Often, girls are not interested in cars and races. Danica Patrick does not belong to the category of such people. She is one of the few women drivers who have made great strides in sports. Passion for cars she appeared in childhood. Thanks to this, Danica received many awards and titles in car racing.
Biography of a girl
A race car driver was born March 25, 1982 in Wisconsin, USA. Her parents are interested in extreme sports. Father and mother Danica Patrick met at a snowmobile competition. The girl’s dad was racing. Mother worked there as a mechanic.
Now the parents of the racers are actively involved in the life of their daughter. Father constantly accompanies Danica at competitions and runs the girl’s site. Mom helps her conduct business projects. The girl is happy that she has such loving parents.
Personal life
American race car driver Danica Patrick was married to Paul Hospenthal until 2013. She adopted the Catholic faith when she got married in 2005. Relations broke up due to rumors. The press constantly wrote that the girl is meeting with one of the racers. Danica’s husband did not tolerate this and filed for divorce.
In 2013, the girl announced to the public about her new boyfriend. He became Rick Stanhouse, who is the 2011 champion in NASCAR competitions. In life, she shows herself to be not the most exemplary driver. A girl often exceeds speed. For which she is constantly fined.
Danica Patrick racing career
The girl began to get involved in cars as a child. In 1992, when she was 10 years old, she participated in kart racing. In such competitions, she achieved two victories. When Patrick turned 16 to develop in sports, the girl moved to the UK. In the city of Milton Keynes, she participated in local competitions. They Danica met with the world stars of Formula 1. Participating in one of the festivals, she won second place. Patrick was the first female racer to achieve such results. Further career of the girl looked like this:
- Victories began to bring her sponsors. In 2002, Danika signs a collaboration with the Rahal team. It happened in North America. She participates in two competitions. For two seasons, the girl takes third place in the race. Thanks to this, Danica is transferred to the IRL team.
- Takes fourth place on the Indy 500. This position was a record for girls racers. In the middle of the festival, she was in first place. However, the car stalled at the pit stop, because of which Danica finished fourth. This brought the girl a lot of fame.
- In 2005, he became the winner of many qualifications. Along with this, she gets the first pole position. According to the results of the competition, she ends the season in 12th place. In addition, she won the title of the best newcomer.
Thanks to participation in the races, a lot of sponsors and partners noticed the girl. In 2005, she even appeared on the cover of a sports magazine. The girl became the first rider to be eligible for this. Also, the American starred in commercials and appeared in music videos. She was invited to participate in talk shows on television.
Further Achievements
In 2007, Danica Patrick changed her team. The racer joined Andretti Green Racing. Sponsors provided her with all the necessary equipment for victories. However, the first race was a failure - the girl had an accident, and because of this she finished in 14th place.
In the same year, the rider wanted to improve her result in the Indy 500. The race was interrupted due to weather conditions. As a result of this, the American managed to break her record, she finished eighth. In 2009, Danika on the Motegi track realizes herself as a successful racer. She managed to get first place in the series. And this was the first victory of a female pilot.
The statistics of Danica Patrick made her attract the attention of many sponsors, as she manages to take 3-9 places in all competitions. Thanks to this, Patrick is compared with the famous racer Shirley Muldooney.
In 2010, Danica participated in two series. However, this season she received the worst qualification, hitting the eighth place. However, she managed to block her defeat. During the competition, she beat 17 rivals and came to the sixth finish. Subsequently, the racer took twice the second place in the Homestead-Miami competition. Danica Patrick became one of the very first girls who managed to achieve great results in the world of car racing.