Danica Patrick: Top 5 moments - Indy win, NASCAR pole, Female Athlete of the Year and more

When you type Danica Patrick into Google the first words that come up on her Wikipedia page are 'professional racing driver'.

Every time you read that line, it feels refreshing and inspiring, how a person like Patrick has made a huge impact and, if anything, possible for women to go behind the wheel of a racing car.

Years ago a female driver competing in a racing series was something unheard of.

From Formula 1 to Nascar, every race series only hosted a list of male racers and the top names in motorsport of Michael Schumacher, Ayrton Senna, Valentino Rossi, Tony Stewart and other successful drivers were all men.

Well now Patrick will make that list, she respectfully may not have become a Champion in the Championships the 36-year-old participated in but, will be remembered for her work on and off the track.

Last November, Patrick announced 2018 would be her final year competing in Daytona 500 and Indy 500.

Let's take a look at five memorable moments of Patrick's illustrious career...

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#5 Indy 500 - 2005

Indy 500 is one of the biggest races in the motorsport calendar where over 100,000 fans attend the event every year at the infamous Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The likes of Juan Pablo Montoya, Takuma Sato, and Dan Wheldon made a name for themselves by winning the Indy 500 and having a taste of victory milk to celebrate the race's tradition.

Patrick has never won the Indy 500 but she experienced leading the big race in 2005.

It was a historic moment as Patrick was the first female driver to ever lead the race and did so for 19 laps in 2005.

This was Patrick's debut in Indy 500.

The crowds stood on their feet and displayed their emotional respect to Patrick during the laps she was leading.

Patrick, however, did not go onto win the race as Dan Wheldon claimed the prize but Patrick didn't leave empty-handed as she won Rookie of the Year.

#4 Patrick's first pole position

Patrick's first race in Nascar was at the 2010 DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona International Speedway.

Three years later, Patrick claimed her first pole position in the Monster Energy Nascar Cup at Daytona 500.

This was the first time that a woman had won the lead spot for Nascar's most prestigious race.

45.817 seconds was the fastest lap and not only was Patrick the fastest woman she was the fastest driver out of the pack.

It was Jimmie Johnson of Hendrick Motorsports who ended the race in first place and Patrick would go onto finish in eighth place.

#3 Female Athlete of the Year

Patrick has achieved a lot off the track as well as being behind the wheel

In 2006, Patrick was named Female Athlete of the Year by the United States Sports Academy.

This achievement was mainly down to the electrifying driving we saw from Patrick's rookie year at Indy 500 in 2005.

Where Patrick lead the race on three occasions in an overall 19 laps and finishing fourth after a thrilling late-race duel with eventual race winner Dan Wheldon.

As mentioned earlier in this article, Patrick was named Rookie of the Year.

The female athlete dominated a worldwide internet election hosted by USA Today.

She was also runner-up in Associated Press' Female Athlete of the Year losing out to golf star Annika Sorenstam.

This showed what a difference Patrick had made by being one of the very few to be a female racer who do it as a professional career.

#2 Indy 500 - 2009

In the 2009 season, Patrick returned to racing for the Andretti Green Racing team.

Patrick was on decent form going into the 93rd Indianapolis 500 after finishing fourth and fifth in Long Beach and Kansas.

This was all before she achieved a career-best finish in five attempts at the Indy 500 by finishing in third place.

This set a new record for the highest-placed finish in Indy 500 history.

The winning driver was Penske Racing's Hélio Castroneves of Brazil who also achieved pole position.

Wheldon was runner-up.

#1 Patrick's first race win

After Patrick's incredible drive at the 2005 Indy 500, the repetitive question 'When are you going to win a race?' was a question Patrick wanted to answer and never be asked again.

April 20, 2008 was an unforgettable date in the history of motorsport as it was Patrick's first ever race win at the Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi.

Patrick moved to the top of the leaderboard with just three laps remaining after the previous race leaders were forced to make pit stops for fuel and held the first position to secure her maiden IndyCar victory.

The 2008 race in Japan is the only race Patrick has so far won in her career and may just be the only time she experiences the victory lane.

Can Patrick claim an Indy 500 win before she bows out of the sport on Sunday?