SPEEDWAY, IN. — Today’s 102nd Indianapolis 500 will mark the end of an era for one of racing’s most polarizing figures. Danica Patrick will race the final time in her career at the track and race that made her a household name: The Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Patrick’s meteoric mainstream rise began in 2005 when she became the first woman to ever lead a lap at the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” Following her 19 laps led and 4th place finish in the race, She became the face of an open wheel racing era where it was seen that anyone could succeed in the sport man or woman.
Over the years Patrick enjoyed plenty of great runs at IMS by recording 6 top-10 finishes in 7 starts in the 500. Her effort in the race was 2009 in which she recorded a 3rd place finish for Andretti-Green racing. Danica enjoyed great finishes at the motor speedway, but has never been able to seal the deal.
Danica struggled to meet the expectations from her huge fan base that wanted top results every week that she was not able to produce. After the 2011 season Patrick left Indycar for the perceived greener pastures of Nascar. Over the course of 6 seasons in the stock car circuit, she never had a better season average finish than 22nd.
Due to the average results and another set of expectations that weren’t met, Patrick was out of a ride and out of sponsorship. With unforeseen circumstances Danica decided that the end was near and she had two races left to seal her career: Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500.
In Daytona this year Patrick was caught in an early wreck that ended her bid at winning Nascar’s biggest race. This month has been nothing but smiles for Danica who has shown speed in her Ed Carpenter Racing Chevy. Remaining in the top-10 all month in practices along with her 7th place qualifying effort last weekend.
The final race for Danica won’t be a cake walk to victory by any means. To win the 500 in her final attempt Patrick must defeat the Penske racing cars that have set the pace all month. All four Penske cars will start in the top 9 and will provide steep opposition to Patrick’s bid.
Within the Penske camp, the elder statesmen of the group Helio Castroneves is chasing history attempting to become the fourth driver in history to have 4 Indy 500 wins. He would join the famous names of Foyt, Mears, and Unser in the illustrious club.
Other drivers to watch:
Alexander Rossi the 2016 500 champion who has struggled to find consistent speed all month starts in the last row, but is the Vegas morning line favorite.
Marco Andretti: After Suffering a heartbreak in 2006 in one of the closest 500 finishes in history, the third generation driver has failed to find the magic that has made his family’s name famous. Starting 12th it would be no surprise to see Marco in contention.
Carlos Munoz: If you told me you knew out of the 33 drivers in the field that Munoz has the best average finish of 7.6 in 5 starts at IMS I’d call you a liar. Munoz drives his car on the edge for 200 laps and always finds a way to the front in the end.
Win in her last race??? hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha