Among the many tributes and kind words for Jimmie Johnson as he ended his NASCAR career, one was from former female NASCAR driver Danica Patrick. Patrick ran at the highest level of the sport a few years ago and even won the pole position for the Daytona 500, becoming the first female driver to do so in the Cup Series.

The next day, Patrick displayed another inspired performance and had a chance to go for the win. She was in third place heading into the final lap and felt she could have pushed for a strong result. However, Johnson snatched the win, while Patrick finished in seventh place.

Patrick was gutted to let an advantage slip away. “I was beating myself up a little bit for not having a plan. I was like, ‘Man, how did I not see that coming? Dale Jr. dropped back, and then he got a run. Man, I should have done something different’,” Patrick expressed recently.

How Jimmie Johnson motivated Danica Patrick

What happened next improved Patrick’s day as Johnson himself came up to her and consoled her. Johnson urged Patrick to go easy on herself, adding that even he did not have any plans to win the race.

“I remember [Johnson] telling me he didn’t have any plan. There’s no plan going into those last laps at either of the [Daytona 500s] he won. And he said, ‘I didn’t plan for that one, and I didn’t plan for this one’,” Patrick said.

“And don’t beat yourself up that you should have had a plan because you can’t. It just happens’,” Johnson said to her. Such words, and more importantly, such a gesture coming from Johnson, already made Patrick feel better about herself.

“Making me feel better”

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Johnson’s perspective on the situation helped Patrick look at things in a much better light.

“I remember thinking: Thanks, Jimmie. Thanks for making me feel better about myself as a driver when I was beating myself up that I coulda shoulda woulda done something different… And that was some nice, sage perspective from a guy like Jimmie,” Patrick expressed.

Johnson’s final few weeks in NASCAR were quite emotional. He also finished his full-time NASCAR career strongly, with a fifth-place finish at Phoenix last Sunday.

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