Danica Patrick once said she wished to have more patience while dealing with her rivals. During her final full-time Cup Series season, the former NASCAR driver told motorsports insider Jeff Gluck about her tendency to escalate matters, before expressing that she wanted more patience.
Patrick is a former female NASCAR driver who etched her name in history. The Wisconsin native became the first female driver to bag a pole in a NASCAR Cup race at the 2013 Daytona 500. Moreover, in her 16th Xfinity Series race, the 2011 Las Vegas Motor Speedway race, Patrick clinched a fourth-place finish - the best-ever result by a female driver, eclipsing Sara Christian's P5 from 1949.
Having lent her expertise to Stewart-Haas Racing from 2012 to 2017, Patrick ran her final NASCAR race at the 2018 Daytona 500 for Premium Motorsports. But before ending her full-time NASCAR career, Patrick was asked how she handled rude behavior from her rivals.
The question made her recall her confrontational tendencies.
"Maybe wait for Phase Three. Like Phase One, they’re mean. Phase Two, I’m like, “Come on buddy.” And then the next one is, maybe it’s (Phase) Four, and then he responds, and then it’s like, “OK, you wanna go? Let’s go.” Because yeah, I’m just not very shy and I have no problem with confrontations. So I kind of go right to the end of it. So I wish I was a little more patient in that category," Patrick said, via USA Today.
It's worth mentioning that two years prior in 2015, Patrick got into a heated altercation with Denny Hamlin after damaging her #10 SHR Chevrolet.
"What are you doing?" - When Danica Patrick held Denny Hamlin by the collar for damaging her high-octane ride
During the second leg of the pre-Daytona 500 Duel, Danica Patrick needed to secure a top-15 finish to punch the season-opener showdown ticket. The #10 Chevy driver was running eighth and was three laps away from finalizing her crown jewel race spot, but Joe Gibbs Racing's Hamlin came in the way of that.
The three-time Daytona 500 winner got close to Patrick's ride, causing her to get loose and wreck with Bobby Labonte. The lengthy repair involving multiple pit stops proved costly for Patrick, dropping her to 18th at the restart.
The SHR driver was frustrated by Hamlin's maneuver and confronted the JGR rival following the second Duel.
"What are you doing? Seriously! You did the same f*****g thing in practice... the same thing! You get on my left rear and it spins me out," Patrick yelled.
"Listen to me. Nobody has your back like I had," Hamlin replied.
"Denny, I would have thought so," Patrick said. "Dude, you gave me nothing, It spun my back and around."
Nonetheless, Danica Patrick qualified for the Daytona 500, ending the season-opener battle in 21st place.