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Former IndyCar and NASCAR driver Danica Patrick turned 43 on Tuesday, March 25. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway paid a special tribute to her iconic 20-year-old Indy 500 overtake on Dan Wheldon while wishing her a happy birthday.
Patrick made her Indy 500 debut at the 89th running of the premier IndyCar race in 2005. With all eyes on her and media coverage through the roof, the rookie qualified in an impressive fourth position for Rahal Letterman Racing (now Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing) and became the first woman to lead the "Greatest Spectacle of Racing".
Danica Patrick led the race for 19 laps out of 200, with the best moment coming during a lap 190 restart. She was in second place behind Dan Wheldon and immediately overtook him after the restart. The 300,000+ fans in attendance rose to their feet as deafening applause and roars consumed the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
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The social media account of the IMS shared a clip of that moment on X on her 43rd birthday and captioned it:
"Happy birthday, @DanicaPatrick 🎉! 20 years ago 😅 What a moment!
Patrick couldn't sustain the race lead because she had to conserve fuel to finish the race. This came after her No. 16 team took a gamble and avoided another pit stop to facilitate a better result. She finished where she started, in P4. Andretti driver Dan Wheldon took his first Indy 500 win after passing her and won the IndyCar title that year.
During her 8-year IndyCar career, Danica Patrick recorded many firsts for a woman, including a podium finish at the 2009 Indy 500 with Andretti Green Racing (now Andretti Global) and a race win at the 2008 Indy Japan 300.
When IndyCar legend Michael Andretti was all praise for Danica Patrick
Danica Patrick recorded her best IndyCar career result during the 2008 season, driving for Michael Andretti's Andretti Green Racing. She entered the third race of the season, the Indy Japan 300, after two Top 10 finishes at the beginning of the season.
The race was delayed by 22 hours because of torrential weather. Patrick edged Helio Castroneves in the closing stages of the race to become the first woman to win an IndyCar race. She had only led three laps while Castroneves led 94 and third-placed Scott Dixon led 101 laps.
Her boss, Michael Andretti, the winningest driver of the CART era, was ecstatic after the race win. He said (via New York Times):
"I think Danica is such a fantastic person and I’m thrilled for her that the monkey is finally off of her back. We have all believed in her, and she proved today that she is a winner. Frankly, I think this is the first of many."
Though the victory wasn't the first of many, Danica Patrick became the premier American open-wheel racing series' most successful female driver. She jumped to NASCAR in 2012. However, she couldn't emulate her IndyCar success in the Cup Series. Patrick returned for her final Indy 500 in 2018 before retiring from all forms of racing.
