August 25, 2011, changed Danica Patrick‘s racing career trajectory and shifted the conversation in American motorsport.
Sitting at a table covered in GoDaddy.com logos, the brand that had made her a multimillion-dollar sex symbol and marketing juggernaut through Super Bowl ads, Patrick announced she was leaving IndyCar behind for a full-time move to NASCAR. Fourteen years later, the decision still defines her legacy as part trailblazer, part controversial figure, and a case study for what happens when promotion mixes with performance.
“I have to say that the first time I got out of the car at the ARCA race in Daytona, it was the most fun I had ever had in a race car,” Patrick said that day, recalling her early stock-car experience. “Probably had to do with the bumping, but it was the most fun I’d ever had in the car, and I think that really started it all.”
“I just really enjoy driving the cars. I enjoy racing cars. I enjoy the challenge. I like how the car changes over a 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,” she continued. “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.”
Her debut season in 2012 was split between the Cup and the Nationwide Series. At the Daytona 500, she remained consistently in the top 20 until a 12-car crash halfway through the race led to her finishing 38th for Tommy Baldwin Racing. Her efforts were praised by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart, who commended her for getting laps of experience.
In the junior series with JR Motorsports, she made history by finishing 10th in points, which was the highest ranking for a woman in a major NASCAR division in decades. In 2013, she surprised the racing world by becoming the first woman to secure a pole position at the Daytona 500, leading laps during the race and finishing eighth, her best result in the sport’s premier race.
Patrick’s peak statistical years were 2014 and 2015, highlighted by a career-best sixth-place finish at Atlanta and a record seven top-10s in the Cup Series, surpassing Janet Guthrie’s record. After 2016, her performance declined, sponsorship issues increased, and the fallout from Nature’s Bakery in 2017 eventually led to her departure from Stewart-Haas Racing.
She finished her NASCAR career with the “Danica Double” in 2018, crashing out of both the Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500 before officially retiring. Her career included 191 Cup starts, 61 Xfinity races, no wins, 14 combined top-10 finishes, and one Cup pole.
DON’T MISS
Critics called her a marketing machine rather than a serious contender, while supporters hailed her as a pioneer who broke barriers. 14 years after she chose to leave IndyCar for NASCAR, Patrick’s racing career is remembered as a gamble that resulted in warranted prize money and fame, despite not delivering on-track wins that would put her in discussion with the greats.