Patrick approaches transition as potential retirement looms Logano’s crew chief takes blame for call that cost Keselowski spot in championship
Danica Patrick has always known she wouldn’t race cars forever.
Now, that reality may be less than a month away as she prepares for Sunday’s Texas AAA 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Patrick is leaving Stewart-Haas Racing after Nature’s Bakery ended its sponsorship agreement with the team in January with two years remaining on the contract. Patrick spent her six-year, 187-race NASCAR career with Stewart-Haas.
Patrick joined NASCAR after seven years in IndyCar, where she won the Japan 300 in 2008 to become to first woman to win a race on the circuit.
Even with retirement potentially on the horizon, Patrick has spent years crafting her personal brand. She said that awareness and self-reliance has prepared her to make the transition into the next phase of her professional life.
“These loves of mine that have manifested into businesses, they aren’t new to me,” Patrick said. “I’ve been working out since I was 14. I learned how to cook and drink wine, legally, during my time living on my own in England when I was 17 … I remember cutting my clothes up in third grade when I didn’t like them.”
Over the last couple of years, Patrick’s efforts to take on businesses and personal causes outside the track have escalated. This year alone she has started a clothing line (Warrior), released a wine (titled Somnium) and created a fitness routine. In January, she will publish a book about personal exercise and eating healthy.
“You have to love what you’re doing and have your whole heart into it, or else it might not happen,” Patrick said. “I think it’s a matter of evaluating options and being honest about what makes the most sense.”
Other prominent figures in the NASCAR world believe in her projects and her passion.
“I don’t know what her plans are, but she’s one of the very few drivers that has so many options right now,” said Tony Stewart, a threetime Cup champion who co-owns Stewart-Haas Racing. “She’s one of the most fearless people I’ve ever met, she’s never backed down from a challenge. My support for Danica is unwavering.”
Patrick has been the most successful female driver in the history of the sport. She has recorded seven top10 finishes, including a career-best sixth place finish in the Oral-B USA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in September 2014. Patrick said one of her proudest moments happened when she became the first female driver to win the pole at the Daytona 500 in 2013.
Patrick has made it clear that she only wants to return to NASCAR in 2018 if her new team is going to be competitive.
“At this point, you never want to say never to anything, because you never how how some of these opportunities might work out,” she said. “I’m an all-in sort of person … and I want to be the architect of my life.”
Charlotte, N.C. — Joey Logano’s crew chief accepted blame Tuesday for not pitting Logano with a tire rub, a call that may have cost Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski a spot in NASCAR’s championship.
Logano was third with 12 laps remaining in Sunday’s race at Martinsville Speedway when contact with Kyle Busch created a tire rub on Logano’s car. Keselowski was leading and seemed to have the victory in hand, and the win would have earned Keselowski a slot in the season finale championship race.
But Logano was not called in to pit, the tire blew and he spun. It brought out a caution that ultimately led to Keselowski not winning the race.
“I missed the call,” crew chief Todd Gordon said Tuesday on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Logano is not eligible for the playoffs, and once he developed the tire rub, he was out of contention for the Martinsville victory. Other playoff drivers, including Martinsville race winner Busch, noted that Logano should have pitted for the good of the Penske organization.
Gordon said that in the seconds he’s required to make a decision, he failed to consider Keselowski’s situation and was thinking only of gaining a momentum-building finish for Logano’s team. Keselowski had marked Martinsville as a must-win race for him to earn one of the four slots in the championship.
“In the time Kyle got into us, we were third and fighting,” Gordon said. “I only got a couple of glimpses of (the tire). It was smoking. The first lap and half of that, I wasn’t sure how bad (the tire) was and as I saw, I didn’t know with a few laps left, whether it was an external rub or whether it was on the tire contact patch, and the smoke kind of clouds it a little bit for me.
“Honestly, it was looking at the fact that I felt like if it was just a tire rub we might (salvage) a top-five finish out of the day.”
As Logano’s tire situation became more perilous, the driver was stuck on the outside lane of the track and getting to pit road would have been difficult. By the time Logano could get out of the way, the tire had failed and Keselowski’s lead was erased.
“I guess I should have called him in earlier with the grander picture in my head. I missed the call. I just own that I missed the call myself,” Gordon said. “Regretful for that for our teammates and everybody here at Team Penske. Brad had a dominant car all day, and I think was in a great position.
“Wish you could take those things back but you can’t. At that time, my focus was on a momentum builder for our team. Saw that opportunity, didn’t know how bad the rub was and as it became more clear it became too late to react to that.”
Gordon indicated that Keselowski crew chief Paul Wolfe was annoyed with Gordon’s decision, and the two colleagues had a conversation.
“I’ve talked to Paul about it and I’ve shared with him my shortcomings and thought process. I think we’re good with where we’re at,” Gordon said. “Obviously he was disappointed with it as he should be.”