When Danica Patrick shared her take on racecar drivers being ‘entertainers’
Danica Patrick is easily one of the most well-known names in world motorsports. The 2008 Indy Japan 300 winner has stayed away from the race track since 2018, but when she was actively racing, she took the time to talk about the prospect of racing drivers being entertainers.
In November 2017, Patrick sat for an exclusive interview with Jeff Gluck, and when she was asked about considering racing drivers as entertainers, she added the following:
"That is pretty much what we are. If you want to know, you just have to travel to another country and get a visa to go work and your visa says, Entertainer," Patrick said.
Patrick drove in America's highest class of open-wheel racing from 2005 onwards and competed in her last race in 2018, which was the Indy 500. During this time, she proved her mettle against the male racers and thoroughly entertained the fans.
Moreover, this was not the only top racing category Patrick competed in; she also took part in the NASCAR Cup Series on a full-time basis from 2012 and made a total of 191 appearances. She managed seven top-tens and a solitary pole position.
Danica Patrick's thoughts on her fierce attitude on the race track
While Danica Patrick talked about racecar drivers being entertainers back in 2017, via the same conversation, she also shared her take on her attitude while banging wheels on the race track.
In line with this, the 43-year-old made a reference to using her middle finger in a clever way and asserted the following:
"Bring it on. I can’t get my finger far enough out for someone to really see it, I mean, shoot, my fingertips (barely) get out there. Let’s say I’m hot and I wanna stick my hand out the window to bring in some cool air. It’s fingertips. That’s it. Like everyone can hang their (hands out), they’re resting on the window and hand all the way out. I can’t even get (fingers) out there. I guess if you saw one finger, just imagine it’s the middle one." Patrick said.
Danica Patrick's prowess as a racing driver was very much known from the start of her IndyCar career. In her debut year in the sport (2005), she was chosen as the Indy 500 Rookie of the Year.
From that point on, she went on to amass mega success as a woman driver, and by the time of her last race in the sport in 2018, she managed to put on board one Grand Prix win, seven podiums, and three pole positions.
She was always an extremely competitive driver on the race track, and this was evident on a broader scale in NASCAR. In stock car racing, the cars usually run very close while regularly bumping each other during the duration of the races.
Since retiring in 2018, Danica Patrick has started following several of her other interests.