Danica Patrick’s journey to close her racing career at the 102nd Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil begins with testing on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval on Tuesday.
As Patrick prepares to take the wheel of the No. 13 GoDaddy Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing this month, it will bring full circle the groundbreaking, record-setting passage that was launched into the mainstream consciousness on the same hallowed track 13 years ago.
It was in 2005 that Patrick, then a 23-year-old Verizon IndyCar Series rookie, set a record for a woman driver by qualifying and finishing fourth in the Indianapolis 500.
No one had a better seat to watch the evolution of Patrick as a driver than her boss at the time. Bobby Rahal signed Patrick as a development driver in 2002 and watched her climb the ranks in Barber Dodge and Toyota Atlantics before jumping to INDYCAR.
“She was a fighter,” Rahal recalled, adding she stepped into an ideal scenario in 2005 at what was then called Team Rahal to be paired with veterans Vitor Meira and Buddy Rice – the latter the defending Indy 500 winner.
“I think she would have to admit to this that she was very lucky that she had a great team behind her and great co-drivers – Vitor Meira, Buddy Rice,” Rahal said. “In 2004, we dominated the whole month of May – won the pole, won the pit stop contest, won the race with Buddy, Vitor was fourth and Roger Yasukawa was 10th.
“She walked into a really great situation (the following year) where all she had to do was drive the car around and not worry about setups or what have you, and just get track time.”
Rahal believes that alleviated some pressure on her coming to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the first time. Although Patrick also became the first woman in history to lead Indy 500 laps that year, it wasn’t all smooth sailing.
“In the race, we were lucky because she had spun on a restart (on Lap 155 of 200) and took off the front nose and got hit by Tomas Scheckter, took out the whole Dreyer and Reinbold team,” Rahal said. “Lucky for us, it was just the nose.
“We were running 11th and we rolled the dice on the strategy because she wasn’t going to drive through 10 to 11 cars at the end of the race. It almost worked. In the end, she finished fourth. Vitor Meira, our other car, finished second, almost beat (Dan) Wheldon.
“Nobody ever remembers that.”
The performance led to Patrick being named Indy 500 rookie of the year and the full-fledged onset of “Danica Mania.”
“She did a great job,” Rahal said. “The most difficult job she had all month was – we were by her side every step of the way – was just the immense amount of publicity that had descended upon her that month.
“The press, they invaded. They invaded our garages, our hospitality tent that we had. All they could talk about was Danica Patrick. She dealt with that really well. It could have been overwhelming. I’m sure at times it was, but I thought she did a very good job with it.”
On April 20, 2008, Patrick shattered the glass ceiling for women in motorsports when she won at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan driving for Andretti Autosport (then known as Andretti Green Racing). She also finished third in the 2009 Indy 500, still the best result by a woman at “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”
Rahal – whose Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team will this year field drivers Graham Rahal, Takuma Sato and Oriol Servia in the Indy 500 – believes Patrick’s impact remains invaluable to the sport.
“Danica was the first woman that was able to compete head-to-head on any given day with the top drivers in INDYCAR,” he said. “She had the ability to compete at that level, especially at Indy. Her track record at Indy is very, very good.
“I think the road courses and street circuits presented a different challenge that was a little bit more difficult for her. On the ovals she was right there. She was smart the way she drove. She was the first woman in Indy car racing that could compete overall for wins on any given day.
“In Indy cars, I think Danica is the first and I’ve yet to see a woman come close to her record. I’m sure at some point – more and more women are racing – it’ll happen, somebody will come in and be equal or maybe better.
“But Danica really set the tone.”
Patrick is scheduled to test as part of the veteran refresher group from 2-5 p.m. ET Tuesday, along with Jay Howard and Sage Karam. Four rookies – Pietro Fittipaldi, Kyle Kaiser, Matheus “Matt” Leist and Robert Wickens – will attempt to complete the rookie orientation program’s three stages from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. The entire day will stream live on RaceControl.IndyCar.com and the rel="noopener noreferrer" INDYCAR YouTube channel (youtube.com/indycar).
Eleven drivers – including Patrick – are scheduled to participate in a Chevrolet and Honda manufacturer test day from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday. No live stream is available.
Fans may watch the testing for free on either day at the IMS Museum parking lot, South Terrace grandstands or Turn 2 viewing mounds. Ticket information for the INDYCAR Grand Prix on the IMS road course (May 12) and the Indianapolis 500 (May 27) is available at IMS.com.