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Danica Patrick Interview
Danica Patrick Interview
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About this episode
Danica Patrick sits down with Harvick and Buxton to trace her path from karting and a move to England, through open-wheel goals and IndyCar’s early success, then into NASCAR. She explains why lap times make progress obvious, what it takes to stay focused at 225 mph, and how her go-kart “understeer, oversteer” language had to change. Off track, she talks about sponsorship, being seen as more than “the girl in IndyCar,” and handling social media pressure and backlash.
On this special edition of SPEED with Harvick and Buxton, fueled by POET, Will Buxton sits down for an exclusive, unfiltered conversation with one of the most polarizing, groundbreaking, and influential figures in modern motorsport history: Danica Patrick.Danica traces her journey back to the raw, ultra-competitive days of Midwest go-karting before opening up about the pivotal, terrifying decision to move across the Atlantic to England at just 16 years old. She shares what it was really like to be dropped into the brutal European junior formula ladder as a teenager—navigating not just a completely foreign racing culture, but the isolation of breaking into a fiercely guarded "boys' club" of global racing.The conversation shifts to her historic open-wheel career, where she relives the magic and chaos of the 2005 Indianapolis 500—an iconic rookie performance where she led 19 laps and sent "Danica Mania" into absolute overdrive. She also takes us inside her transition to stock cars, reflecting on the immense pressure of capturing the pole position for the 2013 Daytona 500 and carrying the expectations of an entire sport on her shoulders.Finally, Danica gets candid about the psychological toll of the spotlight. She discusses how she learned to handle intense media scrutiny and paddock criticism, and offers a fascinating take on how today's hyper-reactive social media landscape would have fundamentally altered her career if it had been around during her peak racing days.It is a masterclass in mental toughness, resilience, and raw speed from a driver who refused to be defined by anyone else's rules.
Chapters:0:00 Intro0:30 Danica Patrick Joins The Show1:20 Where Did Your Love of Racing Come From?2:00 Moving To Europe At 16 To Race5:45 Getting into INDYCAR9:30 Transitioning Into NASCAR13:25 Favorite Driver Right Now15:28 Favorite Track16:20 Dealing With Icon Status19:00 Acceptance Into The INDY World22:10 How Would Social Media Impacted Danica's Career24:00 Dealing With Criticism27:00 Advice To Young Drivers29:10 Outro
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Technical
Too Afraid to Ask
Concept
open-wheel
"To NASCAR, because if you're having fun, and you're where you want to be in 0-9, the best open-wheel year of your career, very soon afterwards, you made this huge transition."
Open-wheel race cars have the wheels sticking out where you can see them. That usually means the cars drive and handle differently than other types of racing cars, so switching series can be a big adjustment.
“Open-wheel” describes race cars where the wheels are exposed outside the bodywork, unlike most production-based cars. In motorsports, open-wheel series typically have different driving demands and car setups than stock-car racing, which can affect how a driver adapts when switching disciplines.
Concept
road courses
"I think that the series was shifting towards a lot more road courses. Maybe we were about to meet that breaking point of... Before I left, there was more road courses than ovals."
Road courses are race tracks with lots of turns, not just going left around an oval. They can require different driving and setup, so qualifying can be harder even if you do well during the race.
Road courses are tracks made of a mix of left and right turns, often with elevation changes and braking zones that resemble real roads. Compared with oval racing, road courses demand different braking points, cornering technique, and qualifying strategy—so a driver who excels in races may still struggle to qualify if the car/setup doesn’t match their strengths.
Concept
ovals
"Before I left, there was more road courses than ovals. So that was a little bit of it, and I struggled."
Ovals are tracks where you mostly turn one direction—usually left—and you keep high speed. Cars are set up differently for ovals than for twisty tracks, which can affect how well someone qualifies.
Ovals are tracks with predominantly left-hand turns and a layout designed around sustained speed, often with banking in the corners. Drivers and teams typically set up cars differently for ovals versus road courses, and qualifying performance can vary depending on how well the car’s balance matches the track’s demands.
Concept
qualify
"I always had good races on road courses, but I didn't always qualify as well, which was frustrating."
Qualifying is when drivers race against the clock to decide where they start on the grid. Starting up front can make the race easier because you’re not stuck in traffic.
In racing, “qualifying” is the session where drivers set their starting position for the race based on lap time. Strong qualifying matters because it determines track position at the start, which can heavily influence how much clean air and passing opportunity a driver has.
Term
understeer
"I was like, oh, well, the car is looser, it's tight, [734.4s] and I was like, understeer, oversteer!"
Understeer is when you turn the steering wheel and the car doesn’t rotate as much as you want. It feels like the front end is “pushing” wide in the corner.
Understeer is when a car turns less than the driver expects—typically the front tires lose grip first. The car tends to push toward the outside of the corner, so the driver may need to adjust speed, steering input, or setup to get the front end to bite.
Term
oversteer
"I was like, oh, well, the car is looser, it's tight, [734.4s] and I was like, understeer, oversteer!"
Oversteer is when the car rotates too much in a turn. It can feel like the back end is sliding out or “getting loose.”
Oversteer is when a car turns more than the driver expects—often because the rear tires lose grip before the front. It can feel like the back end wants to step out, and drivers may counter it with steering and throttle/brake adjustments.
Concept
seat-fitted
"I remember going to Charlotte and getting seat-fitted"
Seat fitting is the process of positioning a driver in the cockpit so they can reach the steering wheel, pedals, and controls comfortably and consistently. In racing, small changes in seat position and alignment can affect steering leverage, braking/throttle control, and how effectively the driver can manage grip.
Select text to request an explanation
I generally don't really care what people think about me.
You made this huge transition.
Did you stop having fun?
Sex, drugs and rock and roll, man.
Women who do that get a huge amount of backlash.
Took off out of the pits and thought, I'm home.
Two shots of tequila is usually where my sweet spot starts,
so you just let me know when you want me to hit that.
We got an 11.45 tea time, so that's gonna be great fun.
Welcome to Speed with Harvick and Buxton,
fueled by Poet, except this week it's just Buxton with Patrick.
Hello, my friend, how are you?
Hi, good. This is a fancy little set here. I like it.
It's nice. It's nice.
And we are not dressed like this for any reason other than we are going to golf.
That's right. That's right.
How much are you gonna whoop me because I'm terrible?
I mean, look, I've abandoned the driver in my game.
I don't have the right grip or impact point with my hands,
so I've been just striping my irons though.
But two shots of tequila is usually where my sweet spot starts,
so you just let me know when you want me to hit that.
We got an 11.45 tea time, so that's gonna be great fun.
Let's start after 12 then.
Okay, fine. Fine, fine, fine. I don't drink anymore.
But we are back here at the Speedway,
a place that I know means so much to you.
Where did that love of racing first come from when you were a little kid?
I mean, it came from, like, what made me fall in love with it
was setting a goal and achieving it
and having this sort of progress report that's so...
it's such instant gratification
because your lap time shows itself every single time.
And so I love that process of going out and making changes
and getting faster and learning and getting better,
and then ultimately finishing better too.
You started in karting over here in the States,
but you moved to Europe when you were really, really young.
Why did you take that choice
rather than doing the normal American route up?
Well, because the idea of leaving high school
and living in another country was awesome to me.
I mean, that was a fun idea in my mind.
You were so young.
I mean, I was 16.
I mean, I think the idea now of letting your 16-year-old
leave the country and live somewhere else
probably sounds crazy and wild,
but I mean, I met someone here actually at Indianapolis.
I was invited up to a suite in Turn 2,
and I think it was kind of like on behalf of Lynn St. James
and some people she knew,
and so I went up there and I was drinking a kitty cocktail at the bar
and there was a British guy who, you know,
the accent was fascinating,
and I was asking a lot of questions as I do.
And through the process of asking questions
and hearing what he had to say,
he said that you could learn more in one year in England
than five years over here,
and that sounded like I like to do everything fast too,
so that sounded like a really good idea.
So I was 14, and then two years later, when I was 16,
they contacted my parents and I and said,
we'd like to have a meeting with you,
so they basically presented the idea to go to England
to do a winter series in Formula Vauxhall
and then see where it went from there.
So it went from doing the winter series
to going over and doing the full season after that,
so I really only came home for a very short amount of time.
So it was left halfway through my junior year essentially.
Was the goal then always to fast track you through the system
to come back to America, or was moving to Europe
sort of done with a view of moving within that European structure
up ultimately to what, I guess, would have been Formula 3000.
I wasn't at the time before F1.
I mean, I think that when I went over there,
I liked to set the highest goal possible.
It was to end up in Formula One.
It was to come up through the ranks and go for it,
and I ended up realizing that my success
really relied on happiness and having fun and enjoying myself,
and so there was a lot missing for me to get there
and creature comforts like cold water over there and stuff like that,
and breakfast options.
I want all the options for my eggs.
I want it over medium, over hard, over easy, sunny, side up, scrambled, poached.
I want all the options.
And what did we offer you?
No eggs.
I think the best that you can get is the full English breakfast, really.
Damn right.
Or I think there was a place called Cafe Rouge.
Yes, it still exists.
It still exists, and poached eggs on toast was an option,
so that would be what I'd always get there.
We're not renowned for our breakfasts other than the full English.
It's not really our thing.
Breakfast over here is much more of an event.
Oh, yeah.
I'm one of those, like, eat breakfast like a king,
like, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a popper, kind of a person.
But it was just, you know, it was a chance, taking a chance.
And my parents were definitely sad, I think, a lot,
knowing that I was gone and over in England,
but they also knew that it was much more sad
that I didn't get the opportunity and the chance to do it.
So, but yeah, I lived in England for three years then.
I would love to just sit here and discuss your entire career,
because we could talk about it for...
Oh, I'm glad you didn't say my diet.
I mean, that would be so boring.
I could tell you, like, five things I eat every day.
We could do, like, we could do that chat for hours,
but we've got obviously only an episode's length.
So I want to really focus in on when you were arriving in IndyCar,
and the pressure that came with that,
and yet that almost instant success that was pole positions,
rookie of the year, your first run at the 500,
because you arrived on just this wave of popularity,
yes, that came, but also results immediately.
Yeah.
Ignorance is bliss in the beginning,
and actually when qualifying was going on,
one of the questions I asked Scott Dixon
was if he gets more nervous now,
knowing that it's one less opportunity to win the 500,
or less, because he has more experience,
and I asked that from a place of experience,
because for me, every time I went, felt more pressure,
because you understand the weight and the gravity,
the value, the impact it'll have,
and you know that there's just times
where it's not going to be there for you.
There's nothing you can do about it.
And so, yeah, it was...
I was great.
I remember my first year being fast so often,
and just remembering there's just some kind of aura
about Indy that made me really humble,
and remember that every second on track was about focus,
and no matter how easy it was,
and race downforce, let's say, to drive around,
you're still going 225 miles an hour out here,
and things can go wrong and really stay focused,
and also stay grateful it's going well and stay focused.
So I felt that way, but yeah, it was...
There were definitely harder years than that first year.
And what an amazing time to be a part of the championship
and the series.
We look back on that now as these kind of Halcyon days,
this amazing pedigree of driver.
What was it like to compete at that time
and to pull off the results that you did,
to win, you know, as you did in Japan,
and to know that on your day,
you bested some of the best that have ever existed in this series.
Yeah, thanks.
I mean, at the time,
it was really what I felt like I should have been doing.
Like, even when I took the lead at the 8500,
my first year here, people asked how that felt,
and I was like, it felt like where I was supposed to be.
It felt comfortable.
It was really peaceful up there, too.
There's no one in front of you, and you're just going.
It's kind of quiet.
But it's...
Yeah, it's a humbling sport,
as all I can say along the way,
is I'm grateful for all those times that we're good,
and I definitely had some good days.
And, you know, I think about probably 2009 being my best year,
and if I'm remembering correct,
and I might be wrong,
but I feel like that's the year that...
I don't remember if that's the red cars year we called it,
where it was like Penske and Gnasi.
The four cars were like so fast,
and I think that was the year.
Anyway, I finished fifth in that championship,
so, you know, best of the rest.
But qualifying up front,
running up front every single weekend,
having front row starts on the road courses,
and, yeah, being really good.
Those were...
That was my favorite year, probably,
and had a lot of fun.
You know, like I said,
I think part of my success comes with having fun,
and Eddie Jones was my engineer,
and Matt Barnes was my assistant engineer,
and they're still going.
I think Eddie's on Sato's car,
and Matt Barnes is on...
Is it Renia's car, VK's car?
Yeah, so, we just had so much fun.
So, yeah, and there were some tough times, too.
Why the move?
To NASCAR.
To NASCAR, because if you're having fun,
and you're where you want to be in 0-9,
the best open-wheel year of your career,
very soon afterwards,
you made this huge transition.
Yeah.
Did you stop having fun,
or did you just need a new challenge?
I mean, I do always like a new challenge,
so that's a good observation,
or an intuitive observation of me.
But there were some other circumstances.
You know, I think that the series
was shifting towards a lot more road courses.
Maybe we were about to meet that breaking point of...
Before I left,
there was more road courses than ovals.
So that was a little bit of it,
and I struggled.
I always had good races on road courses,
but I didn't always qualify as well,
which was frustrating.
The team situation was...
Nobody really knew what was going on,
but I was in a profit-sharing situation
with Andretti at that time,
where my contract was structured,
and they were not paying me
what I was supposed to get paid,
and so then there was legal battles behind the scenes.
I mean, I was going after that
for the last year and a half that I was with them,
which ended up going all the way through arbitration.
So that was like a stressful and frustrating situation
to be taken advantage of.
And I just kind of...
Yeah, so I think those were those the factors.
I'm always ready for a new challenge.
The series was kind of having its shifts,
and I just kind of really wasn't happy where I was anymore.
And where are you going to go from there?
There wasn't really anywhere else to go,
and I don't think I was going to ever drive
for Penske or Ganassi,
so it was just time for a change.
So you love the ovals.
You move over to NASCAR.
It's a very different style of racing.
Very different style of car.
Bumpers, baby!
Pack racing.
When was the first real kind of,
oh, shit, moment that you had?
I don't think I had one of those.
Really?
And I bet that's a surprise
because I think a lot of open-wheel drivers would have that.
You know, there was...
I think I remember Dario, especially,
talking about, because he was my teammate,
and then he went over there,
and some of that came on the heels,
I think, of a bunch of crashes and flips.
I mean, I was right there for both of his flips
down the back straight at Michigan
when Dan and him collided,
and then I think it happened right behind me,
and Kentucky maybe was the next one.
He didn't see it was a checkered or something,
and ended up driving up over the car in front of him,
and anyway, I was right there for both of them,
but then he went to NASCAR,
and he said that when he first went out,
he was like, oh, shit, what am I doing?
And the feeling I had when I first drove a stock car,
which was in Orlando, at some little track in Orlando,
I can't remember the name,
but I took off out of the pits and thought, I'm home!
Like, I don't know, it felt really fun to me,
and it was so reminiscent of my younger days
of go-karting and even the terminology.
Actually, I felt bad up on qualifying day
when we were talking about car handling.
I was like, oh, well, the car is looser, it's tight,
and I was like, understeer, oversteer!
I mean, I had to change my entire lexicon
when I got to NASCAR to be tight and loose,
so there's a different language used,
but it was the way I used to talk about the go-kart
when I was a kid, so I felt very comfortable,
and I really liked the people.
I really got along with them all really well.
I was lucky enough to have Tony Urie Jr. as my crew chief,
who's just a cool dude.
He's just a fun, cool dude.
He came up with the Earnhardt family
and being a crew chief there,
and I remember going to Charlotte and getting seat-fitted
and getting all prepped and everything,
and I got in and was like, oh, let's grab lunch,
and he's like, you want to go get lunch at that there,
Pandera?
You know?
I just loved him.
I just loved him.
Everything.
So I felt at home.
Poll at Daytona 500 doesn't get much better than that
in terms of laying down a marker of,
I'm here, I'm for real.
And next to my favorite driver growing up, Jeff Gordon.
There you go.
So I was first and he was second, so that was cool.
Danica, who's your favorite driver right now?
Across any discipline.
Oh, any discipline.
Man.
Who do you think's the one?
If there is the one.
Well, I mean, when we talk about the one,
and we're looking at IndyCar, Alex Palos,
stands above and in a really, in a big way,
just even when he's off, they figure it out,
everything from even qualifying, going from 11th to the pole,
like it's hard to do with barely any practice.
And so, and then, I mean, Max Verstappen is obviously,
he's spectacular, you know,
and he's shown that time and time again with his teammates
and just with his fire and aggression on track
and passion for it and his drive for execution
of wanting everything to go perfectly.
That was always really what he told me
that he wanted to do the most every weekend,
was just have perfect weekends.
But, I mean, as far as favorite drivers go,
and then, I mean, on the NASCAR side, we can't leave that out.
I mean, I love Kyle Larson,
and I think he's such a gifted driver
and across so many disciplines himself.
I mean, came over here to do the Indy 500
the last couple of years to all of his dirt racing
and everything, so I think Kyle is a fantastic driver.
And, but my favorite driver, man,
I mean, I'd love to see Pado win the 500.
You know, I like him.
I think he's a great asset for the sport,
great asset for IndyCar.
He's a great personality.
He's good looking.
He's fast.
He's, you know, he has a personality.
His social media presence is fun.
So I think that him winning the 500,
and obviously, gosh, he's come so close a couple of times.
So I'm sure this place, this place has got to be one of those
for him that's probably making him more nervous every time
because that first time that he almost won,
you know, it's like, well, you know,
but then you could feel the next time.
It's so gut-wrenching just because you like,
you know how hard it is to get that, to get to that point.
What track did you enjoy the most?
This will always be the case,
whatever one I was doing well at.
I mean, I've had a blast on a super speedway.
I've had a blast on super short tracks like, like Martinsville.
And I've absolutely loved tearing it up at times
on the mile and a half.
So it just truly depended on how the car was handling
and how much fun it was behind the wheel.
I loved and hated them all at some point in time.
But I would say that if I were to pick a track of all tracks
that's my absolute favorite,
it would easily be Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
There's just like such a, I've had so much success here
as well as so many memories.
And it's just this majestic aura of an entity of a place.
And so, and my family all lives in Indianapolis.
So it's a home away from home.
How did you deal with not just being a racing driver,
but being a cultural icon during your career?
Because I can't imagine that responsibility.
Sex, drugs, and rock and roll, man.
I just, I just numbed out.
I couldn't.
That's not something that you really like,
are super aware of as it's happening.
Like I can look back and, you know.
You must have had, because the other drivers,
they're not getting on the front cover of the magazines
the way that you were.
And it was of a time when there was sexiest woman in the world
on FHM and all of that.
Like you embraced and you became something
that was so more than just a sports person
and so much more than just a driver.
I can say that I always respected,
appreciated, and knew how much I needed the media.
And I think a lot of people do the minimum
and don't want to do any of it.
And maybe aren't that interesting
or even respectful at times.
Okay, maybe I had my moments.
I definitely gave some heat to some people
in press conferences.
It's a bit.
And I feel bad now because it's so much harder
to ask the questions than answer.
But that's one thing I can say at least
for the person that I became.
I always very much cared about the media
and tried to give them what they wanted.
I mean when I first got into open-wheel racing
over here after being in England,
I had the sponsor, Argent Mortgage,
was the company and they were promoting me
more than just about any IndyCar driver
at that point in time.
Or ChampCar driver being in the Atlantic series.
So I mean we'd go to the racetrack
and it would be banners of them,
pictures of me, banners of me, it would be commercial.
There was just so much promotion of me.
And so that was when I was in Atlantic.
And so then as that came through
and the sponsors and then Argent came along
and IndyCar and then that's when Motorola came along
and then GoDaddy.
So I have always had sponsors that have done
a lot of promotion.
I mean GoDaddy, you know, the most.
Up until these endurance commercials now
that run like all the time everywhere.
Which is so cool to still have that kind of
like television presence when I'm done racing.
You were a woman in a man's world at that time.
There wasn't as many women coming through the sport
as maybe there are now.
Did you ever feel that?
Were you accepted?
Did you feel that you were accepted into that world?
Did you have to fight harder within that space
to be seen at a time when you're saying
you're getting that media publicity,
you're getting those magazine covers
to be seen as more than just the girl in IndyCar
to be seen as Danica the driver.
Always was always going to get some of that
and you know I interviewed Catherine Legg the other day
and I told her that what I always felt like
was the hardest thing as a girl driver
was to get the team around me to believe in me.
You can't, on track everyone's pushing so hard
all the time no one wants to make it easy.
Maybe they made it a little harder at times on me
but for the most part I always felt like
the most important people and the most critical people
to have believe in me was the team around me
and I always felt like that I might not have always had that
or I might have had some people on the team
but not all of them and so you know
I think that's probably that kind of
and that goes beyond just even the people working on their car
that goes to team managers and people who make decisions
on engineers and pit crew and crew chiefs
and all of those different things like
there's someone that's a decision maker
for who goes where on that stuff
and that didn't always go well for me
whether it was in IndyCar or NASCAR
I think it was better in IndyCar
but in NASCAR I definitely had those times where
I mean I can remember my first year in NASCAR
having kind of an old school crew chief
and I felt like he wasn't really pushing hard enough
and he was kind of feet to the fire to go
and then he started really pushing and the car was better
and then I was like look I'm really happy
I don't want any changes
and this was well before the season was over with
and then Kurt Busch was my teammate
and he had an engineer he didn't like
and didn't get along with and didn't think it was good enough
and so at the end of the season they swapped us
you know that's not, there's nothing I can do about that
and I'm not, you know, I got screwed
I love the engineer, I guy's a nice guy
but it didn't mean that we had the same results
as we did before, you know
so those are the kind of things that would happen
so, you know, I think that you're never going to convince everyone
ever as a driver but probably even harder as a girl
but I have to say that in my career I always looked at the positives
I asked Katherine too would you, you know, would you rather be
if you had to pick between being a guy and a girl
and racing what would you want
and she didn't know but I would like 100% undoubtedly be a girl
like I love being different
I love having the pressure
I love being on, I love having to
I love being different and unique
and, you know, I got a lot of attention for stuff
that guys wouldn't necessarily as far as results go
but then, you know, I also got attention for some other things
that guys wouldn't have been seeing doing at all too
but it all works out in the end and I was grateful
The young drivers coming through
and even the older ones today have got to deal with social media
and that's something that you didn't really have to deal with so much
in your racing career
How different do you think it would have been
if you were going through your career today having to deal with that?
I probably would have been bigger
I mean, I probably, I never thought about that before
I think Twitter came along
I feel like around, I got it in maybe like 2009 or 10
and I did not want to do social media, I'm not very technical
and I remember I had a sponsor was like
we'll pay for it to start and get going
and I don't even know if that needed, it was needed
but anyway, so then, you know, I didn't get on Instagram then
until friends convinced me
they're like, don't even just do it with us
and like just share cool pictures and stuff
and so, like I've never really been super interested in social media
and I definitely do it as a means to an end
and I don't share nearly as much as I could or should probably
but if it existed in full force like it does now
then, I mean, I think given the fact that
I could have probably used my femininity even more
and my, shown my interests and created more of a personality
and brand even more than what I did
so, probably
And yet, women who do that get a huge amount of backlash
Well, depends on what that means
I mean, you can't put clickbait on there every time
No
I wait for my summer in the med beach, my bikini pictures for that
and then I retreat back to ski clothes the rest of the year
We ask drivers and public figures and sports people
to be themselves and to be their authentic selves
and yet when they are, they get a lot of backlash
and you yourself get a lot of backlash online
you know, people feel that they can just say anything online
and I see some of the stuff that people send you
and it's vile and I feel bad about it
because it's like, that's my friend Danica
and she's a really sweet, lovely, caring, genuine person
Who the hell are you to say this thing about this person
and you know nothing about it? How do you deal with that?
Well, it's that distant to me
it truly feels that distant to me
and I think that, you know, they're almost
anyone that's saying horrible things about me
they don't know me
and the age range
or the sector of people that I feel bad for
are the young kids with social media
where like, they do know each other
like, nobody's really following each other
that doesn't really know them
and so like, if somebody says something
it hits home a little bit more
but they kind of live under this like, you know
facade, fake sort of veil of like
oh, I'm not talking to you
and hiding behind the keyboard kind of a thing
but it still hurts
and some people are more sensitive
and that's just the way it is
some people believe what they read
some people have a lot of negative inner thoughts
and then when they see it written about them
It manifests
Yeah, it's there
it can manifest but it also is confirming
for what they are suspicious of already
and so I'm not saying I'm clean in my thoughts
I have plenty of negative thoughts
but I also have worked really hard
to be the best person I can possibly be
and I'm totally gonna make mistakes
and I hope I'm a different person next year
in good ways
but I always have leaned into the fact that if I
whatever I do, I do all the way
and I push so hard to be the very best
I can possibly be
and I think that even in my career
I left no room for the excuses
and the room in my mind
to have that fear that I have
of like oh, I didn't try too hard
or I didn't do this or I could have done that
come to life with something somebody said
because I'm pushing as hard as I can
like I didn't leave room for the insecurities to shine
and I choose to not hate myself
so whatever my best is is good enough for me
and knowing that I can always try a different way
push harder, try something new
and I'd say at the end of the day too
something I've realized is I generally don't
really care what people think about me
and I feel like that's a real gift
and I think a lot of that is innate
I think my very strong parents
who are not neurotic, they're not insecure
I feel very lucky to have the parents I've had
but I think that it's also been cultivated
through my career and creating a little bit
of that toughness and so that's it
not really care, not really care what you say about me
Is that the trick then for kids coming through today
because all the way through your career
you had so many people looking up to you
be they young girls, young boys who wanted to do
what you were doing
I thought one of the lines you used then was wonderful
which is, you know, and I'm paraphrasing
but kind of the best that I can be
and the best that I can do is good enough
for me
What advice would you give to a young girl or a young boy
who wanted to be a racing driver like Danica Patrick?
Take your chances, try everything
ask a lot of questions, be coachable
stay focused
and I don't think any of that is all that hard
if you're actually doing something you really like
so
you know, you were talking about
social media and authenticity
it's really easy to own that authenticity
when you own it
to own it when it shows up
when you believe it, when you are it
it's like, yeah, you know
I love my, don't you like some weird food
like Twinkies or something?
I don't know anymore, I've had to cut down
but you own that, right?
I really made a name for myself with that, didn't I?
You're like, I wear pink, man
that's just my favorite color
and you own that, right?
on Wednesdays we wear pink
you know, insecure
so when you own all that is about you
it also comes across in such a different way
because I think everything is energy
and so
I think people can feel that energy
and frequency coming from you of authenticity
and so to like close the loop
almost on like how did I become popular
I feel like
what I've always said
is just that you might not like me
you might not agree with all my choices
what I do, what I say, how I do it
but at least you can appreciate
my authenticity
and respect my authenticity
and I think that's what
we're all becoming so much better
at sensing I think
and thank God because in this world of
AI
and deep fakes
and fake news and all of the different things
we better become better lie detectors
because
it's indistinguishable out there what's real
and what's not
but I think we always have
we are all in tune with that
and I just
I guess maybe that's what it's been about me
is that I've really
been able to be lucky enough
and confident enough to own
all those aspects about me whatever they were
whether it was being on the cover of FHM
or whether it was storming down pit lane
and kicking over a barrel
or whatever it was
Danica thank you so much
I always loved watching you race
but getting to know you
and becoming your friend is something that
I've enjoyed even even more
well now we're going to find out what kind of gull for you are
a bad one
Danica thank you for being here we appreciate your time
thanks for that
we're glad to have you over here in the United States
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