158 Facts About Danica Patrick

1.

Danica Sue Patrick is an American former professional racing driver.

2.

Danica Patrick dropped out of high school with her parents' permission in 1998, and moved to the United Kingdom to further her career.

3.

Danica Patrick competed in Formula Vauxhall and Formula Ford before returning to the United States in 2001 due to a lack of funding.

4.

Danica Patrick later raced in the Toyota Atlantic Series for the next two years.

5.

Danica Patrick first drove in the IndyCar Series with Rahal Letterman Racing in 2005 and took three pole positions, equaling Tomas Scheckter's record of poles in a rookie season.

6.

Danica Patrick was named the Rookie of the Year for both the 2005 Indianapolis 500 and the 2005 IndyCar Series.

7.

Danica Patrick improved over the next two years with Rahal Letterman Racing in 2006 and later Andretti Green Racing in 2007.

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8.

In 2008, Danica Patrick followed up her Japan victory to place sixth overall in the drivers' standings.

9.

Danica Patrick improved on this to secure fifth the following season, which saw her finish a career-high third at the Indianapolis 500, the best performance by any woman at the race.

10.

Danica Patrick began racing stock cars in 2010 in the NASCAR Nationwide Series with her best result coming in the form of a fourth-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2011.

11.

Danica Patrick placed a career-high tenth in the 2012 season standings and was the second woman to clinch a pole position in the Nationwide Series after Shawna Robinson in 1994.

12.

Danica Patrick started in the Sprint Cup Series in 2012.

13.

Danica Patrick became the first woman to win a Cup Series pole position by setting the fastest qualifying lap for the 2013 Daytona 500, finishing eighth.

14.

Danica Patrick bested Janet Guthrie's record for the most top-ten finishes by a woman in the Sprint Cup Series in 2015.

15.

Danica Patrick stopped racing full-time after the 2017 season, but competed at the 2018 Daytona 500 and the 2018 Indianapolis 500 before officially retiring.

16.

Danica Patrick was born on March 25,1982, in Beloit, Wisconsin.

17.

Danica Patrick's parents met on a blind date at a snowmobile event in the 1970s when Flaten was a mechanic for a friend's snowmobile.

18.

Danica Patrick has a younger sister, Brooke, a pediatric physical therapist.

19.

Danica Patrick is half Norwegian, as well as part Irish, French-Canadian, Italian, and Native American.

20.

Danica Patrick was a cheerleader at Hononegah Community High School in nearby Rockton in 1996.

21.

Danica Patrick spent her off-time babysitting for a nearby family when she was not racing.

22.

Danica Patrick began karting at Sugar River Raceway in Brodhead, Wisconsin.

23.

Danica Patrick's father acted as her crew chief and her mother kept statistics on her racing.

24.

Danica Patrick improved to finish second out of twenty drivers at the year's end after a twenty-two race schedule.

25.

Danica Patrick gradually improved her eye to foot coordination, allowing her to set numerous age track records at Sugar River Raceway and Michiana Raceway Park.

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26.

At age 13, Danica Patrick asked her parents about moving to California so she could compete throughout the year; they declined, citing business commitments.

27.

Danica Patrick won ten regional karting titles, and the World Karting Association Grand National Championship in the Yamaha Sportsman, and later HPV class three times: in 1994,1996 and 1997.

28.

Danica Patrick was accepted into the Indianapolis-based Lyn St James Foundation Driver Development Program in 1996.

29.

Danica Patrick was taught auto racing's business ventures, and her driving abilities were further refined.

30.

Danica Patrick ended up attending three driving schools, including Track Speed School at Sebring International Raceway and the Formula Ford driving school.

31.

Danica Patrick later competed in a Sports Car Club of America race at Daytona International Speedway in May 1998.

32.

Danica Patrick's parents consented to her dropping out of high school midway through her junior year in 1998, and obtaining a GED certification.

33.

Danica Patrick moved by herself to England to advance her racing career and resided in the Buckinghamshire town of Milton Keynes.

34.

Danica Patrick received some financial backing from the Ford Motor Company; she later lost Mecom's support after one season following rumors that she was living an extravagant lifestyle.

35.

Danica Patrick successfully persuaded her father to underwrite her career.

36.

Danica Patrick competed for Haywood Racing in Formula Ford and was Mygale's lead test driver.

37.

Danica Patrick was uncompetitive in Formula Ford, claiming the equipment she received was of poor quality.

38.

Danica Patrick had a difficult season as the Mygale cars she drove did not suit her smooth driving style, and was outpaced by her teammates.

39.

Danica Patrick returned to the United States later that year after her funding dried up.

40.

Danica Patrick began negotiations to drive a BMW M3 for Team PTG in the American Le Mans Series in 2002, which ended when BMW withdrew over a technological dispute.

41.

That month, Danica Patrick tested the ppc Racing Ford Taurus NASCAR Busch Series car in a two-day test session at Greenville-Pickens Speedway.

42.

Danica Patrick took part in five races in the Barber Dodge Pro Series, placing 13th in points with a best finish of fourth at Molson Indy Vancouver.

43.

Danica Patrick switched to the Toyota Atlantic Series in 2003, and was the first woman to race in the championship since 1974.

44.

Danica Patrick improved on this by finishing second in Miami at the year's end.

45.

Danica Patrick was sixth in the drivers' standings with five top-five finishes.

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46.

In 2004, Danica Patrick competed in the Toyota Atlantic Series for the second consecutive year, becoming the first woman to win a pole position in series' history at the Portland International Raceway race.

47.

Danica Patrick took the points lead after finishing second, making her the first woman to lead the championship standings.

48.

Danica Patrick ended the season third in points with ten top-five finishes in twelve races.

49.

Danica Patrick debuted at the season-opening race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, starting ninth and sustaining a crash which led to her being hospitalized for a mild concussion.

50.

Danica Patrick came fourth after leading 19 laps and achieved multiple firsts for women at the track.

51.

Danica Patrick took her first career pole position at the season's eighth race at Kansas Speedway, becoming the second woman in IndyCar Series history to achieve the feat after Sarah Fisher in 2002.

52.

Danica Patrick took two more pole positions at Kentucky Speedway and Chicagoland Speedway to match Tomas Scheckter's record for the most pole positions in a rookie season.

53.

Danica Patrick ended 2005 with an 18th-place finish at California Speedway after a clash with Jaques Lazier, finishing her rookie season with 325 points and seven top-ten finishes.

54.

Danica Patrick was named Rookie of the Year for both the Indianapolis 500 and the IndyCar Series.

55.

Danica Patrick returned to Rahal Letterman Racing for the 2006 season.

56.

At the Indianapolis 500, Danica Patrick finished eighth after starting tenth.

57.

Danica Patrick came ninth in the final standings with 302 points.

58.

Danica Patrick opened her season with two top-ten finishes in the first four races.

59.

Danica Patrick raced competitively with the leaders, and finished in the same position she started, when the race was halted by rain after 166 laps.

60.

Danica Patrick took her then best career finish with a third at the Bombardier Learjet 550, and improved on this result by clinching second at the season's penultimate race, the Detroit Indy Grand Prix at Belle Isle Street Circuit.

61.

Danica Patrick closed off the year by coming eleventh at the season-closing Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 at Chicagoland Speedway, to place seventh in the drivers' standings with 424 points and eleven top-ten finishes.

62.

Danica Patrick followed that up with another top ten by scoring a tenth-place finish at St Petersburg.

63.

At the season's fourth round at Kansas Speedway, Danica Patrick finished 19th after a hubcap failure.

64.

Thereafter, Danica Patrick finished within the top ten for five of the next six races in the season.

65.

Danica Patrick ended the season with three further top-ten finishes with a best of fifth at Infineon Raceway.

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66.

Danica Patrick finished sixth in the final standings with 379 points, the highest placed American over the course of the season.

67.

Danica Patrick again returned to Andretti Green Racing for the 2009 season.

68.

Danica Patrick placed 19th in the first race of the season, the Grand Prix of St Petersburg, after clashing with Raphael Matos while in ninth place.

69.

Danica Patrick recovered to finish fourth and fifth in the next two races of the season, at Long Beach and Kansas.

70.

Danica Patrick took her best career finish in five attempts at the Indianapolis 500 by finishing in third position.

71.

Danica Patrick finished the season fifth overall in the point standings, her highest finish to date.

72.

Nevertheless, at the season's second round, the delayed Honda Grand Prix of St Petersburg, Danica Patrick made her first appearance in the top in seventh.

73.

At the Indianapolis 500, she qualified a career low 23rd; in the race, Danica Patrick struggled with her car en route to finishing sixth.

74.

At the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, Danica Patrick set a new series record for the most consecutive races running at the finish with her 29th event passing without her failing to finish.

75.

Danica Patrick ended her season by equaling her best result of the season in the final IndyCar race at Homestead-Miami Speedway which enabled her to finish tenth in the drivers' standings with 367 points.

76.

In January 2011, Danica Patrick's contract required her to inform Andretti team owner Michael Andretti of her plans for 2012 and she told him of her intention to leave.

77.

Danica Patrick twice suffered car damage at the season-opening Grand Prix of St Petersburg, after collisions with Justin Wilson and JR Hildebrand relegated her to twelfth.

78.

Danica Patrick led ten laps in the race and was tenth after conserving fuel.

79.

Danica Patrick then took a further six top-ten finishes heading into the final race of the season with her best finish coming at the Milwaukee 225.

80.

At the season-closing IndyCar World Championship at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Danica Patrick was one of nineteen drivers who avoided a fifteen car pile-up that killed Dan Wheldon; the race was abandoned and she and the rest of the field were not scored.

81.

Danica Patrick placed tenth in the drivers' standings with 314 points.

82.

Danica Patrick came back down the track and then hit the inside wall.

83.

Danica Patrick began her stock car racing career by entering an ARCA Racing Series race in the No 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet at Daytona International Speedway.

84.

Danica Patrick finished in sixth place after spinning early in the race.

85.

At the season-opening Nationwide Series race, the DRIVE4COPD 300, Danica Patrick started 15th and finished 35th after being caught up in a 12-car crash.

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86.

Danica Patrick finished 43rd in the drivers' standings, with 1,032 points in 13 starts.

87.

Danica Patrick remained at JR Motorsports for the 2011 Nationwide Series, and ran a part-time schedule that consisted of twelve races.

88.

Danica Patrick finished 14th and 12th at the season's opening two races at Daytona and Phoenix International Speedway.

89.

Danica Patrick became the highest-finishing woman in national NASCAR history at Las Vegas when she surpassed Sara Christian's 62-year record to place fourth in the Sam's Town 300 race.

90.

Danica Patrick took her third top-ten finish of the season when she came tenth in the Subway Jalapeno 250 at Daytona after leading a total of 13 laps before being involved in a multi-car incident coming to the checkered flag on the last lap of the race.

91.

Danica Patrick's best performance throughout the rest of the season was an eleventh-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway; she came 26th in points, with 321 accrued.

92.

In 2012, Danica Patrick raced full-time in the Nationwide Series for JR Motorsports and began competing a limited schedule with ten races in the Sprint Cup Series with Stewart-Haas Racing in an alliance with Tommy Baldwin Racing in the No 10 Chevrolet Impala.

93.

Danica Patrick began her season by qualifying on the pole for the DRIVE4COPD 300, making her the second woman to achieve this feat in national NASCAR after Shawna Robinson in 1994.

94.

Danica Patrick closed off her first full-time Nationwide Series season with four top-ten finishes, and placed tenth in the final points standings.

95.

Danica Patrick finished three laps down in 15th place after hitting the wall and being off the pace.

96.

Danica Patrick was assigned teammate Ryan Newman's former crew chief Tony Gibson and his pit crew.

97.

Danica Patrick simultaneously became the first woman to clinch the pole position for the Daytona 500 and the first female to achieve the feat in the Sprint Cup Series.

98.

Danica Patrick ran strongly in the top ten for most of the race, but fell back from third place in the final three laps to finish eighth, becoming the highest placing woman driver in the history of the Daytona 500.

99.

Danica Patrick started from the 22nd position and finished two spots higher than that.

100.

Danica Patrick struggled after the season opener, failing to finish in the top-fifteen in the next 28 races over the next seven months.

101.

Danica Patrick was second in the Rookie of the Year standings after a season-long battle with Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

102.

Danica Patrick finished thirty-sixth and thirty-ninth after a respective engine failure and crash.

103.

Danica Patrick remained with Stewart-Haas Racing for the 2014 Sprint Cup Series.

104.

Danica Patrick started twenty-seventh for the Daytona 500 and led briefly during the pit stop cycle before Aric Almirola clipped her, sending her car into a wall that lacked a SAFER barrier; she finished 40th.

105.

Danica Patrick set three records during the season: the first came at the Aaron's 499 where she was the first female to lead at the track, and her finishing position of 22nd was the best for any woman at the circuit.

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106.

Danica Patrick had the best qualifying performance for any woman at a non-restrictor plate track when she put her car fourth on the grid for the Coca-Cola 600.

107.

Danica Patrick clinched her best finish in the Sprint Cup Series with a sixth at the Oral-B USA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, making her the second woman to take a top ten at the circuit; this beat the record of Janet Guthrie's tenth-place finish in 1978.

108.

Danica Patrick was assigned teammate Kurt Busch's crew chief Daniel Knost and his pit crew for the season's final three races, and was later appointed her full-time crew chief for 2015.

109.

At the season's end, Danica Patrick finished 28th in points, one position down from the previous year, although she finished with 89 more points than her rookie season.

110.

Danica Patrick had an average finish of 23.7,2.4 positions better than her rookie year, with three top-tens and four DNFs.

111.

Early in the season, Danica Patrick again drove for Turner Scott Motorsports in its No 34 car at the season-opening DRIVE4COPD 300, starting third and finishing 19th.

112.

Danica Patrick began her season in the Sprint Unlimited by finishing tenth after escaping with collateral damage from a multi-car accident.

113.

Danica Patrick started at the back of the field for the season-opening Daytona 500 and finished 21st.

114.

Danica Patrick led two laps of the Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway during the pit stop cycle, and finished 16th, and at the Quaker State 400, she became the first woman to start a hundred Cup Series races.

115.

In 36 races, Danica Patrick scored 716 points, placing her 24th in the drivers' standings, the highest of her career.

116.

Danica Patrick had two top-ten finishes, an average finish of 23.5, and failed to finish four times.

117.

Danica Patrick had signed a multi-year contract which allowed her to stay at Stewart-Haas Racing for 2016.

118.

Danica Patrick switched crew chiefs from Daniel Knost to Billy Scott for the upcoming season.

119.

Danica Patrick was fined $20,000 for gesturing to Kasey Kahne after he wrecked her car at the Auto Club 400.

120.

Danica Patrick was involved in a high-speed crash with Matt Kenseth at Talladega which necessitated a chest radiograph.

121.

Danica Patrick struggled with form during the season, but did improve her average result for the fifth consecutive year to a career-high 22.0 in thirty-six starts.

122.

Danica Patrick was again 24th in the final drivers' standings, but had fewer points than the previous season, at 689 accrued, and did not finish three races she entered.

123.

Danica Patrick remained with Stewart-Haas Racing for the duration of the renamed Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in 2017.

124.

Danica Patrick began her campaign with her best finish in any NASCAR Cup Series race with a fourth place at the Advance Auto Parts Clash exhibition race at Daytona.

125.

Danica Patrick was credited with a 33rd-place finish for the season-opening Daytona 500 after she was forced into retirement from being caught up in a multi-car accident.

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126.

On November 17, Danica Patrick announced that she would step away from full-time racing after the season finale at Homestead-Miami, though she announced plans to compete in the 2018 Daytona 500 and 2018 Indianapolis 500.

127.

Danica Patrick retired halfway through when her right-rear tire blew after glancing the wall and she collided heavily with another barrier.

128.

Danica Patrick finished the 2017 season with one top-ten, eleven DNFs and an average finish of 23.8.

129.

Danica Patrick scored 511 points, putting her twenty-eighth in the drivers' standings.

130.

In January 2018, it was announced that Patrick would be reunited with longtime partner GoDaddy for sponsorship of the "Danica Double" and assistance as she moved on to her life as a business woman and entrepreneur.

131.

Danica Patrick was scheduled to test for Formula One team Honda in November 2008, but this was called off when the Honda team pulled out of the sport.

132.

Danica Patrick has hosted several TV shows on Spike, including "Powerblock", and featured in the 2005 documentary Girl Racers.

133.

Danica Patrick drove a Pagani Zonda Roadster around the streets of Monaco in the music video of Jay-Z's song "Show Me What You Got" in 2006.

134.

That year, she published her autobiography, Danica Patrick: Crossing the Line.

135.

Danica Patrick was in a 2008 "inspirational, feel-good" GoDaddy commercial called "Kart" that features a girl who aspires to be like Patrick.

136.

On February 1,2009, Danica Patrick appeared in two GoDaddy commercials aired during Super Bowl XLIII.

137.

Danica Patrick has appeared in a total of fourteen Super Bowl commercials, more than any other celebrity.

138.

Danica Patrick made her acting debut in the February 10,2010, episode of CSI: NY where she played a race car driver suspected of murder.

139.

Danica Patrick joined the Sky Sports F1 broadcast team as a pundit for the 2021 United States Grand Prix.

140.

Danica Patrick has commentated on Superstar Racing Experience events on CBS in 2021 and select rounds of the NASCAR Cup Series for Fox from 2022.

141.

Danica Patrick has appeared in advertising campaigns for AirTran Airways, Secret, Nationwide Insurance, Tissot, Chevrolet, Coca-Cola, Peak Antifreeze, William Rast, Hot Wheels, GoDaddy.

142.

Danica Patrick promotes health-conscious lifestyles and partnered with Williams Sonoma to campaign for No Kid Hungry.

143.

Danica Patrick is the celebrity spokeswoman for DRIVE4COPD, an awareness campaign for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, from which her grandmother died.

144.

Danica Patrick owns her own brand of wine, called Somnium, which means "dream" in Latin.

145.

Patrick owns her own athleisure collection, called "Warrior by Danica Patrick", that was created in partnership with G-III Apparel Group and named after the Native American mythology she had been exposed to in Arizona.

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146.

Danica Patrick said she is "an instrument of male and female fantasy, the sports pinup who grinds harder for feminism, day-to-day, than the great Billie Jean King ever could".

147.

Henry Hutton of the Independent Tribune noted that when Danica Patrick entered IndyCar in 2005, she rapidly became a pop culture icon largely due to her gender and modelling, but her driver profile depreciated from car problems, racetrack accidents and uncompetitiveness.

148.

Danica Patrick has been a magazine cover model for FHM, Sports Illustrated, TV Guide and ESPN: The Magazine and ranked highly on beauty lists and in polls, about female athletes.

149.

Danica Patrick has been highly ranked in the Davie-Brown Index for several years, and peaked at number eight among female athletes in 2010.

150.

Danica Patrick was the Harris Poll's favorite female athlete in 2008; she placed second behind tennis player Serena Williams in 2007 and again from 2013 to 2015.

151.

Danica Patrick was voted the Favorite Female Athlete at the Kids' Choice Award in 2008,2012 and 2013.

152.

Danica Patrick won the legend award at the 2018 Kids' Choice Sports.

153.

Danica Patrick has inspired many young girls' interest in motorsports, leading them to race competitively.

154.

Danica Patrick has been called a trailblazer or pioneer for women in auto racing, and commentators agree her achievements have broken the gender barrier in an industry that is overwhelmingly male.

155.

Danica Patrick has come under scrutiny from the media and fans throughout her career.

156.

Danica Patrick has been called a "gimmick" or a "publicity stunt" by some fans for lack of better racing results.

157.

Danica Patrick was in relationships with fellow NASCAR driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

158.

In 2021, Danica Patrick was reported to be in a relationship with American businessman Carter Comstock.