Why Danica Patrick is saying farewell
The high-profile driver is ending her career with two final races in 2018, but getting a deal for the Daytona 500 has not been easy
It wasn’t the way Danica Patrick wanted to end her full-time NASCAR Cup series career. Midway through the 2017 Homestead season finale, the Stewart-haas Racing driver made a slight error at the final corner of the oval, clipping the wall, damaging the car and causing a fire. She pulled her Ford Fusion to the inside line and climbed out “angry” and “disappointed”. In the press conference afterwards, an emotional Patrick told the media she was retiring from racing – but not until she had one final stab at the Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500, the scenes of some of her career highlights. Two chances to end on a better note.
The 35-year-old’s final year in NASCAR was blighted by sponsorship issues that put her future in doubt early in the season. And when they could not be resolved, it seemed her career path was decided for her. But there’s no need for speculation about what she brought to NASCAR, and her return to Daytona this week is a fitting tribute to that. The scene of her first Cup race in 2012 is also the track where she took her only Cup pole position a year later, which caused a 20-30% ratings increase to the TV figures for that weekend alone.
While it would be a shame for a driver to be defined by media appearances and gender, Patrick made it a useful tool to launch her into superstardom and take NASCAR to a variety of audiences as part of her love of marketing – an area she’s already chosen to explore further in her second career, with a recently released fitness book. She was, unfortunately, the target of sexism and abuse, but her mark on the series as one of American motorsport’s most successful female drivers cannot be discounted. As it stands, she is the best female NASCAR contender of all time, with the most top-10 finishes, most poles, and more laps led than any other. But what we don’t know yet is whether Patrick has encouraged the next generation to follow in her footsteps.
A high-profile swansong can only help, even if it did look like it had fallen off a cliff face after a promising start. She was seen speaking to Chip Ganassi Racing not long after the news broke, with a tie-up looking likely. “I think it’s a great idea for her to
do that,” team boss Ganassi said of Patrick’s plans at the time. “I think it’s a fabulous idea, a fabulous marketing idea – it’s a fabulous opportunity and obviously the business side of the deal has to work.” And then the caveat: “I’m a long way from saying, ‘Yes, I can do that’.”
Silence followed, and a lot of it. Privately, Ganassi ruled out a deal and Autosport understands that several other leading organisations did too. Patrick’s options were limited, which wasn’t surprising considering that she had described her final Cup season as a “grind”. With no further money in sight, Patrick was downbeat about her prospects. “It’s taking longer than I would like it to take, I’ll be really honest with you,” Patrick told NASCAR’S radio platform at the end of 2017. “I thought it was going to be a quicker process, but you can’t rush things. I’m a big believer, more and more, of just letting things flow and letting things take shape and that’s why I ended up finishing my career full-time last year.”
Patrick’s patience was admirable, but a deal remained feasible. The questions were answered by an old friend – sponsor Godaddy, which had guided Patrick’s early transition into NASCAR and supported her until 2015. In January, it announced it would back her once again and the gears for those final drives creaked back into motion, but any chance of top a seat had gone.
Instead, Patrick will race in the Daytona 500 for Premium Motorsports. To non-followers of NASCAR that may sound quite the stepdown, but there are nevertheless promising factors. To start with, Premium’s acquisition of Tommy Baldwin Racing means it holds a charter, guaranteeing her participation in the race. Tony Eury Jr – Patrick’s first crew chief in NASCAR – will return to guide her and she’ll drive the #7 Chevrolet, a car that is supported by the experts at Richard Childress Racing.
Although Premium finished eighth at Daytona last year with Michael Waltrip, a similar result in 2018 is a tough ask, but Patrick will get the swansong she planned. The race will provide her with one final chance to prove her many doubters wrong back at the circuit that defined her impact in NASCAR.