Former NASCAR and IndyCar driver Danica Patrick once revealed the hardest part of her life as a motorsports driver away from the racetrack. Patrick competed in IndyCar and NASCAR between 2005 and 2018.
While she remains an icon for women in motorsports, even a resilient individual like Patrick struggled from daily hardships on and off the race track. While her struggles as a female driver in a male-dominated sport have been well-documented, Patrick once shed light on her struggles off it.
In an interview with journalist Jeff Gluck back in 2017, Danica Patrick admitted that the hardest aspect of her life was managing the overwhelming demands of her career and personal life. Patrick, who was a Stewart-Haas Racing driver in the NASCAR Cup Series at the time, revealed:
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"I would say that the hardest thing away from the racetrack is balancing out all the other things I have going on. If I had to pick one thing, it’s when things get really busy, it gets hard to sort of regroup and you really have to look day by day instead of just the next month because you might not have a lot of room to breathe."
Patrick also addressed the difficulties of being a public figure. She added:
"I think pertaining to just what I do — it’s not necessarily hard, it’s just different — and this is just because of what we do and who we are and being exposed publicly, it’s just even simple things like the safety stuff."
What was Danica Patrick's opinion on autograph requests by fans?
Being a global motorsports icon, Danica Patrick had countless fan interactions throughout her career. However, she had a clear preference for how she liked to be approached by fans in a public setting. She shared her thoughts on the ideal way a fan should acknowledge her while respecting her personal space. Patrick noted in the same interview:
"I would say if I was out to dinner, the most desirable communication would be if someone came over after dinner was over and just said, 'Hey, I just wanted to let you know I’m a huge fan, good luck this weekend.'"
She also empathized with those who felt nervous about approaching public figures, recalling her own hesitations in similar situations. The former IndyCar race winner stated:
"That would be like, 'Wow, that was super polite (and) they acknowledged, which takes guts.' I know, because I’ve been in that position before when I don’t want to go up to somebody and say anything because I’m embarrassed or I don’t want to bother them."
Patrick added:
"So it took the bravery, but they were polite enough to keep it very simple and acknowledge instead of trying to have something to take with them."
2017 was the last full-season for Danica Patrick's racing career. She hung up her helmet after the 2018 Daytona and Indianapolis 500 races.
