Who is the GOAT? There is never a straightforward answer to that question, and in women’s motorsports, where drivers often face a completely different kind of pressure, the debate becomes even more sensitive. Female racers are often judged for far more than just what they do on the track, and few drivers dealt with that more than Danica Patrick during and after her career. And when Brad Keselowski decided to call her the GOAT, the NASCAR community reacted harshly.

Brad Keselowski’s Danica Patrick claim ignites debate

A video shared on X from the 2005 Indianapolis 500 qualifying showed Patrick entering the session as the favorite to win pole position. However, she had to make a spectacular save on the opening lap of her qualifying attempt after a huge wiggle entering the corner cost her crucial speed and ultimately dropped her to fourth on the grid.

Even with the mistake, the moment became another example of just how talented Patrick was during her breakout rookie IndyCar season. She went on to lead laps during and eventually finished in fourth place.

This incident quickly established her as one of the most recognizable and successful open-wheel drivers in America before she later moved to NASCAR.

Patrick continues to have one of the best resumes of any female driver in the history of modern American racing. She holds the records for the most starts (191), laps led (64), and top-10 finishes (7) by a female driver in Cup Series history.

Patrick is also the first woman to win an IndyCar Series race, which she achieved at the 2008 Indy Japan 300, and the first woman to win a pole position in the NASCAR Cup Series. Moreover, she owns the highest finish ever by a woman in both the Indy 500, where she finished third in 2009, and the Daytona 500, where she placed eighth in 2013. That led Keselowski to weigh in publicly on the post.

“IMO @DanicaPatrick was by a large margin the Best female race car driver of all time. It’s an absolute shame she doesn’t get more credit or recognition from the racing community,” Keselowski said.

However, most fans strongly pushed back against the claim, citing the abilities and accomplishments of other drivers and reopening one of motorsports’ most polarizing debates surrounding Patrick’s legacy and career achievements.

Fans point out drivers who were better than Danica Patrick

On X, one fan brought up Sara Christian and Janet Guthrie, asking Keselowski to “look them up”.

Christian was one of NASCAR’s original female pioneers, competing in the sport’s earliest years during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Meanwhile, Janet Guthrie became a groundbreaking figure in both NASCAR and IndyCar during the 1970s, famously becoming the first woman to qualify for both the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500, which she competed in during 1977.

But these two weren’t the only names that the community had in mind, with another fan bringing up Michele Mouton, one of the greatest rally drivers in motorsports. She won four races during the brutal Group B era of the World Rally Championship and finished runner-up in the 1982 WRC standings.

Others pointed toward drag racing royalty instead. “What the hell are Courtney and Brittany Force, then Brad?”

Courtney and Brittany have both dominated NHRA competition. Brittany, especially, has built one of the strongest résumés in drag racing history, becoming a multi-time NHRA Top Fuel champion while routinely setting speed records. She currently holds the NHRA speed record with a run of 343.51 mph, which she achieved at a Top Fuel run at zMAX Dragway in 2022.

These were some names that they felt deserved the GOAT tag ahead of Patrick. A lot of the criticism thrown Patrick’s way in recent years has also been tied to her broadcasting work, with many F1 viewers in particular calling for her to be removed. Fans often criticized her analysis as inconsistent, while also pointing out her lack of experience in the category.

But under Keselowski’s post, fans were scrutinizing her purely from a racing perspective, especially her NASCAR career.

“Uhhh, Brad….She was atrocious in a stock car, and she had the worst ‘not my fault’ attitude of all time,” one user wrote.

The criticism stems largely from Patrick’s Cup Series numbers. Across 191 NASCAR Cup races, she never won, with a best championship finish of 24th. Moreover, throughout her career, some fans and competitors felt she often struggled to accept blame after incidents, frequently pointing toward other drivers, bad luck, or car issues rather than acknowledging her own mistakes behind the wheel.

Another harsh response read, “If that’s your example for the best, women in auto racing are scre—.”

And that pretty much summed up the larger debate. For some fans, Patrick’s popularity and groundbreaking moments outweigh the statistics. One fan did defend her, writing, “Danica is shamed bc of the current female drivers & NASCAR’s social push that attracts reality-TV fans who favor ‘breaking barriers’ over racing… this toxic crowd shames Danica to make these current female drivers seem more groundbreaking…”

For others, pure results still place several female racers ahead of her when it comes to legacy.