placing 35th in the final rankings. Patrick ended her NASCAR career with no victories and placed in the top ten in 36 percent of her 191 races. It was revealed on March 7, 2018, that her last Indianapolis 500 appearance would be in a third car for Ed Carpenter Racing.

Patrick was supposed to participate in Formula One in November 2008, but the Honda team was forced to cancel the test due to a lack of funding. The American Formula One team US F1 was reportedly considering testing Patrick for a possible race in 2010. However, she said she was not approached by anyone from the team and that there were no plans to leave the IndyCar Series for Formula One at the time. Formula One CEO Bernie Ecclestone said that "to have someone like Danica Patrick in F1 will be a brilliant advert" following the news of Formula One's return to the United States in 2012. Patrick, on the other hand, said she had no intention to enter Formula One because she was too young to change racing series; in 2015, she said she felt more comfortable being around her family and friends in NASCAR.

Motorsports career results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate the fastest lap) (Small number denotes finishing position)

* The season is still in progress.

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, while overall/class results indicate that the results are overall/class). (Small number denotes finish position)

(Bold – Pole position won by qualifying time) (Bold – The key) (Bold – Key) (Bold – The key) Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. Most laps were led by the instructor. (A small number denotes finishing position.)

* Season is still on progress1 Ineligible for series points

(Bold) (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time) Italics – pole position earned by points earned or practice time. – The majority of laps led. (A small number denotes the finish position.)

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