“I showed my dedication”: When Danica Patrick came clean on picking racing over school education

Former IndyCar and NASCAR driver Danica Patrick once talked about her childhood escapades in pursuit of a racing career. Patrick made her IndyCar debut at the young age of 22.

Wisconsin native Danica Patrick remains one of the most iconic female drivers in the history of American racing. The 42-year-old, who made her debut in the racing world through IndyCar in 2005 with Rehman Letterman Racing in 2005 has taken her craft to both NASCAR and IndyCar, emerging as a holder of various records in both disciplines.

For Patrick to achieve the success and fame she had, it required tremendous dedication from an early age. The former driver started early, competing in Junior Formula after dropping out of high school in 1998. In an interview with The New York Times back in 2013, Patrick delved deep into this move, which resulted in her success. When asked if she would be where she is without dropping out, she said:

"I took the opportunity that was in front of me, which meant moving to England and leaving school. I did get my G.E.D. — I call it my 'Good Enough Diploma' — but I don’t know, I think I showed my dedication by doing that."

When asked if her mother used to worry about her dropping out, Danica Patrick responded:

"My parents were very comfortable and confident with me racing. They always said that they were more worried about everybody else than me."

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Danica Patrick wishes to have performed better on her Indy 500 debut

Danica Patrick, to date, remains the best-performing female driver in Indianapolis 500 history. Her third-place finish in 2010 while driving for Andretti Autosport, remains the best performance by a woman at the iconic venue.

Despite the record, Patrick still wishes she could have done better in her maiden Indy 500 outing in 2005. While she finished 4th despite spinning out and damaging her front wing, Patrick, in an interview with Jeff Gluck in 2016, expressed her desire to drive in the race all over again. She said:

"My first Indy 500 comes to mind a little bit, just because I don’t race Indy cars anymore and I don’t have any more chances. That was a tough one. There were some things about that first Indy 500 that could have been different – a little more fuel left than I thought."

She added:

"I probably would have just led no matter what (she gave up the lead with seven laps to go), even if it meant running out of fuel, as opposed to just finishing. I mean, I still finished fourth, but..."

Danica Patrick's last Indy 500 came in 2018, which was also the final race of her career. She finished 30th driving for Ed Carpenter Racing.