Danica Patrick is known for her refusal to be pushed around in a race — in any series.
Apparently, that has always been the case, according to an article she wrote for The Players' Tribune.
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Fiery and competitive, she has raced against the elite in both IndyCar and NASCAR.
But she hasn't forgotten an early moment — one that showcases just how competitive she has always been.
In the post, Patrick details the first time she flipped — and relates it to how she still reacts to aggressiveness on the track. The article launches a Hero/Villain series, created by Kobe Bryant.
Patrick defines the moment she flipped — while racing a go-kart for the win. She was racing Sam Hornish Jr., with whom she says she was friends and against whom she has raced in several series since.
It was in racing Hornish for a win (she was leading, one lap to go) that she felt him bump her go-kart — and reacted in kind. Even then, she didn't like being "messed" with and she writes of how she refused to be pushed around.
She was 12.
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As she and Hornish battled for the win on this particular day, she felt a bump and she slid in the grass.
"I could have thought, That's your friend. He probably didn't mean it," she wrote.
"But what I really thought was, Not today. It's on."
She wrote that she felt a simple truth from deep inside herself: "You will not be messed with like that."
In the final corner, Hornish lifted. Patrick didn't. She literally drove up onto his go-kart and flipped. She didn't feel pain or worry. Instead, she felt the loss of a potential win.
Since then, Patrick won one race in the IndyCar Series and made a career for herself in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. She says she wore blue shoes in that go-kart race; she has never worn blue shoes again.
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In essence, she hasn't changed, either. Patrick is still a tough competitor in any series.
And she still carries the same mantra when it comes to getting pushed around on the track.
"I will not be pushed around," she wrote. "I will not be intimidated. I'm not lifting."
Patrick will drive in Sunday's Sprint Cup competition at Pocono Raceway.