MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Just 19 hours after she had driven to victory in Sunday’s Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi, Danica Patrick was talking to the media following the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach — the final race in Champ Car Series history.
But the historic occasion everyone wanted to talk about had happened on the other side of the earth, in the rural area of Motegi, Japan, 65 miles northeast of Tokyo.
Patrick immediately flew back to the United States, where she arrived just in time for the closing laps of the Long Beach Grand Prix.
“That big relief finally came off, but the next week and probably few months is when it will start to unfold, and we’ll see stuff happening,” Patrick said. “It started in Japan three years ago when I qualified on the front row. That was kind of the start of everything, so it was only fitting that it ends there.
“A win is a win.”
It was a victory when it was most unexpected, but it was appropriate considering the Danica Patrick phenomenon actually began at Twin Ring Motegi in 2005 when she qualified on the outside of the front row and led 32 laps en route to a fourth-place finish.
She would propel herself into the public’s consciousness in the 2005 Indianapolis 500 when she nearly won the pole, started fourth and drove to the front of the field for 19 laps. She was eventually passed for the lead with seven laps to go and finished fourth.
Eventually, however, the questions went from “when is Danica going to win?” to “will Danica ever win?”
But by stretching her last load of fuel for the final 51 laps, she conserved fuel early in her run to have the speed when she needed it the most — at the end of the race.
So one-by-one as the leaders pitted for the final time, Patrick moved up in the ranks. With Helio Castroneves in the lead, he decided to make it to the finish rather than making a final pit stop. But in order to do that, he needed to slow down.
It was just the opportunity Patrick and her team manager, Kyle Moyer, had waited for as she hit the accelerator, gave it the Ethanol and sped past Castroneves on her way to the checkered flag.
“I knew the last stint was going to be important and it was going to be close on fuel, but we gave ourselves the best opportunity possible,” Patrick recalled Sunday night. “After that, it was all about saving fuel. Helio Castroneves and Ed Carpenter were on the same strategy I was on. I kicked it up a notch and got by him (Castroneves). It probably would have happened whether I pushed or not. It was very nice to drive by him.
“It wasn’t until I drove by him and saw the No. 7 (Patrick’s car number) on the top of the pylon that I knew I was in the lead.”
The victory came in a most unexpected way, but it didn’t matter to the diminutive driver from Roscoe, Ill.
“I expect to win,” Patrick said. “That’s what I’m paid to do. I’m a driver that’s supposed to go out there and get victories for my team. I always believed it would be big when it happened.
“I’m not going to lie. I was getting frustrated. I believe in myself for not winning. It was just a matter of when it was going to happen.”