Danica Patrick 2005 – All of the Broadcast Film | Danica Patrick

Video Description from YouTube:

In this All Film segment, we take a look at Danica Patrick’s rookie season in the Indy Racing League (2005)

After a career that look destined to angle towards CART/Champ Car, Danica Patrick would eventually join a top level Open Wheel series in 2005 with Rahal Letterman Racing. She previously had raced in Toyota Atlantics, and her name began making the silly season rounds as early as 2002

Danica joined the Rahal team at the perfect time. Fresh off of an Indianapolis 500 win and a competitive campaign against their rivals Andretti Green Racing, Danica was in a good position to compete immediately

Honda would continue their advantage over Chevrolet and Toyota. The Panoz chassis was on the doorstep of fading into nonexistence, but at the time, it could stall hold its worth, especially on ovals

Using this engine advantage, Danica proved to be fast fairly quickly, especially in qualifying. In race pace though, she would often default to a Rick Mears-type strategy of fading backwards. The key difference between Mears and Danica, besides the fact that no one has Danica on their driver Mount Rushmore, is that Mears would eventually make his way back up to the front. Danica really struggled in some races to convert her qualifying pace into good results and strong showings

That wouldn’t matter to too many people though, as the Indianapolis 500 was the lifeblood of this series. If you did well at Indianapolis, people would not care if you did nothing for the rest of the season

I am wholly convinced that Danica was a Turn 1, Lap 1 moment away from winning the pole position for the 2005 Indianapolis 500. Her moment cost her dearly on the time charts, and the team elected not to run her again and would be satisfied with her P4 position. Still, her P4 position was enough to send a warning to the field that she was ready to compete on race day

Here first Indianapolis 500 was anything but straightforward. She did show good pace in most phases of the race, but she had a few pit stop issues, contact with Koskue Matsuura, close calls with some overtakes, and a spin on a restart that took at almost the entirety of Panther Racing

Somehow, she survived this crash and was able to continue. The pit stop for damage put her off strategy, but she would eventually cycle to P1 when everyone else was forced to pit later into that stint. While she was P1, she still needed to save enough fuel to make it to the end

She would eventually lose out to Dan Wheldon, and would end up finishing P4. While she didn’t win, she did become the first woman to lead the Indianapolis 500. She captured the hearts and eyes of many, springing her into major celebrity status overnight

She would finish P12 in the championship by year’s end. For 2006, the Honda advantage was gone (everyone ran the Honda engines that season after Chevy and Toyota left the series). The Panoz was becoming too slow compared to the Dallara, which was being properly upgraded / maintained, giving those with the Panoz a major dilemma. Danica and the Rahal team would also withdraw from the opening race of the season after the death of teammate Paul Dana in practice

Danica would end up switching to Andretti Green Racing for 2007 while flirting with a switch to NASCAR, a move that would become permanent after the 2011 season

While she was loved by many and hated by many, one thing is for certain, Danica Patrick left her mark in the IndyCar history books

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Timestamps
0:00 Intro
0:08 Homestead
9:52 Phoenix
12:51 St. Petersburg
17:25 Motegi
30:20 Time Trials (Indy 500)
42:59 Indianapolis 500
1:35:44 Texas
1:44:57 Richmond
1:50:37 Kansas
2:09:31 Nashville
2:23:47 Milwaukee
2:34:53 Michigan
2:43:43 Kentucky
2:53:04 Pikes Peak
3:05:31 Sonoma
3:12:51 Chicagoland
3:26:05 Watkins Glen
3:32:00 Fontana

Disclaimer: This video contains footage and/or music that I do not own. All rights belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended. Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.

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Video credit – ABC, ESPN