Danica Patrick: Her First IndyCar Win

On April twentieth, two thousand and eight, day Ka Patrick did something no woman had ever done in an Indy Car. She won the Japan three hundred, making her the first woman to ever win an IndyCar race. Here's the story behind how dani Ka Patrick was able to win and become a symbol for what women could do in the sport today on Daily Sports History. Welcome to Daily Sports History. I'm Ethan Reese, your guide to a rapid deep dive into sports history. The IndyCar Series started back in next but it had gone through a lot of different changes as the name Indy comes from the Indianapolis five hundred, which was held all the way back in nineteen eleven, which has always been in open wheel racing. There had been different factions of open wheel racing, Formula one in kart racing, and they've all changed ownerships and names to get the IndyCar Series that we know today, and the biggest race they run every year is the Indianapolis five hundred, which is the greatest spectacle in all of racing, and women participating in racing hasn't been consistent, but it has had a long history and goes all the way back to the nineteen seventies, when Janet Guthrie in nineteen seventy seven feted in her first Daytona five hundred for NASCAR and the following year competed in the Indianapolis five hundred, paving the way for women to compete in auto racing as it has widely been thought of as a male dominated sport. But the more years go by, the more women have been involved. But despite all these women trailblazing the way for women to drive, Danica wasn't necessarily interested in that growing up. She didn't get into it till she was almost a teenager growing up in Wisconsin, when her family was just looking for a way for them to do something together. She was more interested in being a singer and playing with animals. When Danka Patrick and her sister decided spent some time with friends writing goat carts, they thought maybe that's the thing the family could do going forward. So their parents bought some goat carts and her father acted as her crew chief and mechanic, and their mother was the statistician for her and her sister, and they started out in go karts and worked their way up into different fields, and Patrick really grew the eye of others, even at thirteen, requesting from her parents to go compete in racing in California as they could race a year round, where as in Wisconsin in the Midwest, you could only really race during the spring and summer times when it wasn't as cold, But her parents said they weren't able to make that move, but she continued to dominate on the go kart circuit, winning over ten regional carting titles. Then eventually accepted a position at Indianapolis based Driving Foundation program in nineteen ninety six that was helping teach drivers all the things they would need to become a professional driver, and she got so into it that she eventually dropped out of high school to obtain her ged to go overseas to learn even more about racing in England. While she was there, she was able to meet other successful women drivers such as Jackie Stewart and Jensen Burton, and she also caught the eye of the Ford Motor Company, who decided to financially back her as she went through the Junior Formula and she was starting to work her way up through the Formula series and received a Formula three test, which is like the minor leagues for Formula One, and then she would bounce around from team to team, having moderate success throughout her time in the junior series. But she caught the eye of Paul Rayhall during her Formula test and actually gave her two tests in the Formula Series, and then when Rayhall made his way to the Indy Car, he her to their IndyCar roster in two thousand and five, making her the third car on the team. She made her debut at the Homestead Miami Speedway, finishing ninth despite having a crash to her getting concussion, and in the fourth race that season at the Japan three hundred, she was able to qualify for second and led thirty two laps during that race, but ended up finishing fourth, but showing she had the skill for the competition, and that year she had the fastest overall practicing speed at the Indy five hundred, where she would actually finish fourth, which was the best finished by a woman ever at the Indy five hundred, and she would go on to finish third in two thousand and nine and still holds that record to this day. In the next race at the Kansas Speedway, she would be the second woman in IndyCar history, following Sarah Fisher who did it in two thousand and two to qualify in the pole position, meaning she got the number one spot when the race started. Though she did not end up winning this race, she continued to show that she had the skills for the IndyCar Series. She was doing great on the track, but she also was doing great for the sport. She got a deal with GoDaddy for some salacious ads that really rocketed her into stardom and got the Indie series even more visibility now. She continued to have success over the next three years, but was not able to win any race until April twentieth, two thousand and eight, when at twenty sixth to Kirpatrick was starting in her fiftieth career Indie start at the Twin Rings Montigui, a one and a half mile oval. It was a two hundred lap race and she was battling the whole race with Hall of Fame drivers such as Scott Dixon and Helio Castronevez, and she made her final pit stop on lap one hundred and forty eight, meaning she had fifty two laps before the end of the race and she was able to use her skills to make sure she made it all the way to the end. On lap one ninety seven, she went from fourth to second place, passing Scott Weldon and Tony Kannan when they went into the pits on lap one ninety six, and then on the next lap, on the one ninety eighth lap, she passed Helio Castro Nevez to take the lead and she would not look back, taking the check her flag on her two hundredth lap, beating Castor Nevez by almost six seconds and becoming the first woman to ever win an Indy Car race and still is the only one to ever do. But doing this has led to more women getting into racing. Denka has since retired from racing. She has competed in IndyCar, Rally Racing, NASCAR, and multiple other series and left her stamp on the racing community and helped be a role model for future women in the sport and with her victory on the track was a triumph of determination in skill breaking down barriers. Throughout her career, Danica blazed a trail for women in motor sports, proving that gender was no barrier to success in the automotive sports industry, and her relentless drive to never give up and to continue to learn. Inspired athletes everywhere remember success does not come easy, but with passion, perseverance, and belief in yourself, you can do anything. And Danika Patrick's journey is a testament to resiliency and never giving up despite every hurdle that was in her way. And if you enjoyed her story, share it with a friend and come back tomorrow for more Daily Sports history.