“People questioned my commitment”: When doubts forced Danica Patrick to choose between NASCAR and IndyCar

Danica Patrick once spoke about choosing between NASCAR and IndyCar after people questioned her commitment. She hung up her racing suit in 2018 after participating in the Indy 500 that year.

Patrick started her open-wheel racing career with go-karting. She dropped out of high school in 1998 and moved to the UK to pursue her racing career. She gained fame after winning the Japan 300 in 2008, becoming the first woman to do so. She set multiple records for female drivers, including the first woman to get pole at the Daytona 500 in 2013.

Patrick spoke about how she felt when she had to choose between IndyCar and NASCAR after people questioned her commitment to NASCAR. While in conversation with Autoweek in 2018, she said:

"...The years after I left and thinking about it [rejoining IndyCar] -- because I really did try and do it the second year I had been gone, until a team manager said that people questioned my commitment in NASCAR. So, I didn’t do it."

Danica Patrick intended to enter the Greatest Spectacle in Racing in 2012, but she had started her full-time NASCAR career with Stewart-Haas Racing, with fans questioning her commitment. After her retirement, she runs a podcast called Pretty Intense and has a book with the same name. She also runs a wine business with her brand called Somnium.

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When Danica Patrick spoke about her unfulfilled racing career

Former IndyCar driver Danica Patrick also spoke about her unfulfilled racing career dream in 2020. She debuted in 2005 and retired in 2018.

Patrick has been a role model for many women in motorsports. However, she had one unfulfilled career dream: to win in NASCAR and IndyCar. In a conversation with the Desert Sun in 2020, she told the website how she wanted to become the first woman to win a race in both divisions:

"If there was one 'woman' record I really wanted, it was to win on both series, but (...) I didn't. And then I got too old."

Furthermore, Patrick spoke about her decision to retire from racing in 2018:

"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. But, I just felt like that that feeling went away. I was like, ‘Well I'm not attached to this, it does not define me. I'm more than just a driver.’ So I decided to pursue the other things that I am passionate about in life."

Danica Patrick is occasionally seen in the Formula One paddock with the Sky Sports crew alongside Natalie Pinkham, Jenson Button, and others.