When Danica Patrick explained her reasons behind her move to NASCAR from IndyCar

Back in August 2011, Danica Patrick announced that she would leave the IndyCar Series in 2012 to focus on her future in NASCAR. While initially it was anticipated that the reason why she decided on transitioning was because her overall form declined in 2010 and could not get a team to drive for, in a 2011 media interaction, Patrick revealed that it was because of her love for stock car racing.

The Americann began her transition to NASCAR in 2010, racing part-time in NASCAR for JR Motorsports, sponsored primarily by GoDaddy.com. However, when she decided to take up the full-time role in NASCAR while reflecting on her transition from single-seaters to stock cars after seven years, Patrick noted:

"I just really enjoy driving the cars. I enjoy racing the cars. I enjoy the challenge. I like how the car changes over race. I like how the track changes. I like how many pit stops there are and the strategy of pitting for tires at the end or maybe not, keeping track position. There's just a lot of really interesting things I think that make a race. And I like racing them, and that's what my decision really came down to."

Before her stints in NASCAR and IndyCar, Danica Patrick raced in Junior Formula Vauxhall and Formula Ford from 1998 to 2001 in the United Kingdom. She had to move back to the United States in 2001 when her racing funds ran out.

Currently, Danica Patrick has reinvented herself as a successful entrepreneur and business owner, having retired from full-time racing in 2017. She made a brief comeback to compete in the 2018 Daytona 500 and the 2018 Indianapolis 500 before officially retiring.

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"I missed that relevancy" - Danica Patrick on being away from NASCAR

Danica Patrick's journey through NASCAR turned out to be tougher than Danica Patrick had expected. Her best finish in NASCAR was a sixth place at Atlanta in 2014.

Towards the end her last season in 2017 was marred by sponsorship troubles, prompting her to leave the series. Beyond feeling the absence of the Indy 500, Patrick also missed being a key player in the sport. Speaking in an interview in 2019, she said:

"I remember watching the Indy 500 the first year I wasn’t in it and I missed it. [...] As time wore on I missed that relevancy of being in the game where people would ask before the race, ‘Who do you think is going to win today? My name did not pop up in NASCAR. [...] I missed being relevant. I’m going to try to achieve that this month. It’s going to be hard." [via Autoweek]

Currently, Patrick keeps her ties to the racing world by working as a broadcaster for NASCAR and F1.