Danica Patrick remains determined and dedicated to her craft
NASCAR driver Danica Patrick joined ESPN sports broadcaster and filmmaker Hannah Storm on the BUILD Series stage to discuss and promote their upcoming TV documentary "Danica."
During their conversation, they spoke about the collaboration process in making the film plus Patrick revealed what her plans are like as of now for the NASCAR 2018 season.
Patrick was intrigued by the idea of a documentary being made about her life and her passion for racing after multiple different pitches were sent to her. When she finally agreed to work with Storm and her production team she knew that, "the mission was not an ulterior motive, it was to tell a story."
What was that story going to be? At first Patrick was a bit hesitant as to what should or shouldn't get included in the movie. What would be the most interesting thing to tell?
Fortunately Storm saw through Patrick's personality and authenticity once they got to know each other more and she wanted to work with the trailblazer racer and exhibit her early roots as a fearless go-kart driver to being an IndyCar driver where she broke records like being the first female winner, to now as driver of the No. 10 Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing where she's the sole female driver to win a pole and the first woman to lead laps at the prestigious Daytona 500.
"Obviously I go into a film with a vision but it wasn't like, 'this is my version of your story, what's your version of your story,? who really are you?' and that's what I want to bring out and come through in the film. That's the thing about Danica, she says at the top of the film, 'why are people caring?...they must sense my authenticity' is exactly right on. She's able to articulate that and live that and that's what made doing this film such a joy to put together," Storm explained.
The trust and bond they shared helped made the production process run seamlessly. "She is very, very sure of who she is, and what she loves and what she thinks, and that's like a dream come true for a filmmaker," Storm added about Patrick.
Patrick currently races in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, the highest-level of competition in the sport and she knows how hard it is to compete against 39 other drivers week in and week out.
"Life is hard, it's what you do with it!," Patrick explained. Despite not having the bountiful success of drivers like Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick, or a Kyle Busch, Patrick remains focused with her championship-caliber race team and organization and doesn't "Debbie down it!"
"Danica's never won but she's so forward-thinking and determined and positive and always moves on no matter how tough it gets," Storm said.
The drive to be a race winner, to be relevant in the headlines, and to compete at the highest level is still Patrick's priority moving forward. With the 2017 season winding down for Patrick, her fans have been eagerly waiting for an announcement as to what team she will drive for next season.
Patrick opened up about her plans for 2018 and told the audience that she "wasn't 100% sure right now, but that's okay."
"I say that every couple of years my life changes in ways that I would never expect and that is really true. It's exciting but it's also really scary and so I don't know what that's going to be. Don't you think that you know where you want to be in 5 and 10 years? Don't you think you would have a plan? What if in 2 years that plan is completely different, 180, and you're going in another direction?," Patrick conveyed.
"That's kind of scary because you're like, 'No, no this feels so good but you don't know what's best for you, you don't know what's going to be good in the future for you, and those opportunities get created for you based on your big dreams and so while this may be your big dream over here, your life is manifesting according to something great for you and so well I know while you thought it looked like this, I'm going to make it better and it's going to be over here. And so you can't just be afraid of that though," Patrick concluded.
Tune in to "Danica" which premieres Wednesday, November 8th at 8pm on EPIX.
