Danica Patrick was always sure a woman could win a race. And now the questions about her will surely stop.
Patrick made it to the place she wanted to be for so long — Victory Lane. She became the first female winner in IndyCar history, capturing the Indy Japan 300 in her 50th career start.
“I’m glad it finally happened,” the 26-year-old driver said. “But I would be lying if I told you I didn’t think it would be me.”
Her owner was ecstatic, insisting more victories await. Her family could not congratulate her enough. All of which made Patrick a bit teary.
“When it actually happened, maybe it was a little anticlimactic,” she said. “Then the emotions came out and that was a little girly of me.”
What she realized through the haze of it all, she said, was that “Dreams do come true. You’ve just got to be persistent.”
“I was as relieved as I expected I would be years ago, how I knew I would feel when I won my first race. But I guess over time that feeling has only gotten bigger, and over time I’ve been asked so many times when I’m going to win my first race, and finally, no more of those questions.”
Michael Andretti, co-owner of Andretti Green Racing, called his driver a “fantastic person.”
“I’m thrilled for her that the monkey is finally off of her back,” said Andretti, co-owner of Andretti Green Racing. “We have all believed in her and she proved today that she is a winner. Frankly, I think this is the first of many.”
“It’s going to be one of those things that’s remembered,” Patrick said. “It’s a first. Firsts are always in history books. I’ve always hoped and wanted to be that person—to be the first female to win in history.”
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