Danica Patrick reflects on her historic IndyCar win 12 years later: 'It was a *finally* moment'

Danica Patrick was behind the wheel and flew past Hélio Castroneves on the outside for the lead late in the 2008 Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi Superspeedway. She only had a few more laps. She just had to hang on before making history.

Then it became clear Castroneves couldn’t catch her. There was no way. And after leading for only three of 200 laps at the 1.5-mile track in her No. 7 Andretti Green Racing Honda, Patrick took the checkered flag on April 20, 2008, making her the only woman to cross the finish line first in an IndyCar Series race.

It was the only checkered flag of Patrick’s career, and she remains the only woman to ever win an IndyCar race. And when she walked away from the race track for good in 2018 — her farewell tour was dubbed the “Danica Double” as she finished with NASCAR’s Daytona 500 and IndyCar’s Indianapolis 500 — she was (and still is) the only female driver to race consistently full-time at the top of both disciplines.

In honor of Danica’s first and only career win 12 years ago Monday, For The Win spoke with the retired driver about how she views her historic win, the celebration that still stands out and how she reacted to critics over it.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions your win in Japan?

Finally. I think it always has been that. It was a finally moment. I also think to myself, “My goodness, that was such a long time ago now.”

Is that your feeling about it now, or was there a moment at or near the end of the race when you felt that way?

It’s just a general feeling. I felt like in my IndyCar career, there were so many times earlier on that it was sitting right there, and, shoot, including my fourth race in IndyCar in the Indy 500. [Danica finished fourth in her first Indy 500.] And I’m so grateful it happened, and it was really fun.

What else stands out when you think back?

The activities that happened after, from drinking a big bottle of sake on the helicopter on the way down to the airport to flying home with Dan Wheldon and Scott Dixon and everybody. We drank the plane dry — either that or they cut us off — of their liquor. And then I had a 3 a.m. wake-up call to get hair and makeup done the next morning to go on East Coast morning TV. It was just a whirlwind.

That was a long time ago, and I’m learning how to do a couple things. One of them is having a little more perspective and pride on the things that have happened, like letting go of the mentality that has run my life, which is just, “Never enough and never good enough.” So instead of looking back at that moment with any kind of negativity like, “I wish I would have had more wins,” or “I wish it would have come sooner,” I look back, and I’m just grateful. And I had a great career.

Does that mean you don’t regret not winning more races?

Well, I mean, of course you want to win more races. But what’s the good in that being my memory? It’s not a very productive memory. It’s not going to help me win more races.

Did you come across critics trying to invalidate the win?

Of course. There will always be critics.

Does it bother you that people question it?

No, because I can remember all the times I was really close to winning without a fuel strategy, and it didn’t happen. I know the driver that I was, and it all looks the same in the history books.

I remember reading after that some people were like, “Yeah, come back to the States and win at home,” or something like that. And I’m thinking, “Ha, that’s cute.”

By the time you finished, Hélio Castroneves was pretty far behind you. Do you remember what was running through your mind on that last lap?

Just, “Bring it home.” Like, I did it.

I think more than anything, what I remember is before I passed Hélio in the closing laps, I remember thinking: “I’m not going to worry too much about my fuel right now because I would be so mad if the caution came out, and I was being conservative until the last lap and I was not in the lead.” So I remember thinking, “He’s so close. I’m going to push it here and just get by him.” And then I also remember I did a really good job with the fuel strategy. Hélio had the same strategy as I did, and I won by a lot. So the whole run paid off in the end and made the last lap really comfortable.

Is there a single moment you remember more vividly than others?

There’s a lot, but if I have to identify one: The trophy was really funny. Just to have this giant trophy, and there’s such a great picture with Hélio and his trophy. And Hélio, being the character that he is, he of course embodied the look you’d have with a trophy that size next to mine. That was one of those memories.

And in the end they asked if there was anything else I’d like to say, and I just said, “Kanpai,” which is “Cheers.” It was a good day.

Is there something about that day or race that you think most people don’t know about?

A couple little tidbits from Japan: No. 1 is I love going. And in the spring, there were cherry blossoms, and it was so beautiful. And I would go running in the morning around the track and be able to see all the cherry blossoms because not only is there the oval, but there’s the road course. It’s a really big facility, so I would go running for a while. That probably helped just put me in a good mood.

What impact do you think your win had on motor sports?

I still think that’s easier for other people to answer than it is me at this point. It’s still not that long ago in the grand scheme of things, but it’s hard to feel the full perspective or see what comes of it. Every time someone breaks the norm, it opens up that mental capacity for what’s possible. I think that it was just something special, unique and different, and that’s what made it big.

Do you ever rewatch it?

No. I don’t think I’ve ever actually watched the race.

Overall, how do you remember that win when you look back?

I think my big thought is that I can be really hard on myself, and I think that I’m entering this phase where I am doing myself a disservice to have negative thoughts around things that I’ve accomplished. My mind really thinks like, “Was I successful? Did I really accomplish all that I could have?”

But I think it’s unproductive and unhealthy. So I’m learning to look back on my life and the things that I’ve done with a lot more gratitude and a lot more perspective and appreciation and enjoy it and be proud of what it was. Motegi was definitely one of those.