Patrick set for next chapter
NASCAR driver ready for her final Daytona 500
Danica Patrick could be justifiably angry, disappointed or simply sad.
Sunday’s Daytona 500 is her final NASCAR race — the first part of what’s now called the “Danica Double,” followed by IndyCar’s Indianapolis 500 in May — before retiring. After sponsorship and contractual issues helped push her out of racing, no one would blame her if she was furious or resentful.
But she’s not. Just days before her last stock car race, Patrick is at peace with leaving the track.
“I’m ready,” she told USA TODAY with a chuckle. “The reality of it will probably be a little bit more sad than what I’m making it out to be right now, but I’m ready. And that’s where I arrived to last year. I’m totally good with it at this point.”
Fighting through an emotional news conference at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November, the 35year-old driver announced at the Cup series finale that 2017 would be her last full-time season, following a void in sponsorship and her departure from Stewart-Haas Racing in the No. 10 Ford.
While she burst into tears seconds after sitting down in front of the microphone to share that news, she’s had almost three months to come to terms with it. And really, it’s a process, she said, she’d been immersed in through-
out much of 2017.
Patrick had long maintained if she wasn’t having fun and running the way she wanted, she would rather not do it. Her on-track struggles throughout the last two seasons — notching one top-10 finish in 72 races, compared with five between 2014 and 2015 — overshadowed one of the best streaks of her career in July with four-consecutive
top-15 finishes.
She said that over the years NASCAR helped her accept things out of her control, contributing to her relaxed approach as her racing ends.
“The routine just really wasn’t making me very happy anymore,” she said. “Life is very short, and it’s important to do things that make you happy. So having a lot of things that are out of my control is a frustrating thing, but I realized it was time to move on and do things in my life that made me smile every day.”
Her final race will be with the same car number she started her NASCAR career in — the No. 7 Chevrolet, which she’ll drive for Premium Motorsports — back in 2010 in the Xfinity Series, with the same crew chief, Tony Eury Jr., guiding her through those 500 miles. She also reunited with longtime sponsor GoDaddy, which will back her in the Indy
500, too.
She’s not nervous, anxious or scared about the Daytona 500 and is certainly not dreading her last laps as a NASCAR driver. She’s not even worried about getting caught in “The Big One” — the mass crash that is practically guaranteed at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway, NASCAR’s two biggest tracks.
“It’d be disappointing, but I’m not (nervous),” Patrick said. “The likelihood is fairly decent, but it’s also fairly decent for everyone else too.”
She’s confident in her car, in her crew chief and in the skills she’s acquired over the years to carry her to the finish line.
On Sunday, she’ll get into the same seat she’s had for her six Cup seasons, with her mom, dad, sister and niece among her countless fans cheering her on. She doesn’t think she’ll cry but joked that she’ll have to stay away from her dad because he probably will.
Looking back on her eight years in NASCAR, she said, she has no regrets.
“I’m not one of those people that wants to go back and change anything because I’m a work in progress,” Patrick said. “I’ve earned every good and bad thing that’s happened to me through the decisions I’ve made and the actions I’ve taken — both positive and negative.
“They’re all part of the process, so I wouldn’t change anything in my life. I’m very happy where I’m at right now, and I might not be here if one thing would have been different at any point.”