Catholic Race Driver Danica Patrick Gets an EPIX Documentary

Last updated on: August 2, 2017 at 7:10 am by Kate O'Hare

Catholic Race Driver Danica Patrick Gets an EPIX Documentary 2017-08-02T07:10:10-08:00 Kate O'Hare

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This November, cable channel EPIX premieres “Danica,” a documentary on professional auto-racing driver, model and TV host Danica Patrick, who converted to Catholicism before her marriage to Paul Hospenthal in a Catholic ceremony in 2005.

She said of her new faith:

It helps me justify situations, that there’s a reason for everything. It makes me feel better in times when I might have been disappointed or angry, like, why me?

That marriage unfortunately ended in an “amicable” divorce in 2012, and Patrick is currently dating fellow race driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. No wedding is apparently in the offing, although Patrick told TMZ earlier in July that she was “ready yesterday.”

The 35-year-old Patrick — who says she’s “hardwired to be competitive in everything I do” — hasn’t really discussed her conversion, and, for what it’s worth, there’s no public evidence as to whether or not she remains a practicing Catholic.

At a press conference yesterday on the documentary at the biannual Television Critics Association Press Tour, Patrick appeared with sports reporter Hannah Storm, who is directing the film.

Faith didn’t come up, and it’s not certain it comes up in the film, but we may find out.

Patrick said:

People always want to get to know the real you. Until you really show them for real, which that’s what this film is going to do, all they can do is make it up; and sometimes that isn’t as good as the truth, and sometimes it’s not even right. So I think this is a great opportunity to be able to show that truth, and I’m excited. I am excited. I’ve said no to documentaries for my whole career. I did one when I was 19 years old, I think, and I’ve been asked to do documentaries every year. And my agent Alan will call, and he’ll say, “So just be open‑minded.” And I’m, like, “It’s a documentary. Right? No.”

I mean, that’s literally what I said, and I believe I said that when we started with this. Then he goes, “Just hear me out.” And when I heard it was Hannah, I was, like, “Do you know what? I feel like we’ve been friends for a really long time. I trust her.” And I ‑‑ like I said in the first question, I have something to say. I think I’ve evolved, and I have a lot of things going on.

Asked what scares her the most, Patrick said:

Failing. It’s like I said, I don’t want to suck. For me, I’m extremely competitive, and so for me to just not be good at something is scary to me, anything. Playing cards, I don’t like to suck at cards even. So that’s why I felt like it was important with all of these new endeavors, including the documentary, that I go all the way.

As to her ultimate goals:

Because, ultimately, if everyone were to answer, “What’s your ultimate goal in life to be successful?” that it would have absolutely nothing to do about an accomplishment. It would have to do with your heart.

Conversion is difficult and deeply personal, and it can be a stop-and-start process — especially for someone under intense public scrutiny. Let’s see what comes out in the film, and keep Patrick in your prayers.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

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