"I've always been very fortunate": When Danica Patrick opened up on her sponsor situation in Tony Stewart's team

Danica Patrick is one of the most well-known names in American motorsports. During her career, she competed in quite a few racing categories, and back in 2017, she shared her thoughts on her sponsor troubles at Tony Stewart's Stewart-Haas Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series.

In 2017, the 43-year-old revealed how her seat on the outfit was contingent on her having sponsors (Patrick's main sponsor during her racing career was GoDaddy). She said in an interview with USA Today:

"There’s no buyout needed. I don’t have a sponsor. It’s contingent on the sponsor."

She added:

"I’ve always been very fortunate from a sponsor perspective. Even when my last [sponsor negotiation] came around, I didn’t have to wait too long, in the summer, to know it was going to happen next. I would say mentally, emotionally, my approach has been peaceful and what will be will, and I don’t know."

Danica Patrick competed in a total of 191 races in the NASCAR Cup Series. During this time, she was able to put on board seven top tens and a solitary pole position.

Interestingly, she had the same record in NASCAR's Xfinity Series, where she managed seven top tens and a pole position in her 61 outings. Her last outing in the Cup Series came at the 2018 Daytona 500.

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Danica Patrick's take on which NASCAR legend she'd have liked to race against

While Danica Patrick had her say on sponsor woes back in 2017, quite recently (March 13, 2025), she gave her take on which drivers she would have liked to race against during her career.

She took the name of Formula 1 legend Ayrton Senna and also mentioned NASCAR royalty, Dale Earnhardt Sr. During his racing career, the latter amassed an incredible 676 Cup Series starts and seven championships.

In the process of doing so, he was able to secure 76 victories, 428 top tens and 22 pole positions. Patrick said in March:

"Maybe, maybe get out there and door bang with Dale Earnhardt Sr. Obviously, I know Junior super well. I drove for him, he's a friend, and his wife Amy's great. But, you know, he was always, he was known as the Intimidator. So that would be a fun person to see, like, what was that? What did that feel like?" Danica Patrick said on outkickthecoverage show.

Just like the above-mentioned names, Danica Patrick has contributed significantly to the world of racing. The 43-year-old has especially done wonders for women in male-dominated motorsports.

She is to date the only woman driver to have won a race in America's highest class of open-wheel racing, IndyCar. Her 2008 triumph at the Indy Japan 300 is still the last victory that was secured by a woman driver in the sport.

Since retiring from active racing back in 2017, she has become an esteemed motorsport pundit. Her most recent outing in such a role came at last week's Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix weekend.