Former NASCAR and IndyCar star Danica Patrick once revealed the real reason behind her retirement and why she never looked back after leaving racing.
Few athletes have left as lasting an impact on motorsports as Patrick. From breaking barriers in IndyCar to becoming a household name in NASCAR, her presence on the track was unforgettable. However, fans were left wondering what drove that decision to retire from racing in 2018.
Patrick Shared Why Stepping Away From Racing Was the Right Move
In a candid phone interview with The Associated Press in 2019, Patrick clarified that she hadn’t missed racing one bit since stepping away from the driver’s seat.
“No. No, I don’t. I’m being really honest,” she said, firmly. “I’m not someone who looks back on things and has a lot of regret. I’m really not. Anytime anybody asks me if I could change anything, what would I change? Well, I’m just not the kind of person that really thinks like that.”
Patrick, who began racing go-karts at the age of 10, had spent nearly three decades on the track. She made history in both IndyCar and NASCAR, and is till date the only woman to lead laps in both the Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500.
Patrick is also the only female winner of an IndyCar race, and her third-place finish at the 2009 Indy 500 is still the highest by a woman.
After moving to NASCAR full-time in 2013, Patrick raced for Stewart-Haas Racing in the Cup Series until her retirement following the 2018 Daytona 500. For her final race back in 2018, she chose to return to the Indianapolis 500, a fitting farewell tour that closed the door on a trailblazing career in motorsport.
Patrick said, “You know, I (raced) it for 27 years and life is so short and there’s so much to experience and so much to do. I spent a lot of time racing and now I can spend time doing other things.”
“I’m an optimist who thinks things will work out and even though they can be scary along the way, but I really felt strong enough to make the decision to retire and move on and jump into these other projects I have,” Patrick added.
Retirement, for Patrick, hadn’t been about walking away from the sport she loved, but it was about running toward something new. “You don’t want to be half-hearted going 200 mph. The intention was that I wanted to travel and I wanted to be able to be able to just take a weeklong trip … plan events in the summer that are really cool, go to concerts,” she concluded.
