No regrets for Danica in farewell event

CHICAGO: Danica Patrick retires from auto racing with no regrets after Sunday’s Indianapolis 500, but she hopes her last race goes smoother than her final practice session went Friday.

Due to an electrical mishap, Patrick took only 15 practice laps, the fewest of any of the 33 drivers in the last one-hour session ahead of the 102nd Indy showdown of 200 laps over the famed 2.5-mile (4km) oval course.

“These are things you’re actually glad for,” Patrick said. “If this had happened Sunday we would have been done. I’m glad to get the issues out of the way. I’m feeling good about starting seventh on Sunday.”

Patrick’s groundbreaking career will conclude no matter what happens in the 36-year-old American’s final race, her first IndyCar event since leaving the open-wheel series to drive closed-cockpit stock cars in 2012.