Our series of NASCAR driver interviews continues this week with Danica Patrick, who is currently in her second full season for Stewart-Haas Racing. Patrick heads to Michigan International Speedway for Sunday's Quicken Loans 400, where she scored one of her four top-15 finishes in 2013.


A: I would say a majority of the time, I either want lap times for something to hear — to entertain me — or I'm thinking, "There's gotta be a yellow soon. Can't I get lucky and just get a yellow here?"

There haven't been all that many races where I thought going 100 laps under green is a good thing for me. Even at Charlotte, you see the leader lap up to like 10th place. Well if you're 10th to 15th, you're not running that bad, but that's sure terrible when those long green flag runs come and the leader is just hauling.

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A: I think people just remember me from IndyCar days and say, "I've followed you from IndyCar." I think that's nice when a fan knows where I've been, what I've done and that they're a fan of me as a driver regardless of where I've raced.


A: I think flatter tracks make for some pretty good racing. Any time you have a lot of acceleration and deceleration, it spreads everybody out. On the other side of that, it tends to be one lane. So I think longer straightaways and tighter corners, but trying to keep it a short track.

Sort of like Martinsville, basically?

Similar to Martinsville, probably. I think it puts on some good racing.

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A: I would want to be a singer with all the range in the world and lay down some tracks so I never forgot that day.

A pop singer? Country singer?

I think probably a country singer. I like country that much now. I think you always hear the voice a lot more in country music than in other genres where there's a lot of instruments going on.


A: I talked about this with Dale (Earnhardt Jr.) on Memorial Day, actually. Still the coolest thing I ever did was shoot a music video (in Monaco) with Jay-Z. After he retired, it was his comeback song (Show Me What You Got). Dale was in it and so was I. We both agree that was probably the coolest thing we've ever done.

I heard you and Dale were at a dinner with Jay-Z and Beyonce during the shoot. Is that true?

Yeah. We had lunch and dinner with them, actually. Spent the whole day with "Jay" and "B," as I learned they go by.

Were they somewhat normal?

Jay was really nice, really easy to talk to. Beyonce was more quiet. She was nice, she was just more quiet.


A: Oh, I vent. You could have probably guessed that. That's kind of the interesting thing and what's nice about (boyfriend) Ricky (Stenhouse Jr.) and I is that we understand. The conversation can be pretty easy because you both understand the language perfectly and scenarios that happen.

So I usually vent out all the things that happen or didn't happen or talk about things I wish would have been different. There's always a series of things you go through — people who make you mad on the track, for instance — and then you get on with it.

MORE: See the full 12 Questions archive

Q: If you have kids someday and they're running around the garage, what driver would you point as a role model or good example for doing things the right way?

A: There are probably different role models for different things. On track, off track, different characteristics for different settings. I don't think you can pick just one. That's why when I grew up, I never wanted to be like somebody. I wanted to be the first me, not the next somebody else. I would say you'd want to pull from a lot of different people to make the perfect example for a way to be.


A: I have no idea. I'm really bad at those kind of questions. (Thinks for a few moments.) I can't really say there's a story that sticks out.

PHOTOS: Danica Patrick's NASCAR career

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Q: What's a TV show you're really into right now?

A: Nashville. It just ended though. Music shows are fun. The singing in it, the storylines are good.

We don't watch a lot of shows. I got (Ricky) to watch Game of Thrones, but we're way behind on that.


A: The other day, I recorded Couples Retreat. I've seen it many times, but it's a really funny movie and it was on after Talladega Nights. So I watched the last 30 or 40 minutes of Talladega Nights and then recorded Couples Retreat.

Are you a Talladega Nights fan?

Oh yeah, sure. It's a funny movie. I haven't seen it as many times as I've seen Anchorman, but (imitates Southern accent) "If you ain't first, you're last."


A: (Thinks for awhile) Remember more s---, apparently. (Laughs) Just that everything happens for a reason and to not get upset along the way. Let life happen, whatever it may be.

Q: I've been asking each person to give me a question for the next interview. Last week was Elliott Sadler and he wanted to know, "Do you have to pee in the car as much as the male drivers do, and what do you do if so?"

A: (Laughs) Apparently he pees in the car a lot, but I don't and I never have.

Q: And do you have a question for the next person? It's Josh Wise.

A: First off, how many hours a week do you spend working out? And if you didn't work out for so many hours, what would you do with those hours? Let's say it's two hours a day, so 10 or 15 hours a week. What would you do with all that time? It's so much!

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