“It scares me a little bit”: When Danica Patrick confessed her true feelings ahead of her IndyCar return

Danica Patrick, the former racing driver, has a well-known reputation in the world of motorsports. Her last competitive outing came at the 2018 Indy 500 and she took the time to dwell on the same in the lead-up to the event.

In line with this, Patrick, specifically shed light on how she was feeling moving back to IndyCar after having competed in stock car racing for a number of years since 2011.

"It’s pretty damn real. Yeah, I’m excited. It scares me a little bit to look at how small that rear wing is, but hey, I’m sure there’s (downforce) grip somewhere – more grip than I’m used to," Patrick said via IndyCar.

In the 2018 Indy 500, Patrick took the wheel of the #13 GoDaddy Chevrolet of Ed Carpenter Racing and secured a 30th-place finish in the 200-lap Indianapolis Motor Speedway event. She had also encountered an accident at Turn 2 on Lap 68.

Following the culmination of the same, her racing career officially came to an end with 116 IndyCar outings under her belt (one race win, seven podiums, and three pole positions). Moreover, to date, she is the only woman to win a race in America's highest class of open-wheel racing. Her victory came at the Indy Japan 300 in 2008.

Danica Patrick's take on not going into the 'simulator' ahead of the Indy 500 in 2018

While Danica Patrick admitted to feeling slightly nervous ahead of 2018's (May) Indy 500, she also shed light on why she didn't like going into simulators (via the same interview).

"I don’t think it’s very realistic. I think it’s counter-productive or just not productive at all," Patrick said via IndyCar.

Moreover while shedding light on her planned 1st and 2nd May tests, ahead of the Indy 500 event, she had the following to add:

"For me, it’s just getting a feel for the tendencies of the car in general. Even if I was getting back in the exact same Indy car that I drove the last time I was in one, I’d still want to know that after being gone so long. Just knowing what does a little bit of front wing do, what does a little right rear spring do, what does a stiffer front sway bar feel like, " Patrick further added.

Other than her impressive exploits in IndyCar, Patrick has also driven in a truckload of NASCAR events. During her racing career, she competed in a whopping 191 Cup Series races alongside 61 outings in the Xfinity Series.

Moreover, in the process of doing so, she secured identical records in both classes. She amassed seven top-tens and one pole position in the Cup Series as well as the Xfinity Series. From 2019 onwards, the 42-year-old has become an esteemed motorsport pundit (IndyCar, F1, and NASCAR) and also has her own podcast named "Pretty Intense."