Danica Patrick Gets Candid on Men’s Participation in Women’s Sports With Bold Verdict

Barely three months ago, the only feminine presence in NASCAR dissolved. Hailie Deegan found her way out of the sport as she failed to satisfy her Xfinity team’s wishes. AM Racing expected good runs, and the rookie driver posted finishes outside 20 and occupied the worst place in points. Many people rallied in support of her, thinking she deserved another chance. But Danica Patrick thinks that chance is rigged, to begin with.
Being a former star-studded versatile racer herself, Danica Patrick broke some records in her time. She reversed stereotypes in a male-dominated motorsport. But achieving that was astronomically difficult due to things out of her control, as Patrick claims.
Danica Patrick draws a line
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In her time, Danica Patrick was a racing sensation. The 6-time Most Popular IndyCar driver won the Indy Japan 300 in 2008, besides posting top finishes unseen by women in the sport. Patrick made jaws drop with her NASCAR feats as well, like winning the pole for the 2013 Daytona 500, leading laps, and finishing 8th. But the retired veteran racer is aware of the daunting challenges involved. After all, driving close to 200 mph and engaging in fender-banging and heated conflicts have prerequisites that men mostly possess.
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But in women-only sports, it is a different scenario, as Danica Patrick claims. So she believes men should stay away from encroaching on sports that are reserved only for women. Somewhere, the physiological and psychological makeup do not match. She confessed recently on a podcast with Codie Sanchez, “I was a girl in a guy’s sport. There are some true hormonal, physiological reasons why men should not compete in women’s sports when it comes to strength when it comes to power, size…those things are really different.”
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Back at a 2015 Budweiser Duel race at Daytona International Speedway, Danica Patrick was well-positioned for a 15th-place finish with 3 laps to go. However, Denny Hamlin shattered her aspirations as he hit her car, which spun out and collected other drivers. So Patrick continued that leveling that amount of aggression gets a little difficult as a woman. “And when men have at least ten times the testosterone that women do—which is something that helps build lean muscle mass, and gives you size and mass and power – it’s totally unfair.”
Nevertheless, Danica Patrick showcased exemplary skill in tackling her male rivals.
Indeed a good match for motorsports!
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Despite Danica Patrick admitting to difficulties in the sport, we all know that she was a true force to be reckoned with. Her Cup Series runs marked some remarkable achievements—her 6th-place finish in a 2014 Atlanta race placed her just below Sara Christian’s 5th-place result in 1949.
Patrick also became the first woman to start a race at Martinsville Speedway and finished better than even her team owner, Tony Stewart’s, first start at the track. Besides these feats, her response to Denny Hamlin’s wrecking her was no less aggressive than any male driver.
Colliding with Brian Scott and Bobby Labonte, Danica Patrick lost her chance to compete in the Daytona 500. She made her fury well-known; after the race, she marched over to Denny Hamlin, grabbed his firesuit, and hollered at him.
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“What are you doing?!” Patrick angrily demanded. “You did the same f-king thing in practice!” 8 years after their confrontation, both drivers sat down and talked about it peacefully in 2022. Hamlin explained that Patrick’s car was “too loose” and he could not help but bump into her car.
Nevertheless, Danica Patrick has amply proved herself capable of matching the level of her male competitors. Even then, her claims do matter, as gender differences prevail in motorsports.