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0:33

When

0:33

Danica Patrick was sixteen, she

0:36

did what many young racing drivers do.

0:38

she left home to follow her dream.

0:40

She moved to Europe

0:43

and she had one ambition and it

0:45

wasn't winning an Indy car or leading

0:47

the Indy five hundred. No.

0:49

That goes formula one. I mean, when I lived in

0:51

England it was formula one and I truly said many

0:53

times I was like anything less than formula one was

0:55

a failure. because that was the top. She had

0:57

everything

0:57

she needed to get there. She was

0:59

a champion in go carts. She finished

1:02

second in the prestigious formal afford

1:04

festival. the international race in England,

1:06

which helped launch Jensen button Mark

1:08

Weber and many more towards Formula

1:10

One. She had guidance from a three

1:12

time Formula One world champion and

1:15

support from a US racing star

1:17

who ran an f one team. But her

1:19

goal changed and her best moments

1:21

came not in formula one. But

1:23

in Indica, Here

1:25

comes, Danica Patrick. New turn

1:27

number three. Now on to turn

1:29

four. Only a few hundred yards

1:31

away from making history. Danica Patrick.

1:34

We'll win at Motagie. Green

1:38

flag. Green flag.

1:39

We are down to the

1:40

final ten laps Of the

1:42

Indianapolis five

1:43

hundred. Danica Patrick has moved

1:45

out into the front. Danica Patrick is

1:47

for

1:47

real next she leads. what

1:50

do people think of me now that it's over?

1:52

What I hope that they think of me is

1:54

that they remember me as a great driver.

1:57

I never mind that they remember me as a girl, but

1:59

I hope that they remember me as like god, you

2:01

know. She was really good. Like,

2:03

she was good. Yeah. She was a girl,

2:05

but she went against the guys and did

2:07

an incredible job and accomplished a lot of great

2:09

things.

2:13

Welcome to F1B on the grid with

2:15

me Tom Cox. Danica

2:18

Patrick

2:18

showed she had the speed to compete

2:21

at the front in IndyCar and NASCAR.

2:23

Formula One fans might wonder why we

2:25

never saw her in an one car, especially

2:28

given the media reports in two thousand

2:30

and eight, just after Danica's Indy Car

2:32

win. Back then, it was widely

2:34

reported that the Honda f one team

2:36

wanted give her a test, a chance

2:38

to show what she could do, but that

2:40

test never took place. I

2:42

asked Anika about what really happened

2:44

there, and we also talked about the influence

2:47

of Sajaki Stuart and Bobby Rehaut

2:49

on her career, her move back to the

2:51

US, and the challenge of road

2:53

courses and oval racing in IndyCar

2:55

and Nas car. The mentality of

2:57

racing drivers, and of course, Formula

3:00

One, which she's now covering as a broadcaster.

3:02

Danica's thoughtful, honest, and funny

3:05

too. I hope you enjoy our conversation.

3:10

Danica is great to have you on the show.

3:12

Now, It's also great to have you back in

3:14

the Formula One Peddle. Viewers will have seen

3:16

you on TV duty with Sky.

3:19

How are you finding it?

3:20

I have a blast. I really

3:22

like all the people. I

3:25

really enjoy the style

3:27

of announcing that it is.

3:28

you know, I I do a little bit in

3:31

a hold of top motorsports, which is I feel so

3:33

fortunate with doing the Indy five hundred,

3:35

with a couple of NASCAR races, and then with these

3:37

Formula One races. But I I guess

3:40

for

3:40

my personality, the

3:42

style of announcing that we do suits

3:45

me the best, which is kind of winging it.

3:48

which is just, you know, someone walks

3:50

up and you just kinda have to, like,

3:52

you know, you need to be aware of what's going on.

3:54

So I will say, Austin, in

3:56

twenty twenty one. I was in the deep end and

3:58

I was like, I don't know what's going

4:00

on. I hadn't watched every

4:02

race all season and I just wasn't

4:05

up on everything enough. I'm in a

4:07

much better position now. But, you know, you

4:09

just kind of are, you know, really going with

4:11

the flow and, you know, we just kinda can

4:13

look at each other and give each other an eye like, okay, you're

4:15

next or like do you have a question or I'm done

4:17

or like I have no idea move on.

4:20

So we just have a really good really good

4:21

report. And what about the transition from

4:24

effectively answering questions to

4:26

quite often asking questions. It's

4:28

much different. Oh

4:30

my gosh. When you're being

4:32

asked questions, you need no

4:34

prep.

4:35

You have no nerves. There's just nothing

4:37

to do. There's not that you just show up.

4:40

because as I've said a million times

4:42

over the twenty seven years of racing

4:44

that I did is, like, they're not going to ask me a question

4:46

that I don't have an answer for. That's why they're

4:48

talking to me. And so when

4:50

you're on the other side of the microphone, though, when you're

4:52

asking questions, there's two things.

4:54

One, shut up and let them talk.

4:56

That's a very important quality.

4:57

but also another one

4:59

as you laugh because you know them. It's it's it's

5:01

kind of challenging sometimes because you wanna say

5:03

something, but you really need to, like, allow

5:05

people to finish their thoughts. another

5:07

important thing is to obviously have some

5:09

awareness and prep and just know what you wanna

5:11

ask them and, you know, so I have a little bit

5:13

more familiarity with that cycle of like,

5:15

okay, who's coming up today? What

5:17

kind of ideas around that person, what

5:19

we'll be talking about? And then you can

5:21

kind of have like a subtle plan.

5:23

I now kind of have a process

5:25

of having at least like two or three questions in

5:27

my mind because sometimes someone

5:30

else will ask a

5:30

question already that I was thinking about,

5:33

and so you need to move on. And the last

5:35

thing you wanna be doing is standing there with

5:37

someone like Christian Horner, Todor Wolff,

5:39

for any of the drivers and

5:41

be like, so and

5:44

ask some really insignificant question.

5:46

That's a waste of their time. Look,

5:48

what's what's your take on f

5:50

one in twenty twenty two? I mean, why don't

5:52

we talk about the world champion Max for

5:54

snapping. Just give us your thoughts on the job you

5:56

think he's done. Yeah. Well, it's, you

5:58

know, the last two years

5:59

that I've obviously been involved and have

6:02

been exciting and last year came

6:04

down to a

6:04

wire, and it was all

6:06

about the the on track stuff driver

6:08

to driver and what

6:09

was happening. And this year, you know, Max,

6:11

really. I mean, obviously, it was a little bit more

6:14

shuffled around in the first part of the season

6:16

with Max having a couple

6:17

of early races with no points.

6:19

and then it, you know, kind of kept swinging

6:21

back and forth, but then Max just took over and

6:23

won everything. And so, you know, we haven't been

6:25

talking about that as much, but of course, then

6:27

there's been so many other top that have

6:30

cropped up throughout the season with rules

6:32

and infringements and penalties

6:34

and, you know, the way the car is

6:36

handling on track and what's a appropriate

6:38

for the drivers to deal with. And so

6:41

there's been other issues. So

6:43

it's not been a lack of

6:45

entertainment. It's just been different

6:47

entertainment this year. Must

6:48

ask you about Lewis as well. Resilience

6:52

is the word that comes to mind when I

6:54

think of him after everything that he went

6:56

through last year and, of course, the difficulties

6:58

with this year's car.

7:00

Have you been impressed by the way

7:02

he's dealt with it? Yeah.

7:03

I have. I mean, I I mean,

7:06

Lewis has been around for a really

7:08

long time, and he's

7:10

seen many different iterations

7:12

of emotions throughout his career.

7:14

So I think that he's done a really good

7:16

job because what you've really, the proof is in

7:18

the pudding. He has been able to

7:20

continue to get better and better throughout the

7:22

season. and that there was

7:24

obviously, you know, a point in time

7:26

early in the season where he was really challenged,

7:28

and you could see the frustration. But rightfully

7:31

so, And and

7:33

so III think that that just speaks

7:35

to his love for the sport and

7:37

his passion and his drive.

7:39

Like, I just feel like he has a lot of drive.

7:41

Gone that one last thing on the drivers. Who

7:43

else has impressed you this year?

7:45

It's really hard to not answer

7:48

with Max. He's at the record for the wins

7:50

in a season. I mean, it's hard to

7:52

say anything but him, but but aside

7:54

from the shoe win, I think there's

7:56

just been so many waves. I think what's made this the

7:58

season exciting is that Charle

8:00

was really good early on and throughout

8:02

the middle. And then, you know,

8:04

Carlos has had a couple of flashes. And

8:07

Sergio had his surge kind of a

8:09

third of the way into the season where we were talking

8:11

about him a lot. And, you know, I

8:13

just think we're you know, we saw a lot of waves of

8:15

different drivers having their moments of, like,

8:17

okay, they're in the mix for the

8:19

championship. And then Max went

8:21

ahead and won, like, seven in a row or something

8:23

like that. But, I mean,

8:25

I I think that I think that's what may that's

8:27

what's made a great season.

8:28

Danica, the explosion of Formula

8:31

One in in the US is real,

8:33

isn't it? It's a

8:34

big deal. And, you know, I was hearing

8:36

about it years and years ago

8:38

from other athletes that

8:40

were fascinated

8:41

with drivers survive. And

8:45

that I'm gonna say it's been pretty

8:47

much single handedly the most

8:49

influential element

8:52

within

8:52

America to making

8:54

Formula one more popular. And,

8:57

you know, it's been

8:57

so much that I feel like you've seen

8:59

other series. NASCAR,

9:01

in particular, I'm thinking of doing

9:04

things to try and recreate that

9:06

magic that Drive to Survive and

9:08

Netflix did with the series. So Why

9:10

why did it resonate with the public so

9:12

much? Well, we got an inside scoop, you

9:14

know. There was like a insight into what the

9:16

sport was like and all this and the personalities

9:18

and the and the politics and

9:20

the dynamics and, you know,

9:22

of course, then pile

9:24

on top of it some you

9:27

know, speed and tires doing

9:29

burnouts and all the cool

9:31

sounds of Formula One and the

9:33

sites, you know, that stuff is visually

9:35

appealing and sounds amazing

9:37

too. So I just think that, you know, the

9:39

series has stimulated the senses in in so

9:41

many different ways. And and has

9:43

really, really made it very popular here.

9:45

And, you know, I heard another thing someone said the other

9:47

day was just that, you know,

9:49

there's it's probably rightfully so that

9:51

America's getting three races, and

9:53

that's fine because America's a really big

9:55

country. And so, you

9:57

know, it can definitely

9:58

hold a lot of different

9:59

races because there's because it's such a big space we

10:02

have. And So last night, I was looking at

10:04

how many Englands can fit

10:06

inside of the United States.

10:08

And it's Do you

10:10

know how big

10:10

do we go? I'm dying to know now. Do you have a

10:13

guess? How big

10:15

do we go? Hundreds. Hundreds.

10:17

It's seventy five and a half. Seventy

10:19

five and a half Englands can fit in America.

10:21

So when you look at Europe and you look at how many

10:23

races are in Europe, you know, you you go,

10:26

okay. Great. You know, I think I think the

10:28

states can handle it, and the

10:30

popularity of the sport has definitely

10:32

driven that demand. What about four

10:34

races in the US? For

10:35

sure. Well, I mean, doing the

10:37

races and living in America, of course. because I

10:39

love for four races. I think there is

10:41

something to be said for a little exclusivity, like,

10:43

to not make something so, so, so

10:46

accessible because when

10:48

you when you when you keep things rare,

10:50

when you keep things special, then

10:52

it creates a demand. It's like the

10:54

restaurant that you can't get a reservation at. So,

10:56

you know, there will undoubtedly

10:58

be people that will wanna go to these races,

11:01

let's say, next year in the

11:03

states between Miami, Vegas, and

11:05

Austin. And they might not be able to get

11:07

a ticket. And so then they'll try

11:09

the next year. So, you know, but if

11:11

you give so many races that it's

11:13

now ordinary or or there

11:15

people have gone to so many. It might not

11:17

be a special. So I I'm

11:19

kind of

11:19

all about all about keeping it

11:22

kind

11:22

of high and tight. Yeah. less

11:24

is more gonna say. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Now

11:27

let's talk about you the

11:29

racing driver now. First of all, in

11:31

the context, to Formula One

11:33

because looking back, a lot was

11:35

said and written about you

11:37

coming to Formula One. And

11:39

how

11:39

do you reflect on it now? how

11:41

close did it get? Mhmm. Not

11:43

Perry. Like, Truly. I I

11:45

don't think I was ever actually, like, really

11:47

properly ever offered a test. It always

11:49

felt like media fodder. It

11:51

felt like something just to drum up attention

11:54

because I never got a phone call.

11:55

Like, there was and there was a cup of two or three different

11:58

times I feel

11:58

like during my career where there

11:59

was news articles and

12:02

media about, like, oh, Danica might be,

12:04

you know, Maybe she should come to f one or is coming

12:06

to f one or maybe doing a test or something. And I'm

12:08

like, nobody's called me. I'm like,

12:10

you've probably find old clips. Nobody's called

12:12

me.

12:12

So Danica, even in two thousand and eight, you were

12:14

very tight with Honda at the time.

12:16

Mhmm. And I definitely remember

12:19

rumors of you doing a test

12:21

with Honda. And then, of course, they pulled out a formal one at the

12:23

end of two eight, so it never happened. But they didn't

12:25

get on the No. No.

12:27

Like, there was never anything that was coming down

12:29

the

12:29

pipeline at all. Now, I

12:31

think there was at one point in time there might have been

12:33

a little bit more of, like, an exhibition drive

12:36

kind of I think it was, like, maybe

12:38

back in the day when Coney Stewart and someone

12:40

else. I can't remember the

12:41

other driver in Formula one that swapped

12:43

cars and kinda drove side by side or drove each

12:45

other's cars a little bit, maybe walk ins Glen

12:47

or something. I might be getting the track wrong,

12:49

but

12:49

I didn't wanna do that either.

12:52

Like, I already am, like,

12:54

you know, to some people, part of, like,

12:56

the show. You know? and just being

12:58

unique and different. So the last thing I wanted to

13:00

do

13:00

is kind of feed into that with some kind of exhibition.

13:02

But does

13:03

the racing driver renew

13:06

want to have a go in one of these cars. If some

13:08

if one of these teams now said Danica,

13:10

come and have a run out. Would would you

13:12

go? Would you do?

13:13

honestly, if I'm I'm being transparent,

13:16

like, that makes me nervous. It

13:18

makes me nervous because it should

13:20

go alright. Right? that would be the expectation

13:22

level. Like, I drove IndyCars for a long time.

13:24

I raced for twenty seven

13:26

years. Like, I did plenty of

13:28

road course racing in my days. Like, it

13:30

should go decent. Right? But what if it

13:32

doesn't? What if it doesn't? Like, does

13:34

that take away from who I am as a driver?

13:36

Because, I don't know. I mean, Part

13:38

of me, if I thought to myself, if I could go out

13:40

there and, like, it was just my damn

13:43

dad and me or something like that going, like, let's see

13:45

what a formula one car feels like and no one would

13:47

ever know. I've got aye. You know,

13:49

cool. Like, I'll just see how it feels. So I

13:51

guess the the media attention and

13:53

the and the reputation for

13:55

whatever happened gets me nervous

13:57

because my job is to perform.

13:59

And even if I'm not

13:59

racing anymore, I still feel that

14:02

pressure. I mean, like, I've felt

14:04

pressure to throw a pitch on top of a

14:06

mound during a baseball game when I throw out first pitch.

14:08

I'm like, I'm an athlete. I'm supposed to do that

14:10

well. And so I probably put

14:12

more pressure on myself than necessary,

14:14

but think to feel one would be

14:16

interesting. I my my life does not,

14:18

like, ride on this on the

14:20

on the balance of me getting to feel what a

14:22

Formula One car

14:22

is like. guess it would be pretty cool

14:25

to have driven

14:25

IndyCar, NASCAR, Formula

14:27

One Car, all

14:28

of that, have that experience. So

14:30

it could be an interesting idea,

14:32

especially with doing a more commentating

14:34

and just having a little bit of a feel

14:36

for what is going on in the

14:38

cockpit and what the car feels like could

14:40

be

14:40

of a very interesting perspective. This is quite

14:43

interesting. You've been retired, what, four years

14:45

now. Mhmm. The competitor in you has

14:47

not gone anywhere has I

14:48

mean, be like, okay, what's a reasonable amount that

14:50

I could be off? And, like,

14:53

people respect me still. Like, would I

14:55

have to be within, like, two

14:57

seconds to be respected? What if I'm

14:59

four seconds off? What if I go out and I'm a

15:01

freaking half a second off? And then I look like

15:03

maybe I should

15:03

start driving from

15:04

one. But I you're

15:06

right. The the competitor in me can't ever go

15:08

away. I mean, when I pull up to a stoplight in

15:11

my regular car, I still pull

15:13

in front of everyone at the line.

15:15

It's just in my

15:15

nature. It might

15:18

not be immediately obvious but there are a

15:20

lot of similarities between Formula One

15:22

and running your own business. Think about

15:24

it. There's high stakes, a lot of

15:26

competition, and you need to have confidence

15:28

in every new hire you make to help you

15:30

reach your goals and finish the year strong.

15:33

That's why when you're hiring, it's

15:35

important that you have access to the best

15:37

and most qualified candidates available. I'm not

15:39

a small business owner, but I know

15:41

that LinkedIn jobs would be my first

15:43

stop if I was looking to help fill a role

15:45

because LinkedIn jobs help you find the right

15:47

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15:49

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15:51

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15:53

post online and make sure you use their built

15:55

in tools like screening questions to

15:57

ensure you're targeting the best people

15:59

with the required skills and

16:01

qualifications for the role. My top tip is

16:03

to add the purple hiring hashtag frame

16:05

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16:07

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16:09

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16:11

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16:13

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16:15

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16:30

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16:36

Where

16:38

did your impression for racing come

16:41

from? My

16:41

dad used to race when he was younger when

16:43

Race what? What did he say? He raced snowmobiles.

16:46

So I guess first, he would have raised

16:49

motorcraffs. Then after that, he raised

16:51

snowmobiles and then, like,

16:53

on ice flat tracks, like, sliding

16:55

sideways, that stuff. And

16:57

he actually met my mom at a snowmobile

17:00

race on a blind date, so that's

17:02

That's where they got together. And then he raced midjets.

17:05

They're sprint cars which have the big wings, but this

17:07

is without the wing. So he raced

17:08

on dirt tracks again, sideways

17:11

on ovals.

17:12

So I have racing, you know, there's

17:14

racing in my family, and we were really looking

17:16

for something to do together as a family so

17:18

that we could just time together because my

17:20

dad worked, my mom stayed home and looked after my

17:22

sister and I. So once my sister was

17:24

born, she's two years younger than I am.

17:26

That's when my dad quit racing. And

17:29

then seven years after that

17:31

probably, that's when we got go kart. So,

17:33

yeah, I I think it's just in the family.

17:35

I understand it. but I could

17:37

truly use anything competitive to fuel my

17:39

fire. Like, I mean, whether it's

17:41

like performing a like, having a good interview

17:43

and asking good questions,

17:46

or getting more extreme and doing

17:48

something physically challenging, be it

17:50

a marathon and

17:51

or

17:52

bungee jumping. I enjoy

17:55

pushing myself and finding that and like pushing the limits.

17:57

And I actually always thought that the limit

17:59

was what was scary to

17:59

me. Like, I'm a very methodical driver. I

18:01

build up a little bit slower,

18:04

so I like that challenge, and I

18:06

didn't know that about myself when I was racing.

18:08

Was it the challenge that

18:10

you loved almost more than the driving I

18:12

don't know if it was in Gmail. It it's true

18:13

because I don't like, racing

18:16

is cool and great, and I

18:18

loved it and I understand it,

18:21

and it's interesting, and

18:23

I've been passionate about it.

18:25

But, like, it's not the only thing I

18:27

love. And I think that it's a little representative

18:29

of, like, something that you just do for

18:31

fun when or that you

18:33

really enjoyed doing when you do it on your

18:36

free time. And so I don't just go to the races

18:38

and hang out. Like, I like getting

18:40

involved in something when there's a

18:42

challenge. So if there's not a

18:44

challenge, it's just I

18:46

find myself doing personal development far more

18:48

than anything, retreats

18:50

or books or

18:52

watching interesting videos or

18:55

taking in content about the universe or

18:57

something like that. Like, I find myself,

19:00

shoot, going to therapy, I find and I like

19:02

doing even. So Like, I

19:04

am very much in personal development, and

19:06

so that's something that I do a lot of my

19:08

free time, which is really where the podcast

19:10

fits in for me because it's to me,

19:12

it's I was already consuming information. And

19:14

now, I'm just able to direct that

19:16

information to certain people so that I

19:18

can be intelligent when I

19:20

speak to them and hopefully I ask them something maybe they

19:22

haven't been asked

19:22

before. So was it a fear of

19:25

failure or the lure of success? probably

19:28

more the fear of failure. I think I said that

19:30

early on in my life too, like that

19:32

that scares me the most. More than

19:34

speed or any of those

19:35

things is just like not being

19:37

good. Did

19:37

you have any racing heroes back then? That's, you

19:39

know, whenever somebody would ask me about that,

19:41

it's interesting because it probably leads to like

19:43

one of the most cotable things I've

19:45

I usually say, which is that I wanted to be the first me,

19:47

not the next somebody else. And

19:50

I, like, I had great people around me,

19:52

but I used them all as

19:53

like, teachers. I

19:54

didn't wanna be like them and it wasn't like

19:56

a like a rude thing. I didn't I just

19:58

didn't think about them like

19:59

that. I thought, how can they help me

20:02

progress? I I just yeah. I've learned from

20:04

the people around me. And so and

20:06

I was just yeah. I just I don't know.

20:08

I

20:08

think I inherently just knew I was a

20:10

little different and Whenever you try and

20:12

be like somebody else, you

20:14

just can't. Like,

20:16

it's not possible. You'll

20:18

fall short. You'll always fall short because it's

20:21

not you. the best thing that you can do is a b is

20:23

b u because you are

20:25

unique. Like, to be like anybody

20:27

else is is a is an isn't

20:29

is already a conceding some level of failure,

20:31

I think. Who did you admire? I

20:33

think admire is a better word. I would

20:35

agree with that word. one of the

20:37

drivers that I liked growing up was Jocke's

20:40

Villeneuve. And what's

20:40

funny is that when I was

20:42

in the Nationwide series in I

20:45

had the opportunity to race against jocks, and I had

20:47

the opportunity to look good against jocks. So

20:49

here's the story. So we were he

20:51

would do the road courses. This is back

20:53

in two thousand and and

20:56

twelve. We were at

20:58

Road America, and it

21:00

was coming down to the last lap. And I think I

21:02

was fourth, and he was fifth, and we were

21:04

coming down the hill from the on

21:06

the back straightaway

21:07

to a hard left hand corner, downhill

21:10

braking, and he just punted

21:12

me.

21:12

And so he proceeded on, I don't know, wherever

21:14

I finished. And then the next

21:16

time that we met and so then the

21:18

the conversation after was obviously that

21:21

you know, I was ahead of him and, like, he's

21:23

just being a jerk and, like, taking me

21:25

out. And I was, like, there's some level

21:27

of satisfaction that it could have never

21:30

dreamed that achieve to look good next to the one guy that

21:32

I really like liked and

21:34

thought, man, if I could have a career

21:36

like that, that'd be pretty amazing, which

21:38

was you know, going to Indy the first year, and

21:40

I think finishing second, maybe one the next year,

21:42

going to Formula One and winning. And it's like, I

21:44

was like, that's pretty amazing. And so to

21:46

have that happen. And then fast forward to

21:48

Montreal. And we, of course, started on the

21:51

same row together. We qualified like

21:53

third and fourth, I think. And so we rode

21:55

around in the truck at Montreal. And then I'm

21:56

in the lead, and it's this very

21:59

bizarre scenario

21:59

where I it was going

22:02

out in the back, the s's leads on to the

22:04

back straightaway before the hairpin. And

22:06

as you come around that bend, there's a bridge

22:09

and there was a shoe in the

22:11

middle of the racing line. And I came

22:13

around first and I literally hit

22:15

the shoe and broke my rear

22:17

suspension. Like, it knocked out a u bolt or

22:19

something like that. I'm not super technical. So

22:21

but my rear end was moving around So

22:23

I kept for a while, but, like, I had to turn the car

22:25

to, like, set it because it would, like, slam

22:27

side to side because there was slop

22:29

in the rear end. And so I

22:31

had to keep setting it for every corner

22:33

before I got there. In the end, it ended

22:35

up breaking. But that's my jocksville news

22:37

story. It's a great it's a great story.

22:39

And of course, Racing is we're

22:42

just it's one big family, isn't it? And of course,

22:44

in Austin last weekend, no doubt

22:46

you're you're catching up with

22:48

Jacques and a lot of the guys you race with in England, which we're gonna

22:50

come on to, you're now working with

22:51

at Sky. It's it's it's like

22:53

one big family reunion every time.

22:55

Small world. Small world. I mean,

22:58

even like Paul DeResta, I mean, I knew him when he was

23:00

a kid. I was living in England when I was sixteen

23:02

and nineteen years old. And, you know, he's

23:04

related to dario Frankidi, and

23:06

I knew Marina raced with Marino, Dario's

23:09

brother, and, you

23:09

know, so I, like, I knew him Anthony

23:12

Davidson who I worked with in

23:14

Austin finally. we race together. We were

23:16

on the same team where

23:18

he won the festival in two thousand and

23:20

I finished second, so we knew each

23:22

other really well. So, yeah, it's a

23:24

small, small world. And and then as a fun,

23:27

I took a picture and sent the

23:29

picture of Anthony and I to

23:31

Lee Duffy, and maybe people are familiar with Lee as a

23:33

great voice. He announces for IndyCar

23:35

and Olympics and all

23:36

kinds of amazing sports. And that

23:39

Festival Event in two thousand where Anthony won and

23:41

I was second, Lee was announcing that

23:43

race. And so then I got to say hi to

23:45

Lee last weekend, I see him, of course, at the

23:47

IndyCar races. But yeah, just super small

23:49

world. It really is. And tell

23:52

us why you went to England because

23:54

well, you were sixteen at the time. Yeah. That's

23:56

a big move. I just wanted to get out of high

23:58

school. Nice he getting

23:59

exiting. mean You go to any lengths.

24:02

That was

24:02

a perk. I mean, to get out of high school was

24:04

a perk. Right? I just didn't have to, you

24:06

know, go anymore. Can you imagine being a

24:08

junior? And I left half way

24:10

through my junior year and just, you

24:13

know, that was it. And so it

24:15

was very cool. I was like,

24:17

great. And I and I wasn't I was

24:18

I was a good student. I just was fun.

24:20

I didn't have to go to high school anymore. But it was

24:23

really just a place where I could cut my teeth

24:25

and have an opportunity to race all

24:27

year and you know, there

24:28

was just someone a long long time ago that said I could

24:30

learn more in one year in England than five years in

24:32

America. And I was like, well, that sounds like a

24:34

good plan. And it's not true. Do you

24:37

think It's not it's not at all true. I learned

24:39

more about life there in one year than

24:41

five years in America because I had

24:43

to grow up really fast because, you

24:45

know, I was alone in England and I was sixteen

24:47

and had to learn what it was like to,

24:50

you know, put a wall up a little bit and, like, be a

24:52

little

24:52

protective of myself and not be so

24:55

naive and and also fend

24:57

for myself and and and also

24:59

show that grit and determination and passion,

25:01

and that's ultimately what

25:01

got me the ride with Bobby Rehaut. When I came back,

25:04

when I was nineteen, was that

25:06

he saw that I was over there and and doing

25:08

the difficult and sticking it out and showing

25:10

that passion. Did you get home

25:12

sick? No. No. I don't

25:14

really get have lived in so many

25:16

houses in my life and traveled so much. I feel

25:18

like I don't really get I it's a

25:20

tough it's not a feeling I get

25:22

too much. thankfully so, I guess, without

25:24

much on the road that we all do.

25:26

I didn't get homesick, but I

25:29

definitely, you know, it would get

25:31

sad just not having not

25:33

doing better than what I was doing. And,

25:34

you know, the festival in finishing second was

25:36

a highlight of when I was over there, but there was a

25:38

lot that wasn't such a highlight. were

25:41

your

25:41

ambitions at this point? Were you thinking

25:43

Formula One? Were you just taking it

25:45

from one race to the next one year

25:47

to the next Now

25:48

that goes, Formula One. I mean, when I lived

25:50

in England, it was Formula One, and I truly said

25:53

many times I was like, anything less than Formula One, it

25:55

was a failure. because that was the

25:57

top. And so, you know, it's

25:58

like shoot for the moon and, you know, if

26:01

you miss, it's still probably pretty

26:03

good. So And and also, who's to say that

26:05

Formula One was the

26:05

best place for me? You know, one thing that

26:07

I learned in England was

26:10

and it came at the festival

26:12

like my mom was there and I was

26:14

just having such a good time and my

26:16

emotions were good and I was saying hi to

26:18

everybody. I remember I waved like literally every

26:21

yellow shirt every all weekend long.

26:23

I just was having a really fun weekend,

26:25

and and I had a great weekend. There was

26:27

not only the festival, but there was also a

26:29

European championship race, and I

26:31

was up at the front for all of it. And

26:33

and I just saw how helpful it was

26:35

for me to be happy.

26:38

And I just wasn't that happy in

26:40

England. And so I I don't

26:42

know. I don't know if Formula One really would have

26:44

been the right place for me anyway.

26:46

I find that my results come

26:48

when I'm the most emotionally

26:51

happy and excited and,

26:53

you know, I also don't know if I could have dealt with

26:55

the breakfast in England much longer. It's just

26:57

not up to snuff for me, you

26:59

know. Where were you living in England?

27:02

Milton Keynes. So that was Stuart

27:04

Grand Prix time. They just set up, I think, hadn't they?

27:06

Yeah. One of the girls that I first started living

27:08

with worked there. Did you meet Jackie Stewart?

27:10

Oh, yeah. Yeah. I

27:10

actually saw him in Austin too. Yeah.

27:12

I met Jackie. Actually, Jackie took me around

27:14

the track in Fulton Park. He's

27:16

been here at Did you park the tennis pool?

27:18

The tennis pool was on it. No. But

27:20

he totally, like, I know what you're probably alluding to, which is

27:22

just how smooth he was on and off the brake and just

27:25

that always stuck with me too, if I'm being

27:28

honest. Like, he was he I was Rick, such

27:30

a smooth ride with him. And

27:32

so so I knew Jackie. Yeah. And I would go

27:34

to that their their Formula One

27:36

shop, you

27:36

know, every now and again, and Yeah. So I

27:38

did know Jackie. And and did the second place in the

27:40

formal afford festival open anymore doors? Did

27:43

it was it gonna prolong your stay

27:45

in Europe? Not

27:46

really. Not really. Actually, what

27:48

ended up happening in driving me home

27:50

was that the team that I

27:52

finished the festival second with was

27:54

called the

27:54

Haywood. And Haywood, I think.

27:57

Yeah. Yeah. And they

27:58

had four drivers on that

27:59

team, and they didn't wanna

28:02

have five. So they put me on, like, a second level team.

28:04

And then for the festival, they brought me into

28:06

the tent for the festival, and that was kind of the

28:08

end of the season. And then the next

28:10

year, I was supposed, you know, I'm gonna

28:12

be on the main team. So I am. But then

28:14

they also added another driver and made it five. And

28:16

I was like, well, you know what? Screw you.

28:18

And so I felt like I I was always the fifth

28:21

driver, you know? And I I think there's just

28:23

something to be said for being you

28:25

almost you'd almost wanna be, like, number one

28:27

driver of secondary team than you'd

28:29

wanna be fifth driver of a first team.

28:31

And I just wasn't getting what I

28:33

deserved. And I remember it was I

28:35

think we were racing at I think it

28:37

was I'd only race to that one

28:39

time that I didn't actually race that

28:41

because it was halfway through the weekend

28:43

and my manager said stay home. So stayed

28:45

home and I didn't

28:45

go I only practiced the first day and then I

28:47

never and I didn't go back for the rest of the

28:50

weekend. That was it. That was my last

28:52

time. And my manager said, well, you'll

28:54

come home, we'll figure something out, and we'll get

28:56

you what you need. And that didn't

28:58

happen, but I did come home and I did

29:00

figure something out on my own, and my dad and

29:02

I pounded the streets at the racetrack of

29:04

IndyCar races for the next year, and that

29:06

ultimately landed me with Bob. When did you first

29:08

meet, Bobby? In England, So

29:09

when he was running Jaguar racing. Correct.

29:11

Oh, okay. Yeah. We went to TGI Fridays.

29:14

I'm really keen.

29:16

Okay. I just asked

29:16

if there's still the TGI Fridays there and

29:18

they said

29:19

yes. So was that still

29:21

with a view of of Formula One and

29:23

Jaguar racing and No. No. Mm-mm. No.

29:25

I was okay with

29:26

coming home. I was kinda over

29:28

at that point in time. And I'd gotten a

29:30

little bit more sad over there. I

29:32

was living alone the last year, and

29:34

man, I was I was telling the story that

29:36

the most depressing day was I was getting ready

29:38

to. I was like, oh, it's sunny out great. I'll put

29:40

my shoes on and my workout clothes. I go

29:43

running. I lived in Milton Keynes on

29:45

the, like, east side where there

29:47

was

29:47

a lake. There was like a lake over there. I can't

29:49

remember the name

29:49

of it. There was a big windmill too. And

29:52

so I I got my shoes on and opened up the

29:54

door, and I up the

29:55

door and it's sunny but it's now raining while

29:57

it's sunny. And I just remember kinda

29:59

having,

29:59

like, a moment of, like,

30:01

this sucks.

30:03

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31:39

So you come home. You hook up with Bobby. I

31:41

think it was Barbara Dodge first, if I'm

31:43

right? Correct. Yep. I did like fibrosis, isn't that?

31:45

How did you find ovals?

31:48

how difficult was that to adapt to? It wasn't.

31:50

Like, I

31:50

took that pretty well. I think that was

31:52

something that surprised me even. I don't

31:54

know why and you didn't ask me

31:57

necessarily, but there's a

31:59

level of trust in yourself that

32:01

you have to have and not overdriving

32:03

because you'll crash. know, I wasn't as

32:05

adventurous with the lines as everyone, and I could really

32:07

see that in NASCAR, especially from the from the

32:10

guys that did dirt racing. I mean, those guys

32:12

would run any line on the track, including

32:14

right next to the wall. I don't know if you've seen

32:16

out

32:16

fascinatingly awesome and astonishing

32:18

it is to watch like Larson drive next

32:20

to the wall, but it is not something I can

32:22

do. And so I maybe I'm not

32:24

as adventurous, but I what I was very

32:27

consistent. And I tended to not make

32:29

make too many mistakes and

32:31

hitting my marks was something I was, you

32:33

know, I think I I focused on a lot

32:35

And so I think that that made oval racing for

32:38

me something that that really was

32:40

pretty

32:40

natural. Is it hard to be good at

32:42

both both ovals and road racing? No.

32:44

I don't think so. don't think so.

32:46

I I don't think it's hard to be good at both. I mean,

32:48

one of the things that is a little different with some

32:50

of the ovals is when you're running side by side

32:52

versus a setup of a pass. So places where you

32:54

had to set up a pass I was a little better at than

32:56

the side by side just because, you know, that

32:59

was something I wasn't as

33:00

familiar with. really, like, going two hundred

33:02

and twenty miles an hour, like, we're, like, and, you

33:04

know,

33:04

six to twelve inches from someone and

33:07

running all these different lines and

33:09

trusting that they weren't gonna

33:10

be stupid. but when it came to places like

33:13

Milwaukee or Martinsville or, you

33:15

know, just places that were more classic

33:17

ovals where you'd set up a

33:19

or even some of the ovals in IndyCar when it would

33:21

be one lane

33:21

in the corners more so just because of,

33:23

like, marbles and debris. It just some

33:25

of the tracks kind of funneled into that

33:28

kind of dial during the race. Those are

33:30

some of them I felt like I did better because I would be

33:32

able to sort of set up the pass. But

33:34

yeah, I I think you can

33:35

be good at both for Sure. Is Indianapolis one of

33:37

those ovals that you've just described where you get

33:39

the one How did I forget that? How did I forget Andy?

33:41

Yeah. It's a total set up the past

33:43

thing. There's not much side by side at India. It's not the

33:46

wise way

33:46

to go around. Right. But doctor Water,

33:48

two thousand and five, you

33:50

qualify brilliantly, you lead the race for nineteen

33:53

laps you finished. But, I mean, huge moment in your

33:55

career? Yeah. Yeah.

33:56

I at least felt like I would have a ride the next

33:58

year with that. I was like, because, you know, you

34:00

get into indi

34:02

car or whatever, you get into the top level

34:03

of motorsports and, you

34:05

know, getting there seems like it's the hardest

34:07

thing and it probably is, but then the next hardest thing

34:09

is staying there. And so I

34:11

remember thinking my first year, like,

34:14

god, I'm here, but I have to stay

34:16

here. Like, I have to show them that I

34:18

deserve to be here. And I

34:20

felt like, you know,

34:22

especially, you know, grateful

34:24

for the media attention. But

34:26

of course, the media attention came because I almost won. So I was like, okay,

34:28

you know, here we are, like, the third and fourth or

34:30

fourth and fifth race of the season, and

34:34

I qualified on the front row at Montegi, the race before and

34:36

finished fourth. And then I went to India and nearly

34:38

qualified in the poll if I would have gotten loose

34:40

or, you know, of course, that's a story I

34:44

tell. and qualified fourth and finished fourth. And I was like,

34:46

alright. I think I might get to

34:48

stay for at least next year now because, like,

34:51

I'm up there with the guys and and we've made quite

34:54

a splash. Do you get emotional? I

34:55

mean, when you have a great result like the

34:57

one at Indi, do you

34:59

allow yourself to reflect

35:01

and say, I'm really

35:03

good. Oh,

35:04

I don't know about that. I

35:06

I was recently in therapy about that

35:08

thinking like, do I do I feel like I'm actually

35:10

really good? Like, do I I

35:12

don't know. Was I like, did I trick

35:16

everyone?

35:16

I think the evidence was there in India in two thousand and five. Thanks. Amy,

35:19

thank

35:19

you. I I don't know if that's just

35:22

the sort

35:24

of the nature of competition is pushing

35:26

yourself and not all like,

35:27

what if I just, like, I'm awesome. That's

35:29

it. Great. You know? I don't know. Where does that

35:31

propel you to? feeling

35:34

like you're needing to prove yourself all

35:36

the time that kinda keeps you going and

35:38

and keeps you accountable to yourself instead

35:41

of just pointing a finger and

35:43

thinking It's your fault. There's a there's a

35:45

certain sort of, like, accountability that comes

35:47

with not knowing how and

35:50

what your, like, level of contribution is and

35:52

that you have keep

35:53

proving yourself. And do you think that's the same with

35:55

all top drivers? I remember Michael

35:57

Schumer used to have a

35:59

test

35:59

every January they would just let him do some laps, and he just had to remind

36:02

himself to see if he could still do it,

36:04

still be really good. Do you think Scott Dixon,

36:06

do you think Lewis Hamilton makes

36:08

for stepping do you think they

36:10

all feel the need to

36:12

continue proving themselves?

36:14

Well,

36:14

there's probably varying degrees of

36:17

that. Right? proving yourself to stick around in the sport, which

36:18

we're seeing, you know, you getting

36:20

to the end of the season here, you see

36:22

drivers out there trying just trying to

36:24

hang on, whether it be Daniel Ricardo

36:27

or Mick Schumacher, you know, you're seeing

36:29

drivers just trying to prove themselves out there. And

36:31

then you're then you can see it

36:33

on another level where

36:34

you're trying to be the best driver in a

36:36

team, but now you're talking about the best driver in

36:38

a team where, you know, the competition is

36:41

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell level. Right? So there's

36:43

definitely levels to this proving yourself. And

36:46

then there's, you know, the proving yourself

36:48

to the point where you win x

36:50

amount of races or a championship or

36:52

multiple championships. So I think

36:54

it's kind of built in. I

36:56

don't know. I mean, I'm sure that you know, anybody

36:58

any of these formula one drivers, you can just say they're

37:00

good because they're in formula one. After

37:02

that, it's like, you know, you're you're

37:04

you're trying to prove

37:06

probably

37:06

varying different things. And so I'm sure that everyone can say

37:08

especially at the top when we're talking about

37:10

like

37:10

big names, yeah, I'm good. Yeah. Yeah.

37:13

They know they're good, but

37:16

How

37:16

good? Let's fast forward

37:17

to two thousand and eight. Motaghi, you win

37:19

that amazing race.

37:22

Fuel saving, passing Hello,

37:24

cast whenever it's just how did

37:26

that win shift your

37:28

goals in the sport? You've

37:30

ticked

37:30

that box, sports night. I mean,

37:31

it was nice to do it, and I just really wish I would have

37:34

done it more times. And I there was many more

37:36

opportunities. And, you know, I

37:38

really felt like my two thousand seven

37:40

season was probably strongest one. And probably if

37:42

there's anything when I look back at my career, it

37:44

was two thousand seven and, you know,

37:46

Indy five hundred

37:46

comes early in the year and was

37:48

on a team with a bunch of drivers, and Dario had won the race at had

37:51

won the Indy five hundred, and we kind

37:53

of were all instructed to help him

37:55

win the championship that year. And,

37:57

you know, I ran the top five, like, every weekend.

37:59

And I I found myself

38:02

following him a lot, and I just looked back

38:04

at those raises and think, what if I just said screw it? You know?

38:06

What if I just said, I'm gonna pass them? You

38:08

know? Like, that should have been

38:10

okay. And maybe I just should have done it.

38:12

You know? but I can look back to

38:14

that year and think, man, there was a lot

38:16

of times I was running up front and I don't know,

38:18

would they materialize and wins? I

38:20

don't know. it would have made me feel better

38:22

that I would have tried for them a little bit more. And I know that sounds a little crazy coming from me,

38:24

but, like, when you are running, like, you know,

38:26

a hundred and

38:28

eighty laps to a two hundred fifty

38:30

lap race and, you know, you're like, oh, just hang

38:32

there, just ride behind him. Like, what happens

38:34

if I would have taken a lead at that point in time?

38:36

You know, how would that have played out in

38:38

the race? and and so team orders

38:40

can and will always be part of racing

38:42

no matter how much they wanna police that

38:45

stuff.

38:45

Danica, you and I have only just met,

38:48

but I can see you're so

38:50

competitive. Why didn't you

38:52

pass stereo?

38:52

Well, because we're just, like, the team instructions were to just gonna

38:54

help them and follow them and, like, let's just keep

38:56

it orderly and, you know,

38:58

and and I just, you know,

39:02

I think

39:02

Dario would have respected you. Oh, yeah. And it's nothing against

39:04

Dario. I mean, this was just like the team

39:06

trying to win a championship. And

39:09

And so, you know, it's just

39:11

just a memory I have. And

39:13

memories are memories are also this

39:15

very interesting thing that are I

39:17

don't know what it is. I don't know how much time

39:19

it takes, but at some point in time become

39:22

like fifty percent inaccurate.

39:24

And so you know, I'm telling you my memories, but the reality of

39:26

it, who knows, maybe I had never had a damn

39:28

chance at winning any one of those races. But

39:30

my memory

39:32

said, I wish I would have passed and driven as hard as I could

39:34

and not followed anyone that year. But

39:36

of course, we're talking about winning in

39:40

Japan and and how

39:40

that, you know, you asked if that changed my career or anything or

39:42

goals or anything and it didn't really.

39:44

I actually thought I would have made a bigger difference

39:47

especially from a marketing perspective, I, you

39:48

know, I felt like I always heard that,

39:51

you know, when you win, that'll be win, and

39:53

then I won, and it was like nothing.

39:55

And

39:55

I'm like, okay, great. Look,

39:57

see, clearly, very at home in an Indy

39:59

car. Why the

39:59

switch to NASCAR in twenty twelve? It really was

40:02

down

40:03

to overall. I mean, I

40:05

just really enjoyed oval racing and and IndyCar had gone

40:07

from only three road courses to

40:09

majority road courses.

40:12

And

40:12

I just really enjoyed. I liked

40:14

her oval racing. I felt I just felt like

40:17

I don't know. I struggled on qualifying. I struggled

40:19

qualifying on road courses. I'd usually have good

40:21

races and and would always climb my way up and

40:23

and have decent results, but but that was a

40:25

little bit of a challenge for

40:27

whatever reason. And and I just

40:30

felt

40:30

like ovals were more I just had better

40:32

chances of winning. And NASCAR

40:34

was all ovals, basically. So

40:36

And I just was excited and interested in change. At that point in time, I wasn't

40:38

super happy with my team and where I was at

40:40

and the dynamics within it that were more

40:44

like on a

40:44

political, like, or more internal level. It wasn't necessarily teammates. It

40:47

was just the inner

40:48

workings of a of a deal

40:50

with a driver and a team. So

40:52

I just kinda wasn't happy with a few various things.

40:54

And I was like, let's just make a change.

40:56

If there's one thing I can't

40:58

say about myself is that I'm

41:00

prepared for

41:01

change. Meaning, like, I'm okay with it. You know?

41:03

I have a reaction like everyone else I feel

41:05

like when it comes to change where

41:07

it's like, oh, Okay.

41:10

And then I'm like, well, maybe it'll be better

41:12

than I could ever expect,

41:14

and you don't know unless you try.

41:16

So so I I learned that very early

41:18

on in my life with simple things

41:20

like changing

41:20

crew chiefs or engineers

41:22

or

41:22

teams and thinking,

41:24

oh, great. Now what's gonna happen

41:26

and then having things go better and you

41:28

go. Well, change can be a good thing.

41:31

And

41:31

was change a good

41:32

thing? Yeah. I was. I had a

41:35

blast.

41:35

What they like to drive? Oh, they're much

41:38

more lethargic. You know? The Jackie Stewart stuff

41:40

came into play -- Okay. -- get on that brake

41:42

smoothly. You know, don't

41:42

you gotta turn them in a little bit earlier

41:44

in an open wheel car with all that

41:48

down for and straight line braking, you know, you'll wait till the last minute to

41:50

turn in and have, like, a really long straight

41:52

exit out. But in

41:54

a stop, car, you have to load the

41:56

car up and you have to get it turned in early

41:58

and there's a lot more mechanisms

41:59

within the car that

42:00

kinda get it to, like, yaw out

42:03

and turn sideways. Actually, that's a funny story when

42:05

I was I heard the word yaw for the first time. I was

42:07

testing a stock car in Florida. It was

42:09

my

42:09

first test. And my

42:11

crew chief then Tony Yary Junior. He

42:13

said, you know, when you get that thing there,

42:15

y'all out. And I was like, they say

42:18

y'all for everything. And I was like, oh, no. He

42:20

said, yeah. And I was like, what the hell

42:22

is yeah?

42:24

And so they they have a

42:26

few more things that kind of get the car rotated

42:28

in the middle with throttle. So you but

42:30

you gotta load that

42:31

car up because that sucker is, you know, thirty

42:33

five hundred pounds. Well, and you put it

42:35

on the pole at the Daytona five So clearly, you made the switch

42:38

successfully, but how difficult was

42:40

it to go from IndyCar to NASCAR? And

42:42

I'm thinking

42:44

of the journey that Jimmy Johnson's been on recently going the other way

42:46

admittedly, but clearly it's not straightforward.

42:48

No. I I personally think it's

42:50

a little easier to probably go from IndyCar and

42:54

NASCAR. I commend Jimmy on going from NASCAR to IndyCar because IndyCar's

42:56

are a totally different beast. Everything

42:58

happens so much faster. They're

43:00

just so quick and like

43:04

whether it's throttle acceleration, restarts, or a freaking

43:06

blur.

43:07

And it's just like

43:09

Indy cars are just I

43:12

feel like a little more challenging in some different ways and a lot of it has to just

43:14

do with speed. Now stock cars are

43:16

very challenging in their own their own unique

43:18

ways, but

43:20

I commend Jimmy for the efforts in in IndyCar.

43:21

But yeah, I I how did it go? I

43:24

mean, I think there was definitely some years of

43:26

figuring

43:26

things out something simple. Like, I

43:29

didn't even know that I needed to give feedback on the water

43:31

and oil temperature. And then I found out,

43:33

oh, that's really important because can

43:35

put more tape on the front of the grill in the front. That's

43:37

more down force. Like, there's just simple things

43:40

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43:42

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45:15

It was a great

45:18

racing

45:18

career. Thank you. Really

45:20

was. Thank

45:20

you. Why did you retire?

45:23

Good great. So,

45:24

yes, you're a good question. I

45:26

was, like, thirty six. It

45:28

was two thousand seventeen and there's

45:30

just a lot of signs pointing in that

45:32

direction. And I kind of approached that year

45:35

with the perspective of

45:38

letting things happen naturally. And I

45:40

didn't effort for anything. So I didn't,

45:42

like, go knocking down doors and

45:45

call in all this sponsors doing all

45:47

the things. I was like, this stuff all lines up and there's a team and there's a

45:49

sponsor and all these things. Great. I'll be back.

45:51

And if not, that's

45:54

okay. So in seventeen, one of the first big things that

45:55

happened was at the very beginning of the year. My sponsor

45:57

was starting year two of three. So they'd

45:59

only

45:59

done one year, my

46:02

primary sponsor. and they just

46:04

pulled out. They had some sort of

46:06

reasoning and whatever else, but they pull they were

46:08

pulling out. And they were the primary

46:10

sponsor. So they were you know, I have

46:12

some thirty million a year or whatever it was in

46:14

NASCAR.

46:14

And so it was kind of that

46:16

that happened first. And then later on,

46:18

it was that the team didn't wanna have me they they they released me and weren't gonna have

46:20

me back and someone else was gonna fill that

46:22

spot that had full sponsorship and

46:26

So that happened. And and I just I

46:28

was kind of spiritually, emotionally

46:30

of growing and evolving, and and

46:32

sometimes part of that journey is

46:35

growing out of spaces that you're in. It's good and bad, you know. It

46:37

means that the good is that you're growing and

46:40

evolving, and then the bad is that life changes.

46:42

And so you know, I was

46:44

becoming increasingly less like happy in

46:46

the environment that I was in. I kind of could

46:48

start to feel and see like

46:50

how brutal it was and

46:52

just how you know, the idea that you had to be a total dick to be

46:54

successful is not my

46:56

personality. Like, I can be tough, but I'm not Like,

46:58

I don't wanna have to be

47:00

a jerk. And do

47:01

you think you really need to be like that?

47:03

Yeah. I mean, that's what drivers would

47:06

say. I mean, you know, just to take people

47:08

out or be cutthroat

47:10

and just I mean, I think there is some degree of that. There's some degree

47:12

of that. You know? I mean, you can see that even

47:14

in Formula One. You look at the drivers that

47:16

are known to

47:18

be aggressive. they do well. Right? And people, you know, they they have that

47:20

reputation. And so, you know, I'm not

47:22

saying that's the only thing. It's just and then

47:24

just kind

47:26

of the energy of the people around me. I just kind of felt like, man,

47:28

it's just I don't feel a lot of

47:30

joy out here anymore. It's

47:32

a grind. And I know

47:34

the Formula one goes all over the world and it's

47:36

like a this is a it's definitely a grinding

47:38

formula one to be on the road. But

47:40

when you race, like, thirty nine

47:42

out of forty weeks in the year, literally

47:44

almost every single one of them back to

47:46

back. Depending on the year, you get one

47:48

or two weeks off in the entire season.

47:51

that's a grind. And like I just people just didn't seem as

47:54

happy as, like, I wanted to

47:56

be around.

47:56

And so I kind of

47:58

just allowed the

47:59

transition to happen. That really is

48:01

a treadmill actually, isn't it? Thirty five

48:04

races a year. It's yeah. I mean, it's Jumping

48:06

on in March and you're not getting over It's thirty

48:08

six

48:08

regular season and then there was the

48:10

first race of the year, which was the bud shoot out it now. And then

48:13

there was the clash, and then then there

48:15

was the All Star race. So

48:18

thirty eight thirty eight races, and it was all done in the

48:20

total of about

48:21

forty weeks. And it was hang up the

48:23

helmet completely. You weren't tempted to try something else.

48:25

Go back to

48:28

IndyCar. No. Mm-mm. No. I'm okay. It's like when I did the Boston

48:30

Marathon and they were like, you're gonna do another one and

48:32

I'm like, one and done. I said,

48:34

you obviously did a good time.

48:37

I you know, my goal of Boston was to

48:39

get under four hours and Did you do it?

48:41

I almost did. My I ran my

48:44

sister and one of my

48:46

best friends. and we my sister and I got

48:48

down to the end and I'm looking at

48:50

my watch and my watch is showing

48:52

twenty six point two and I

48:54

am like, We

48:56

are not at the finish line yet. And

48:58

so we finished in 401

49:01

twenty and we ran twenty

49:04

six point five six miles.

49:06

So, you know, yes, that I do Boston

49:08

twenty six point two miles in four hours

49:10

I did, but, you know, technically, I

49:12

guess I I guess I wasn't running the racing

49:14

line out. there. I wasn't running

49:16

the minimum distance of the Boston Marathon. Therefore,

49:18

I had to run an extra, you

49:20

know, point three five or six

49:22

miles. think you go to go again? Yeah. No.

49:25

No. No. No. No. You're

49:27

funny. You're real funny. Look, if

49:29

there's one race that

49:31

you could relive. Which

49:32

one would it be? The Indy five hundred thousand five.

49:34

Yeah. What a cool. Like, what a

49:36

show? What a what a situation? I

49:38

mean, I went from starting forth to

49:42

stalling in the pits, to climbing my way back, to

49:44

spinning on a restart, to getting a front wing,

49:46

to taking the lead, and then losing

49:48

it, and then retaking the lead on the

49:52

next three start to then, you know, finishing fourth, and it's,

49:54

you know, even finishing in the

49:56

exact same way that it did, it would be

49:58

fun to revisit that

49:59

with older eyes and older

50:02

older ears and be able

50:04

to, like, welcome that

50:06

experience with

50:08

more awareness. And what's the

50:09

prospect of

50:10

retirement

50:11

scary? I always think we're institutionalized. Are

50:14

we in this spot?

50:16

You you you get on that treadmill, and it rarely gives you time

50:18

to look outside. You choose to go

50:20

outside and it's like help.

50:22

What happens six.

50:24

No.

50:24

I had lots of stuff going on. I have two

50:26

different wines. I have a candle company.

50:28

I started the podcast. I

50:31

do speaking engagements. So was all going on? I mean, some

50:33

of

50:33

that was. Yeah. Okay.

50:35

Mhmm. Yeah. So I

50:37

was I felt like I I for a while, I had a clothing line that was

50:40

going on at that point in time. So there was

50:42

plenty of stuff to keep me

50:44

busy. And and so I wasn't at a

50:46

lack of those things. And part of what I wanted to do

50:48

when

50:48

I retired was less. What

50:50

is it about racing drivers in

50:52

wine? What

50:52

is it with raising drivers and alcohol?

50:54

I

50:54

mean, I'm thinking certainly a

50:56

formal one. Yo. No. Truly, he

50:59

has his own vineyard. Daniel

51:02

Ricardo has one down

51:03

under, DR3 even but

51:06

Johnson's got

51:06

some liquor. He's got, like, whiskey right now.

51:08

He's

51:08

got some whiskey. Yeah. What is it? So let's broaden

51:10

them there. It's not just wine, is it?

51:12

It's alcohol. You

51:15

know, it's because it's something that we never got

51:17

to do while we were driving. And

51:19

so you know, I think that there's a

51:21

role for moderate, healthy amount

51:23

of relaxation out of out from

51:26

alcohol. And at what point in your

51:28

life did you start to appreciate the finer things like Wayne. Man,

51:30

I started drinking wine when I lived in

51:31

England. In England because of course the

51:33

English

51:33

is so well

51:35

known for their for their wine. Well, like, give me the

51:37

sweetest glass of white wine you have

51:40

and then that turned into dry white

51:42

wine and then I came back to

51:44

the states and then it turned into red and

51:46

then then it

51:46

turned into buying something. So what

51:48

what grapes do you grow? I

51:51

have Cabernet,

51:51

Cabernet, Cabernet, and a little bit of

51:54

petit per dough. So we make two halves. Solmium is the one in Napa

51:56

Valley that I have, and it make we make two halves,

51:58

sap Blanc and a Rosé.

52:02

I also have a French Rosé made in Prabhance called

52:04

Danica Rosé. So if

52:05

Sebasti and Bethel, if you're listening,

52:07

don't be scared. by the

52:09

prospects of retirement. Look at Danica. He doesn't look scared

52:12

at all, does he? I feel like he looks ready.

52:13

And, you know, I felt like, wow, there

52:16

were some things that definitely

52:18

kind of pushed it along. I

52:19

I feel like I I feel like there was some level of say

52:21

so I had in the in

52:24

the in

52:26

the transition And at the end of the

52:28

day, sometimes it takes something. Like, you

52:30

how do you know when to quit? How do

52:32

you know? Like,

52:33

in any professional athlete's career, a lot

52:35

of times you're still reasonably young. It's not like

52:37

you're like creeping on sixty and you're

52:39

like, okay, my back hurts now. Like, usually

52:41

it's just kind of like a matter of when do things

52:43

just kind of run

52:45

their course. What are you doing

52:47

to fill the void that, you know,

52:49

the adrenaline void that you got when you

52:51

were racing competitive for

52:53

you?

52:53

you know, whether it's I mean, I

52:55

find interviews to be kind of nerve wracking. When I

52:57

interview really, really amazing

53:00

people and It's a hard

53:02

job what you're doing, like, to have,

53:04

like, to be ready with everything, to

53:06

know what you wanna ask somebody. So I

53:08

find that to be fun, but adrenaline wise,

53:10

I mean, I found myself, like, going and doing crazy stuff, like,

53:12

doing Bear Grylls show

53:13

and jumping out at a Scorpion. Yeah.

53:16

I had a Scorpion. It was terrible.

53:18

I just yacked that

53:20

thing back. And then, you know,

53:22

pulling myself across canyons, hundreds

53:24

feet in the air on a rope,

53:26

and then, you know, jumping

53:28

out of helicopter at eleven thousand feet in

53:30

skydiving, bungee jumping, and New

53:32

Zealand, or whatever. Like, I

53:34

I find myself I just like to know I

53:36

can. I'm

53:38

actually not necessarily cured

53:38

of the fear of things. I just like to know that

53:41

I can overpower that fear if I need

53:43

to. because I'm I've always been afraid of heights

53:45

and I can tell you after I

53:48

just mentioned, still afraid of it.

53:51

Now, Damika,

53:52

you've been in

53:53

inspiration to so many people around

53:56

the world. when we talk about

53:58

legacy, when we're thinking of your racing

53:59

career, what do you say? Well, it's

54:02

probably

54:02

better to ask you, but I guess I'll answer

54:04

your question first and then maybe you can you can answer

54:06

after. What

54:08

is that legacy? Like, what do people remember

54:10

about me as kind of how I think of it? It's

54:12

like, what do pe what do people think of me

54:14

now that it's over? And what I hope that they

54:16

think of me is that they remember me

54:18

as a great driver. I never mind that they remember

54:20

me as a girl, but I hope that they remember

54:23

me as like, god, you know, She

54:25

was really good. Like, she was

54:27

good. Yeah. She was a girl,

54:29

but she really, like, she went against

54:31

the guys and did an incredible job

54:33

and and and a calm a lot

54:35

of great things. And so that's kinda what I

54:37

hope they remember. Yeah. I think they do. You

54:39

were a trailblazer, but more than

54:41

anything, you were a fantastic driver. Oh,

54:43

thank you. And Look

54:44

final one for me. If you were starting out racing

54:47

today oh, boy. Here we

54:49

go. Okay. What I

54:52

know? Why

54:52

do you think every race car driver has a And they're like, no. I'm

54:54

trying to not get them into racing because

54:56

it's we know how hard it

55:00

is. But

55:00

if you were starting again and you wanted to get to Formula One, what

55:03

route would you take? Would you still

55:05

do the European

55:06

thing or would you stay?

55:09

in the

55:09

US. Well, it's a bit different now

55:11

that there's so many f one races in the

55:13

United States. There'll definitely be some end

55:15

with the possibility that Michael Andrade might

55:17

start a Formula one team. You know, there's a pathway through the United States and through

55:19

open wheel racing here. And, you know, now

55:21

these days, obviously, there's so much road course racing

55:23

in IndyCar.

55:24

And

55:26

so I mean, I think

55:28

that's that's viable. If I were to design the path, I would say, man,

55:30

I think I really I think

55:31

getting some European experience

55:34

is like I

55:36

think that grabs

55:37

Formula One teams like, oh, they did race in England or race in Europe.

55:39

So I think something young would be a good

55:41

idea, whether it be Formula

55:43

three or whatever.

55:44

And then I would say, I think

55:46

that if

55:47

then you have to just go where you feel you

55:49

have the best opportunity. Like, you know, for instance,

55:51

like some like, the the drive the

55:53

American driver, Logan Serje, Right? III

55:56

don't know him at all.

55:57

Right? He's American. I don't know. He's been in Europe the

55:59

whole time. I haven't heard

55:59

his name before. I think that you can

56:02

go make way that way, but I think you can come back this way too, and I think

56:04

you can be in the States. But I think there is

56:06

something to be said for having a little bit of European

56:08

experience at some point

56:10

in time that is

56:12

attractive and

56:14

good for formal ambassadors to

56:16

see that you're into the European

56:19

scene and that you're open

56:21

to you know, maybe open a

56:23

living anywhere. Monica wouldn't be so

56:25

bad. Yeah.

56:26

I wouldn't be south of France anyway. That's

56:28

great advice. It's great to have you on the

56:30

show. Thank you again. And are we gonna see you on the

56:32

TV doing Formula One next

56:34

year? 0II

56:36

hope keep saying,

56:38

I I am having a really good time. And as I've

56:40

said this this last part of the season doing these

56:42

last couple of races that I'm like,

56:45

I think provided I

56:46

don't put my foot in my mouth like

56:48

really bad, so it's something I really shouldn't.

56:50

I think I'm gonna have the opportunity to

56:53

come back.

56:53

and maybe even do a couple more if I'm if I'm

56:55

up for it. So yeah. Looking forward to seeing

56:57

you, Danica. Thank you so much.

56:59

Alright.

57:00

Thank you. Dannek

57:05

is such

57:08

an engaging

57:10

and interesting person, isn't she?

57:12

She's a great communicator and she really knows what it's

57:14

like to perform at the top. I love

57:16

her take on motor racing and on life

57:19

in general. She's an inspiration. Thanks

57:22

for your time, Danica. And if you do get a chance to test an f

57:24

one car, please do it. I'd love to

57:27

hear your take on the experience. Now

57:29

please send in your thoughts and stories about Danukkah.

57:32

Were you at the Formula Ford Festival in two

57:34

thousand when she finished second? Did you

57:36

watch her race at Indi or even see her

57:38

win at Motaghi? And what do you think of

57:40

her contributions to Sky's

57:42

f one broadcast? Please let me

57:44

know your thoughts. Send them to me at Tom

57:46

Clark's and f one on Twitter or use

57:48

the hashtag F1B on the

57:50

grid, and I'll read out some of the

57:52

messages at the end of next week's show,

57:54

which of course brings me onto what you sent

57:56

in about Nicholas Latify after

57:58

last week Overall, many of you were impressed by his

57:59

directness and his honesty.

58:02

Let's start with this from Nicholas Burnett.

58:06

I surprise a seemingly honest and candid interview t c.

58:08

Nikki clearly knows his ability and

58:10

limitations, and I hope he gets a crack in

58:12

another mode sport

58:14

to prove many doubters wrong. I totally agree with

58:16

you, Nicholas. Nikki deserves to have a

58:18

long and successful career in motorsport.

58:22

And I hope he goes to IndyCar because I think he can do well with.

58:24

The cars aren't dissimilar to formula two

58:26

where he's won races in the past.

58:29

Next, let's hear from Gillher Matter.

58:32

Nicholas Latifie is a rare

58:34

example of humbleness and decency that

58:36

will be much missed in Formula

58:38

One, great interview. Best wishes from

58:40

Brazil. Well, best wishes to you in

58:42

beautiful Brazil, and I'm on my way to

58:44

Sao Paulo Guillaume. It's

58:45

interesting that you use the word

58:48

decency. It's one that definitely

58:50

applies to Nikki. And what about this

58:52

from Damien

58:52

Cooley? Great episode with Nicholas

58:54

Latify. I really loved his honesty when

58:57

talking about the challenges he face

58:59

this year, I'd love to see him in IndyCar in the years to come as in the

59:01

right car. He's clearly got the talent and

59:03

the attitude to succeed. Thanks for

59:05

the note Damian and attitude

59:08

is so important in professional sport, isn't

59:10

it? Nikki seems to have the right one,

59:12

and I think he'll move on from

59:16

Formula One seamlessly and will want to prove that in the right

59:17

car, he can still win

59:20

races. We'll leave it there for

59:21

this week. Thank you to everyone who wrote in.

59:23

It was

59:23

great to hear from

59:25

you and please remember to get in touch about

59:27

Danica in time for next week's show.

59:29

So what are

59:30

you listening to next? How

59:32

about our episode with

59:34

Danica's team boss, the IndyCar and Formula One driver, Bobby Rehaut,

59:36

or what about NASCAR champ,

59:38

Jeff Gordon, or even another

59:42

racing trailblazer? Susie Wolf.

59:44

There are links to those interviews in the

59:46

show description. And thanks for rating

59:48

and reviewing the show on your podcast app.

59:50

We've got some really exciting interviews

59:52

between now and the end of the year and

59:54

I can't wait for you to hear them. Make sure you're following the show so you don't miss

59:56

them. Thanks for listening. Everyone

59:58

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