"I wanted to make the decision myself": When Danica Patrick refused to let others dictate her retirement

Danica Patrick's retirement was a decision that was her own. Patrick was without a sponsor and a team by the end of 2017, which created uncertainty about her future. But, she announced that she would retire from full-time racing on her own terms after competing in the Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500 in 2018.

Patrick has been an icon in motorsports, becoming the first woman to win an IndyCar race and a pole in the Daytona 500. An underwhelming 2017 season saw her finish 28th in the final standings, putting her future in doubt. The Stewart-Haas Racing #10 had finished in the top 10 just once at Dover and finished with way too many DNFs for a driver of her stature.

As sponsors Nature’s Bakery and Aspen Dental pulled away and her time with Stewart-Haas was coming to an end, there was speculation about her retirement. Instead of letting others decide on her future, Patrick wanted to set the record straight herself. Speaking at a press conference in the media center after her race at the Homestead-Miami Speedway, she stated (via NASCAR's official website):

“This will be my last season as a full-time driver.... I wanted to make the decision myself. I didn’t want to be at the mercy of everybody else’s decision before mine.”

Patrick also got emotional during the announcement, thanking people who brought her to the NASCAR. She would participate in two final races in 2018, the Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500.

While she had yet to find a team, she remained confident about the options and was open to representing two teams in the two races. When asked about her legacy, Patrick said:

"What I've always wanted is to be remembered as a great driver," she said (via Autosport). "I don't care if you remember me as a girl, because of course I am, but to also be remembered as a great driver."

Both the Daytona 500 and the Indy 500 races have earned her a lot of accolades and hold a special place in her career. She has the highest finish of any woman in the Indy 500 history, finishing third in 2009 for Andretti Green Racing. She is also the only woman to win an IndyCar race at the 2008 Indy Japan 300.

In her 191 starts in the Cup Series, she had seven top-ten finishes. She also became the first woman in history to pole in the 2013 Daytona 500. Danica Patrick led the race for five laps before finishing eight. This is also the highest finish by any woman in the Daytona 500.

How did Danica Patrick's retirement races unfold?

Danica Patrick (right) races alongside Carlos Munoz (center) and Graham Rahal during the 2018 Indianapolis 500- Source: Imagn

Danica Patrick raced for Premium Motorsports' #7 GoDaddy Chevrolet in the 2018 Daytona 500. She was competitive throughout the race and was running in the top twenty. But her race ended early as she was caught in a multi-car race on Lap 102. Patrick slammed into the barrier on the backstretch as her race ended with a DNF, retiring in 35th place.

Patrick's final Indy 500 also ended in a similar vein. She drove the #13 Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing and started in the seventh position but lost control on Lap 68, turning and crashing into the wall. While the results of the two final races were not ideal, they did little to tarnish her legacy. Eight years on, Danica Patrick remains the most successful female driver in American motorsports history.