Danica Patrick
American racecar driver · United States · On the map · Athletes · Born 1982 · age 44
She's the only woman to win an IndyCar race, a pole at Daytona, and a top-three finish at the Indianapolis 500. The records draw the eye, but what keeps it is the question she forced the sport to answer: whether skill alone could hold the lane.
Danica Patrick is read about 1,363 times a day, in 37 languages.
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Beloit, Wisconsin, where Patrick was born in 1982
Bobby Rahal (pictured in 2004) hired Patrick on a three-year contract to race for his team, Rahal Letterman Racing.
Patrick driving for Rahal Letterman Racing at the 2006 Indianapolis 500
Patrick at a post-season test session at Barber Motorsports Park in October 2007
Patrick won her first race at the 2008 Indy Japan 300 and became the first woman to win an IndyCar Series event.
Patrick's car at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2009
Patrick racing for Andretti at the 2011 Indy Japan: The FinalAwards
About this person
Patrick started in karts at ten in Beloit, Wisconsin, winning her class at the World Karting Association Grand Nationals three times before dropping out of high school at sixteen to race Formula Vauxhall in the UK. Funding ran dry, so she returned stateside in 2001 and worked her way through the Barber Dodge Pro Series and Toyota Atlantic. By 2005 she was in IndyCar with Rahal Letterman Racing, taking Rookie of the Year and tying the record for poles in a debut season. The 2008 Indy Japan 300 made her the first and only woman to win an IndyCar race; the next year she finished third at Indianapolis, the best showing by a woman at that track. She moved to NASCAR full-time in 2012, won the Daytona 500 pole in 2013, and racked up more top-tens than any woman in Cup Series history before stepping back after 2017. She came out of retirement once, for the 2018 Daytona 500 and the Indy 500, then hung it up for good.
