Danica Patrick Calls Out Female Drivers’ “Being Different” Narrative Behind Disparity In Racing

It is no secret that motorsports has been an industry dominated by men. However, unlike many other sports, motorsports does not need to have any kind of divide between men and women. At the end of the day, what really matters is one’s driving skills, and that exists irrespective of the person’s gender. That is exactly what Danica Patrick implied in a recent Instagram Story.

Patrick is considered one of the most successful female motorsports athletes in the world. Her record in the NASCAR Cup Series does not shine a bright light on her career but she has achieved something unique. The 41-year-old remains the only female racer to win an IndyCar race to this day. Her lone victory in the series came at the 2008 Indy Japan 300.

Danica Patrick invokes Morgan Freeman to share an important message

However, before that incredible achievement came a lot of hard work and even more discrimination. Danica Patrick learned the tricks of the trade when she moved to the UK during her early days. She was helped in the initial part of her journey by 3-time Formula One world champion Sir Jackie Stewart but even that did not help with the discrimination after she moved back to the States.

In a recent Instagram Story, Danica Patrick took Morgan Freeman’s help to explain one of the steps that would have helped in at least reducing the discrimination faced by female athletes in motorsports, even today. She shared a reel where the legendary actor spoke about racial discrimination on a talk show.

Freeman said that one of the ways to rid the world of racial discrimination was to stop talking about it. The actor went on to explain his answer to the talk show host, which implied that if people just referred to people by their names and not concentrate on how they looked, things would be a lot better.

“Coming from being a girl in racing…I always said the more we talk about being different, the more different we are,” the Indy Japan 300 winner wrote in her Instagram Stories over the post she had shared.

It’s not just in NASCAR that Danica Patrick had to face discrimination. Her learning period in the United Kingdom was not entirely pleasant either. She had opened up about her experience and what she did to fit in at the time.

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Indy race winner opens up about discrimination in the UK

While gender bias did not deter the 41-year-old from chasing her dreams, it must have been disheartening to be treated differently. A report by Sportscasting claims that Danica Patrick did not do anything different from her male counterparts off-track while she was in the UK, and yet she was portrayed in a negative light by the British media at the time.

“I didn’t want the guys to think we had nothing in common to talk about,” Patrick said as per the article. “Racing was our bond, and it was the sole connection to getting along. I’d do whatever it took to fit in, even if it meant hiding my true self.”

“I wasn’t doing anything different than the guys were, but because I was a girl, people started talking,” she added.

Things have gotten better, at least on the surface level, today and there are more female athletes in the sport than before. However, that number is still negligible compared to the opposite sex. However, the female racers of today are accepted more easily and that does give many a lot of hope for women in motor racing.

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