See Danica Patrick’s Heartfelt Post Just Moments Before Fiery Crash

Danica Patrick ended her racing career on Sunday afternoon with a run in the Indianapolis 500, crashing out of the race after losing control of her car.

Ahead of the race, the 36-year-old posted an Instagram message to fans saying heartfelt goodbye, accompanying her caption with an image of herself on a racetrack waving to something off-camera.

“This is just a chapter in the book,” she wrote. “Today feels heavy, but only because the chapter finishing has meant so much to me. Thank you for the memories. I am at a lack of words today.”

Patrick was in 17th place when she lost control heading into Turn 2, her car spinning and smoking as it crashed into the outside wall before coasting to the side of the track as debris came off of the vehicle. She finished 30th after leaving the race just shy of 200 miles.

Patrick’s final Indianapolis 500 ended the same way as her final Daytona 500, with the February event also seeing the driver suffer a crash that would not allow her to continue.

“Today was really disappointing for what we were hoping for and what you want for your last race,” Patrick said during ABC’s broadcast on Sunday. “Wish I could have finished stronger. … I’ve had a lot of good fortune here, and did still have some this month. It just didn’t come on race day. But we had some good moments.”

The Indianapolis 500 was the final race of Patrick’s years-long career, which has seen her become the most successful woman in the history of American open-wheel racing. She last competed at the Indy 500 in 2011.

After a recent school assembly during which Patrick was asked about empowering girls by racing cars, the driver told Yahoo! Sports that she doesn’t have any regrets regarding her career.

“No regrets, not even a single letter,” she said. “You ever see that in ‘We’re the Millers’ when he has a tattoo on his chest but it says ‘No Ragrets?’ [Jason Sudeikis] goes, ‘No regrets huh, not even a single letter?’”

“I just want to be remembered as a great driver,” she continued. “You can’t stand the test of time for 27 seasons without some talent. I want to be remembered as a girl. I don’t want people to not remember me as a girl. It’s an important part of the story and something I am proud of.”

“And that I was just fun to watch and fun to listen to. I was this unique package of different things that came together to make something people are interested in.”

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