Tearful Danica will end career at Indy
HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Danica Patrick has known for at least a month that she will end her career next season at the Indianapolis 500, a decision that will bring her full circle and return her one last time to the storied track that made her famous.
Discussing her decision with The Associated Press, Patrick was giddy with excitement and thrilled at the chance to take one more spin around Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
When it came time to announce her plans to the world, with her mother, father, sister, brother-in-law, boyfriend and support team watching from the back of a crowded room at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Friday afternoon, Patrick broke down in tears.
She paused several times to compose herself to announce that she will race only in the Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500 and then she will walk away from the sport where success was elusive even as she became one of the most recognizable female athletes in the world.
Patrick told AP it took her many months to come to the realization her career is all but over. Once she accepted it, the idea of ending her career at Indy popped into her head. She told her agent, and she’s been working on putting together “The Danica Double” over the last several weeks.
“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.”
Patrick would not reveal who she will drive for in either race next year, but Chip Ganassi Racing is the likely ride at Indy.
Ganassi has room to field additional cars — he’s scaling down from four fulltime cars to two next year — and would give Patrick a car capable of winning. Roger Penske and Michael Andretti both have full lineups announced for next year’s Indy 500.
Patrick will not be driving in the Daytona 500 for Stewart-Haas Racing, team co-owner Tony Stewart told AP. Patrick moved from IndyCar to NASCAR after the 2011 season, and has been racing Cup cars for SHR since 2012. She is being replaced after Sunday’s season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway by Aric Almirola.
Patrick is the only woman to have led laps in both the Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500. Patrick ran the Indy 500 from 2005-11. Her highest finish was third in 2009, and she was the first woman to lead laps in the race when she paced the field for 19 trips around the Brickyard as a rookie.
Patrick was highly marketable early in her career even though wins were rare. She won the pole for the Daytona 500 in 2013, but finished 24th in the standings the last two seasons. She won her only IndyCar race in 2008, in Japan.
Sponsorship trouble surfaced this year, too. When no strong opportunity for next season presented itself, Patrick decided to call it a career at Indy next Memorial Day weekend.
“I think it’s awesome and it will make for a huge month of May that she’s back there,” said Stewart, who spent half of his career trying to win the Indy 500. “It would be really cool to see her face on the Borg-Warner Trophy, if she can pull that off.”
Patrick had been adamant she would never return to IndyCar or the 500, but changed her mind as she realized her competitive options were dwindling.
“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.” Associated Press