If you don’t pay close attention to the motorsports world, you may not have heard that Danica Patrick is no longer an IZOD IndyCar Series driver and thus will not be racing in today’s Indianapolis 500.
Danica Patrick Not Racing The Indy 500 This Year, And Drivers Aren’t Sad About It
And the IndyCar drivers that the Go Daddy Girl left behind aren’t exactly bummed she’s gone.
“The race lived for what, 80 or 90 years before she showed up?” driver Graham Rahal said. “It’s going to live without her.”
Patrick, who is more famous nationally for her commercials than her on-track performance, moved from the open-wheel IndyCars to the stock cars of NASCAR (which has a bigger fan base, pays more money and is safer) and made a full-time commitment there.
At Charlotte, where Patrick is racing in tonight’s Coca-Cola 600, she compared her departure from IndyCar to a breakup and said she’s not longing for Indianapolis.
“It’s like that girlfriend you didn’t want to have anymore – you don’t think about her anymore,” she said. “Or ex-husband. You just don’t.”
In Indianapolis, drivers indicated the feeling seemed mutual. Though they largely avoided talking about Patrick, some seemed relieved she was gone. After all, she took much of the attention despite not producing many results.
“It’s a great thing, because No. 1, we can just get back to racing, and No. 2, you’ve got so many other guys in here that deserve a chance,” Rahal said. “They have a story or have a personality, and if she were here, you probably wouldn’t be talking to them too much.”
After wrecking during qualifying, rookie Bryan Clauson and his team had just 24 hours to complete massive repairs and qualify on Bump day. Watch their impressive story:
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