It has been closer to two decades since Danica Patrick became the first female driver in history to win an IndyCar race back in 2008. Although she moved away from the series shortly after, and spent more time in NASCAR, she didn’t forget her roots. She will be returning to the Indy 500 this year, however, in a different role.

Danica Patrick returns to IndyCar

Patrick was one of the few women who had the chance to run the IndyCar Series. She etched her name in history back in 2008, winning the Indy Japan 300. Although she wasn’t the most consistent driver on the grid, she usually found herself finishing in the top 10. But she moved away from the sport in 2011 to pursue her full-time run in NASCAR. While she couldn’t replicate her success from IndyCar, she still ran for quite a few years before retiring in 2018.

Ever since, she has had a taste for broadcasting. She made a remarkable appearance at the 2019 Indy 500 race as a broadcaster and is reprising the role this year. With just a little over a week remaining for the historical weekend, fans will be able to hear her on the FOX Sports booth during the live commentary.

This comes just months after her departure from Sky Sports as one of the Formula 1 pundits on the broadcasts. She had been a part of the broadcast team since the 2021 season; however, when Sky announced their panel for this year, her name didn’t appear. While this was understandably odd, many of the fans actually celebrated this. And now that she is returning to the Indy 500 broadcast, not many seem happy, either.

Fans react to Patrick’s Indy 500 return

“I envy the deaf,” a fan wrote. It can be a little tricky to understand the general criticism that surrounds Patrick. Her stint in NASCAR was filled with a lot of racing incidents, which set a certain tone for her amongst some fans. While it has been years since she changed lanes, some of her claims in the broadcasting industry haven’t been very strong. So understandably, not all fans were happy with the revelation. But there are a few other reasons as well.

“Let’s not pretend Fox wasn’t going to muck up the broadcast some other way already.” FOX Sports doesn’t have the best reputation amongst the fans. In NASCAR, especially, they’ve been targeted for their poor coverage of the race. Recently, too, they missed showing Cody Ware’s crash during the Cup Series race at Watkins Glen. This turned into massive criticism, and it’s not surprising to see that the decision to sign Patrick also had the same fate.

“She’s attempting to make the Indy 500 appealing to lizard people.” In 2024, Patrick had Elizabeth April as a guest on her Pretty Intense podcast. One of the discussions the duo had was of possible ‘shapeshifters,’ where April claimed that noted pop star Justin Bieber was going to shapeshift into a giant reptilian on the stage during one of his live performances.

Understandably, this was met with laughs and criticism amongst the fans, and the ‘lizard people’ theory has stuck alongside Danica Patrick ever since. Even though she didn’t personally make those comments, she appeared quite invested in the conversation. Another comment revolved around a similar context, reading: “She’s doing a pit stop at a “psych*d*li*s conference” on her way to Indy, so that’s probably going to be her new thing lol.”

“All the better for attending live!” A fan wrote. The attendance at the Indianapolis 500 can sometimes reach up to 500,000 fans on the grandstands and around the historical track. Safe to say, not all fans would have to watch the broadcast, but the majority would have to. While Danica Patrick might as well do a great job as a member of the FOX booth for the broadcast, the criticism that follows her has been built over the years at this point, and it can be a little difficult to shake it off.