Three-time World Karting Association Grand National Championship winner, IndyCar Rookie of the Year, entrepreneur, model, trailblazer. These are just a few ways your could describe motorsport’s most successful woman, Danica Patrick, who will be retiring from NASCAR after today’s Daytona 500, where she will start in 28th place. Before her retirement, we felt it was necessary to honor the storied legacy of the woman that broke down some of the longest standing barriers and records in racing.

Early Karting & Open Wheel Racing

Born Danica Sue Patrick on March 25th 1982 in Beloit, Washington, Danica first began racing go karts when she was ten. In her first ever race, her kart experienced brake failure and subsequently crashed into a wall. By the end of the year, she had improved enough to finish second out of 20 drivers. In addition to her three World Karting Association championships, she also won ten regional karting titles. In 1996, at the age of 14, Patrick was accepted into the Lyn St. James Foundation Driver Development Program. One year later, Patrick dropped out of school and moved to England to compete in Formula Vauxhall and Formula Ford, where she gained help from the like of Jackie Stewart (three-time F1 World Champion) and Jenson Button (2009 F1 World Champion).

Although Danica was not competitive in Formula Ford, she secured Formula Three tests with Carlin and Jaguar Racing, and was expected to go into the Paul Stewart Racing development program. Ultimately, leadership changes stopped her from entering Formula Three.

Formula Atlantic, 2003-2004

In 2003, Danica Patrick switched to the Toyota Atlantic Series (often called Formula Atlantic), an open-wheel racing series in America. She was the first woman to race in Formula Atlantic since 1974. Within the season, she became the first woman to finish on the podium. Her best finish in Formula Atlantic was second place at the Miami race. In 2004, she became the first woman to score a pole position.

IndyCar, 2005-2011

By the end of 2004, Danica Patrick was signed with Rahal Letterman Racing in the IndyCar Series. During her opening race in Homestead-Miami, she was involved in a multi-car accident that resulted in her being hospitalized for a concussion. During her first season, she achieved many firsts for women in the sport. She became the second woman to achieve a pole position in IndyCar and took two more poles at Kentucky and Chicago. With three pole positions in her rookie season, she matched Tomas Scheckter’s record. For that, she was awarded Rookie of the Year for IndyCar and the Indianapolis 500. in 2007, Patrick moved to Andretti Green Racing.

After a decent first season with Andretti, Danica returned in 2008 with a then career best of sixth. She would top that feat later in the year at Twin Ring Motegi by taking her first ever victory in IndyCar. With that, she became the first woman to win a top-tier open-wheel race. For the next three years, she consistently finished in the top ten, proving her extraordinary ability to pilot a race car.

Stock Car and Sprint Cup, 2010-2018

During her final Indycar season, Patrick appeared in a few NASCAR Nationwide Series races with JR Motorsports. Although she struggled in her first season, she returned for a second season with JR. During that season, she broke the record for the highest finish by a woman with 4th place. By 2012, she was racing full time in NASCAR and part-time in the Sprint Cup Series. To open the 2012 season, she scored a pole position. This made her the second woman to do so. She ended the season in tenth overall.

In 2013, she raced full time in the Sprint Cup Series with Stewart-Haas Racing. She became the first woman to score pole position for the Daytona 500 (fittingly, her final race). The next year, she claimed pole again for the Daytona 500, but ultimately finishing 16th.

Her Legacy

While there have been women in motorsport before Danica Patrick, nobody else can claim to have raced at her level. She proved that barriers and records are meant to be broken, and set an example for many young girls and women who hope to race professionally. Today’s race will see the retirement (from NASCAR) of a true icon. Because of her, we will hopefully be seeing many more women in racing. However, it may be some time before that hope is realized. While there are still many barriers in place, Danica Patrick has broken down more than we can count and has blazed a trail for women to join her ranks in the future.

We will be rooting for her in today’s Daytona 500 race, and we hope you will too. Luckily, we will be able to see her race in IndyCar one last time at this year’s Indy 500.