“I’ve become more attractive and helpful”: When Danica Patrick acknowledged her boost in popularity post IndyCar switch

Danica Patrick is one of the most well-known personalities in the world of American motorsports. Being the most successful woman in the country's highest class of open-wheel racing, her words carry tremendous weight, and in line with this, back in May 2012, she shed light on her switch to NASCAR (stock car racing) from IndyCar, and how it affected her overall popularity.

Patrick's first outing in NASCAR came in 2010 when she competed in the Xfinity Series (2010 DRIVE4COPD 300). Before this, she had started competing in IndyCar from 2005 onwards.

When she decided to take the step up to NASCAR's Cup Series in 2012, she had the following to add:

"Since I started in NASCAR, popularity has definitely gone up. I've become more attractive and helpful to companies that are looking for spokespersons. So from that perspective, things are going really well," Patrick said via New York Times.

Before bringing the shutter down on her racing career in 2018 (Indy 500), Danica Patrick made quite a few appearances in the Cup and the Xfinity Series. She competed in 191 races in the Cup Series and also took part in 61 Xfinity events.

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Danica Patrick on her interest in 'learning golf'

While Danica Patrick talked about her NASCAR switch from IndyCar back in 2012, she quite recently shared her feelings on developing a soft spot for golfing. Since retiring from active racing, Patrick has tried several things, with golf being one of them.

In relation to this, she came up with a post on Instagram and added the following:

"I decided to actually learn how to play golf about 2 years ago. Of course it’s a little seasonal, mostly for heat in AZ but also work and skiing! I thought I finally had it figured out last fall. Then I forgot how to hit my driver to start the year off…. Until about 10 days ago. I remembered just as mysteriously as I forgot. The scorecard is a 100% legit 9 holes… all the way to very short putts. No gimmies or mulligans. I’ll learn the ⭕️ and 🟥 on the scorecard. Oh, and a picture of me nearly driving the green on a par 4," Patrick wrote.

Danica Patrick played a vital role in putting put women on the motorsport map. Since her retirement from motorsports, Patrick has launched her own Pretty Intense podcast and has also become an esteemed motorsport pundit.

During the Grand Prix events of top racing categories like NASCAR, IndyCar, and Formula 1, she is often seen sharing her insights with the racing community. Moreover, Patrick was also among the pundits who appeared on Formula 1's Drive to Survive series in season 6.