Danica Patrick wasn't the first female race car driver, but she is, by far, the most famous.
Though her racing career came to an end when she retired in 2018, she doesn't appear to
be stepping out of the limelight.
Here's the truth about Danica Patrick.
You're probably not going to get one of those "Stay in school" speeches out of Patrick.
She dropped out of high school at 16 to further her racing career in the United Kingdom, and
she couldn't have been happier with her decision.
She once told a group of kids, via The Post Game,
"I loved not having to go to school anymore.
I was moving an ocean away from my parents.
That was exciting!"
But for the record, Patrick said she doesn't recommend dropping out.
She's well aware of the value of a diploma, but she's also of the opinion that you don't
have to graduate from high school to be successful in life.
She eventually earned her G.E.D., or, as she called it in The New York Times, her quote,
"Good Enough Diploma."
Dancing with the Stars has come calling for Patrick on multiple occasions and, each time,
she has said no.
But it's not because she has two left feet.
She told People magazine that she can actually dance, but she doesn't think she could win
over judges and viewers, like fellow driver and season five winner Helio Castroneves did.
Patrick said,
Her decision also came down to time.
During a Daytona 500 media day, Patrick said via espnW that she's just too busy.
But that was also before she retired from racing, so who knows!
If you think firing someone sounds super awkward, just imagine firing your parents.
That's what Patrick did to her dad, T.J., who was Patrick's "coach, mechanic, and crew
chief," as well as her contract negotiator, and her mom, Bev, who was her assistant.
Danica told The New Yorker,
Patrick's tune changed following her split from Paul Hospenthal.
She blamed her ex-husband for "manipulating" her and pressuring her to choose between him
and her parents.
But she admitted to In Depth with Graham Bensinger,
"I think that it's best to not have your parents working for you...Like, how do you hold your
parents accountable for the little things when they're your parents?"
Patrick hopes to become a mother one day and she even took out what she called an "insurance
policy" to improve her chances.
By that, she meant she underwent IVF to freeze her eggs.
She told Joe Rogan,
"I'm getting older and I drive race cars and I can't, you know, do any of that stuff."
The procedure, which took place during her relationship with fellow race car driver Ricky
Stenhouse, involved daily injections for about a month as well as weight gain.
But just because Patrick went through with the process doesn't mean she will for sure
go the frozen eggs route if she decides to have kids.
"But this is just an insurance policy.
It doesn't mean I can't try a different way if I want to."
Patrick's current boyfriend Aaron Rodgers' average annual salary of $33.5 million not
only makes him the highest-paid player in the NFL, according to Forbes in 2018, but
also the first guy who's wealthier than she is.
When asked about the topic on In Depth with Graham Bensinger, Patrick said,
"Well, I finally found someone who pays for things."
"There you go."
"That's never happened, ever.
Like I would buy dinner, literally."
She said it took some getting used to, adding,
"It was super uncomfortable in the beginning with Aaron, like, to have him paying for things...because
it was so out of the norm for me."
Regardless of where you stand on the "Who should pay for the date" debate, one thing
seems certain: Patrick took a dig at exes Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. and Paul Hospenthal with
those comments.
If Patrick writes another book, don't expect it to be about fitness like 2017's Pretty
Intense.
She has something a little different in mind, telling the AP,
But there were signs of Patrick's growing spirituality in Pretty Intense.
She quoted Gandhi and Deepak Chopra, and also advised readers to quote, "be the light" and
"develop a relationship with your all-knowing soul."
Patrick told espnW that she's been nurturing an inclusive sort of spirituality, in addition
to becoming more compassionate.
It appears her relationship with Rodgers may have even started with a spiritual question.
She told Bensinger,
"Yeah, like, it all really started with me asking if he was stalking me on the astral
plane, and then it went from there, so…"
"What?"
"Yeah, exactly 'cause people don't know what that means, but he knew what that meant."
Sounds like a match made in literal heaven.
"When he buys me books called The Holographic Universe, I'm like this is awesome."
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