"I say 'Go Girl'": When Mario Andretti was blown away by Danica Patrick creating NASCAR history

Danica Patrick entered the history books of NASCAR on February 17, 2013. She impressively secured pole position in the Daytona 500 qualifying with a time of 45.817 seconds and became the first woman in the history of the Cup Series to qualify first for a race.

IndyCar legend Mario Andretti was full of praise for the then-Stewart-Haas Racing driver.

"I say ‘Go Girl'. She has taken advantage of everything she has as far as opportunities," Andretti said via Indianapolis Motor Speedway. "She is with a great team at Stewart Haas, and they are giving her some really fine equipment and putting it to work."

The four-time IndyCar champ also spoke about Patrick's rich experience in IndyCar, which helped her ace her second attempt at the Great American Race.

"I think it is a wonderful thing she is successful there. I think it speaks volumes for IndyCar because that is where she comes from. It shows we have pretty good drivers in IndyCar that can get the job done in NASCAR as well. I think it’s a good thing all around. It’s wonderful for the sport, great for NASCAR, great for Danica, and wonderful for GoDaddy," Mario Andretti added.

Danica Patrick debuted in IndyCar in 2005 with Rahal Letterman Racing (now Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing). After a successful two-year stint with the team, she joined Andretti Autosport, led by Mario Andretti's son, Michael Andretti.

With Andretti, she became the first woman to win an IndyCar race, the 2008 Indy Japan 300, and also earned a historic Indy 500 podium in 2009. Her final two years with the team (2010 and 2011) were relatively unpleasant, as she arguably gave more focus to her NASCAR dream, which Mario Andretti found unfair.

Mario Andretti "predicted" Danica Patrick's history-making Daytona 500 pole

Danica Patrick after winning the pole at the 55th Daytona 500 - Qualifying - Source: Getty

Danica Patrick found a home with Stewart-Haas Racing in 2012. She raced part-time with the team in the NASCAR Cup Series while competing full-time in the Nationwide Series with JR Motorsports. In 2013, Patrick began her first full season with Stewart-Haas and secured pole position in qualifying at the 55th Daytona 500.

Mario Andretti, who won the Daytona 500 in 1967, claimed that he'd predicted Patrick's historic feat.

"I predicted it. She had a fast car in preseason testing and in practice, and Stewart-Haas Racing is a very good team. So I was very happy to see Danica Patrick win the pole," he said in the aforementioned interview.

Patrick led five laps of the race and finished eighth in the race. She retired from professional racing in 2018, after the 'Danica Patrick Double', i.e., competing in her final Daytona 500 and Indy 500. She crashed out of both races.