Danica Patrick’s No. 16 Rahal Letterman Racing Argent Pioneer Panoz/Honda/Firestone stalled, spun and sputtered during the 89th Indianapolis 500. It also finished fourth.
It was concurrently an emotionally charged and a professionally satisfying day for the 23-year-old IndyCar Series rookie, who has taken the world by storm with her poise and passion. International newspapers, periodicals and TV outlets from Glamour magazine to “Extra” were at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to chronicle Danica’s day. Fans cheered on every pit stop and pass.
Patrick, who qualified fourth and had the top speed of the month (229.880 mph) in practice, recorded the best finish by a female driver in the 500-Mile Race. Janet Guthrie was ninth in 1978. She also became the first female to lead a race lap at the historic Speedway and the first to finish on the lead lap of the Indianapolis 500.
Her accomplishments didn’t disappoint anyone, including team co-owner David Letterman.
“You couldn’t ask for anything more,” said Letterman, who hosted Patrick on his late-night talk show on May 23. “She had the thing perpendicular to the cement, came back and had a legitimate shot at it. Boy, she’s not 23 years old.” The comedian wasn’t joking.
After spinning in Turn 4 during a Lap 155 restart, it appeared her run to the checkered flag would end prematurely. But the damage was relatively slight. Her crew changed the front nose/wing assembly and sent Patrick on her way. She returned for a slap of methanol on Lap 159, and by Lap 169 was eighth.
When the leaders pitted under yellow (smoke from the No. 24 entry driven by Roger Yasukawa) on Lap 172, Patrick assumed the lead from Dan Wheldon. Fans around the 2.5-mile track got in a good stretch when they stood and cheered for the next 13 laps.
Patrick led Wheldon by .3823 of a second on Lap 185, with an eye on the gleaming Borg-Warner Trophy in Victory Circle . But Wheldon caught her at the start-finish line the next lap, just before a yellow flag flew when the No. 55 car driven by Kosuke Matsuura made contact with the Turn 4 SAFER Barrier.
An inside move on the frontstretch regained the lead for Patrick on the Lap 189 restart, which prompted the crowd to begin a cheer of “Go, girl, go.” But the advantage didn’t last long as Patrick had to conserve fuel and Wheldon could run “full rich.” His pass for the lead in Turn 1 of Lap 194 nailed his first Indianapolis 500 victory.
“From my side of it, gosh, did I make some mistakes,” Patrick said. “I stalled it, went back to 16th. People were checking up a little bit on the start toward the end with about 50 (laps) or so to go. It seemed like they were going slow and checking up anyway, because I spun. And I can’t believe that my car didn’t completely demolish because I got hit twice. It spun around and I can’t believe I kept the engine running. Somebody is sitting by my side.
“Therefore, we pitted an extra time before the last so we really needed to stretch fuel to make it work. But the guys made it work.”
That Patrick could challenge late was extraordinary after the car stalled during a Lap 79 pit stop under yellow. The delay dropped her from fourth to 16th in the field. It reminded many of teammate Buddy Rice, who also stalled during a pit stop in last year’s race. He went on to win.
“I think that’s a result of being patient and not going crazy when things go wrong, because I kind of screamed in my helmet a couple times,” she said. “But nobody could hear that, and you have to calm down, be smart and not make stupid mistakes. I think as a result of that, you’re in the game. And we had very good cars. So it’s important to stay calm. As long as you do, things should pan out.”
This race - and so far the entire IndyCar Series season - has worked out well for the Phoenix resident who last year was driving in a stepladder series.
“I think what might have showed the most today is that I was able to pass and I was able to learn how to set someone up better,” she said. “I definitely got a lot of experience in different situations. So it was frustrating to be leading the race with so few laps to go and not be able to finish hard and just hang out up front and win the thing.
“But I also knew that I was not in the same strategy and something had to give. I stalled and spun in the race, so with all that stuff happening, for me to have to sacrifice a couple of positions to save fuel, so be it.”
