"Stock cars are a little bit more forgiving": When Danica Patrick opened up about 'trusting her instinct' ahead of IndyCar comeback 

In 2018, Danica Patrick lined up at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for one last time. The greatest female driver in American open-wheel racing was about to retire. However, there was a hurdle preventing the perfect goodbye.

Patrick hadn't raced in IndyCar since 2011 when she decided to shift disciplines to stock car racing and head to NASCAR in 2012. Upon her return to IndyCar for her last Indy 500 in 2018, she addressed this potential dealbreaker. She said (via For The Win):

"(The biggest challenge will be) probably knowing the tendencies of the car, but I think that’ll come back. I’m a little interested to see if there will be some setbacks from not being in the car for a long time or if it’ll be like riding a bike."

Though she found stock cars easier to maneuver and manipulate, Danica Patrick trusted her instincts to adjust to the Indy car, which would get her over the line at the 102nd running of the Indy 500.

"That’s my nature anyway. With stock cars, you can hustle them a little bit more and slide and move around. They’re a little bit more forgiving, so just to remember my roots and trusting your instinct and trusting your hands and your butt and what it’s feeling," she added.

Alas, Patrick's race ended prematurely as she crashed out in Turn 2 on Lap 68. Post-race, she admitted being unsure about what went wrong with her No. 13 GoDaddy Chevy but thanked Ed Carpenter Racing for giving her a "good car" which could've given her the picture-perfect career ending.

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Danica Patrick revealed why she retired from racing once her "optimistic" mindset changed

Danica Patrick at VeeCon 2024 - Source: Getty

Danica Patrick didn't get a sweet goodbye crashing out of both the 2018 Daytona 500 and the Indy 500. But she retired as the most successful female IndyCar driver. From earning Rookie of the Year in 2005 for both the Indy 500 and the championship to becoming the first woman to win an IndyCar race (the Indy Japan 300 in 2008), she was truly pathbreaking.

Patrick's best standings finish came in 2009 when she secured fifth place driving for Andretti Green Racing (now Andretti Global). However, she couldn't replicate such success in stock cars, be it the NASCAR Cup Series, Nationwide Series, or her only race appearance in the ARCA Racing Series. In January 2020, she opened up to Indy Star about this missed opportunity and how her optimistic outlook towards an upward-graphed racing career slowly degraded.

"If there was one 'woman' record I really wanted, it was to win on both series, but ... I didn't," Patick revealed. "And then I got too old. Honestly, if you want to know why I retired is that, what I really loved about the sport is that I loved having hope that it was going to get better next year. I loved being optimistic. I loved feeling like this was the year and every year of my career I felt like I felt that, 'This will be the year. This team. This crew chief or whatever.' But you know, I just felt like that that feeling went away."

Since her retirement, Danica Patrick has kept busy by hosting her podcast, called 'Pretty Intense', launching several businesses as an entrepreneur, and also serving as a part-time F1 pundit for Sky Sports.