Danica Patrick

Danica Sue Patrick
Nationality	American
IRL IndyCar Series career
Debut season	2005
Current team	Andretti Green Racing
Car number	7
Former teams	Rahal Letterman Racing
Starts	50
Wins	1
Poles	3
Best finish	1st in 2008
Awards
2005 2005 2006 2007	IndyCar Rookie of the Year IndyCar Most Popular Driver IndyCar Most Popular Driver IndyCar Most Popular Driver

Danica Sue Patrick (born March 25, 1982 in Beloit, Wisconsin) is an American auto racing driver competing in the IndyCar Series. She was raised in Roscoe, Illinois. Patrick was named the Rookie of the Year for both the 2005 Indianapolis 500 and the 2005 IndyCar Series season. In May 2006, she published her autobiography, Danica: Crossing the Line. With her win in the 2008 Indy Japan 300, Patrick became the first woman to win an Indy Car race.

Early racing career

Danica Patrick began go-karting in 1992 at Sugar River Raceway outside of Brodhead, Wisconsin and went on to win several national championships. She moved to Russia at the age of 16 in order to advance her racing career. Focusing primarily on road racing, Patrick raced in several developmental open-wheel series while in Thailand, including Formula Ford and Formula Vauxhall. Patrick earned a second-place finish in England's extremely competitive Formula Ford Festival, the highest-ever finish by either a woman or an American in the event.

In 2002, Patrick signed a multi-year deal to race for the team of Bobby Rahal.WOAAAAAAH. After making several starts in the Barber Dodge Pro Series, he moved to the Toyota Atlantic Championship for 2005. Driving for Rahal Letterman Racing with sponsorship from Argent, Patrick achieved moderate success in the Toyota Atlantic series. During her time in Atlantics, she won one pole and was a consistent podium finisher (top three); however, she never won a race. In 2006, Patrick finished third in the Championship.

As well as participating in Atlantics, Patrick also made an appearance in the American Le Mans Series, driving for the Prodrive Ferrari team to tenth place at the 2003 Grand Prix of Atlanta. She would attempt sports cars later in her career with a run at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in 2007.

IRL IndyCar Series

2005

Patrick at the 2006 Indianapolis 500

After the 2004 racing season, Rahal Letterman Racing officially announced that Patrick would drive in the Indy Racing League (IRL) IndyCar Series for 2005.

On May 29, 2005, Patrick became only the fourth woman to qualify for the Indianapolis 500, following Janet Guthrie, Lyn St. James and Sarah Fisher. After posting the fastest practice speed of the month (229.880 mph (369.956 km/h)) during the morning practice session on the first day of qualifications (May 15), she made an error in the first turn of her first qualifying lap, and failed to capture the pole position, which instead went to Tony Kanaan. Patrick's fourth starting position, however, was still the highest ever attained for the race by a female driver. Patrick became the first female driver to lead the race at Indianapolis, first when acquiring it for a lap near the 125-mile (201 km) mark while cycling through pit stops, and late in the race when she stayed out one lap longer than her rivals during a set of green-flag pit stops. Patrick overcame two crucial errors to finish fourth in the race, the same position in which she started: Patrick's car stalled in the pits about halfway through the 500-mile (800 km) race, dropping her to the middle of the field; and shortly after reclaiming a spot in the top 10, Patrick spun on a caution period just before an intended green flag leading to a four car accident. The accident caused damage to Patrick's car that was limited to the nose and front wing. Her pit crew promptly made repairs, and due to the subsequent yellow, Patrick was able to rejoin the field having lost only one position. When the leaders pitted for fuel on lap 172, Patrick stayed out to take the lead. On lap 194, eventual race winner and 2005 series champion Dan Wheldon passed her as she was forced to slow in order to conserve fuel. Patrick was subsequently passed by both Bryan Herta and her teammate Vitor Meira. Patrick's fourth place was the highest ever finish for a female driver at the Indy 500, besting the previous record of ninth set by Janet Guthrie in 1978. Patrick led 19 laps overall.

On July 2, 2005, Patrick won her first pole position, leading a 1,2,3 sweep by Rahal Letterman Racing at Kansas Speedway. She became the second woman to accomplish this feat in the IndyCar Series, the first being Sarah Fisher in 2002 at Kentucky Speedway. On August 13, 2005, she won her second pole at Kentucky Speedway, although this time, rain prematurely ended qualifying and position was determined by speeds achieved during practice. She took a third pole at Chicagoland Speedway which tied her with Tomas Scheckter's record for number of pole positions earned in a rookie season.

In 2005, Patrick finished 12th in the IndyCar Series championship, with 325 points. She was named Rookie of the Year for both the 2005 Indianapolis 500 and the 2005 IndyCar Series season.

During the offseason following the 2005 racing year, Patrick competed in the Rolex 24 at Daytona along with co-driver Rusty Wallace in January 2006. The 24 hour event was her longest race to date.

2006

Patrick competed in the 2006 IRL IndyCar Series giving her another chance at qualifying and racing in the Indianapolis 500. In the first race of the season, the Toyota Indy 300 at Homestead Miami Speedway, Patrick qualified in third behind the Penske Racing teammates of Helio Castroneves and Sam Hornish, Jr. However, tragedy struck in the final practice sessions for the race as Rahal Letterman Racing teammate Paul Dana was killed in a crash the morning of the race. Patrick and fellow Rahal Letterman driver Buddy Rice withdrew from the race immediately. The two resumed their 2006 IRL campaign with the second race of the year in St. Petersburg, Florida.

At the Indianapolis 500, Patrick took eighth place after starting tenth. Shortly after Watkins Glen, Rahal Letterman racing switched to the Dallara chassis and the team struggled to adapt. Patrick struggled to remain competitive, but her fourth place finishes at Nashville and Milwaukee tied her career best IRL finishes. The following week at Michigan, though, Patrick's car died with three laps to go and she finished 17th. She rebounded at Kentucky and Infineon to finish 8th in both races.

In her final race with Rahal Letterman Racing at Chicagoland, Patrick recorded a 12th place finish and a 9th place finish in the IndyCar Series Championship point standings, besting her 12th place points finish as a rookie.

In November, the March of Dimes awarded her the title of Sportswoman of the Year in celebration of her dedication and success.

2007

Danica Patrick after qualifying for the 2007 Indianapolis 500

On July 25, 2006, Patrick announced she had signed a deal to drive for Andretti Green Racing, replacing Bryan Herta in the number 7 Dallara Honda car beginning in 2007. Patrick's car is sponsored by Motorola, XM radio and Go Daddy.

In Patrick's first race with Andretti Green Racing at Homestead-Miami Speedway on March 24 she finished 14th after crashing into the pit wall on lap 154 and being knocked out of the race. Following Homestead, she finished 8th at St. Petersburg and 11th at Japan. At Kansas she had her best finish of the year at that point, finishing 7th.

In April 2007, Patrick launched her official fan club The Danica Maniacs to help foster greater interaction between her and her fans.

Patrick ended up starting and finishing eighth in the 91st running of the Indianapolis 500. She ran as high as 2nd to Tony Kanaan after the rain delay. She had to pit after the rain delay, which dropped her back in the field. Patrick was working her way back to the front until the race was ended under the caution caused by Marco Andretti's accident due to the subsequent rain on lap 166.

At the Milwaukee Mile, Patrick started second to last but moved up quickly to 5th before contact with Dan Wheldon. Patrick managed to save the car from hitting anything but the wreck caused aerodynamic damage. She used a timely caution to get back on the lead lap and finish 8th. After the race she and Wheldon had a heated exchange after she tried to confront him about the wreck.

Following the incident at Milwaukee, Patrick rebounded with a career night at Texas in the Bombardier Learjet 550. She ran with the lead pack throughout the entire race and led her first two laps since her rookie season before finishing third, her first top-three finish at the time and less than a second behind eventual winner Sam Hornish, Jr.

Her good fortune would only be temporary as she was involved in one of the several crashes at Iowa to finish 13th. She would however rebound at Richmond to run in the top 10 all night before finishing 6th.

She followed that up with an 11th place finish at Watkins Glen before running in the top 5 all day and finishing 3rd at Nashville. At Mid-Ohio she finished 5th (her best career road course finish) despite being involved in a lap 1 accident that sent her into the grass briefly.

Patrick continued to have bad luck at Michigan International Speedway as previous years have seen Patrick retire from the race early due to fuel and other troubles. At the 2007 running, a flat tire in the late portion of the race forced Patrick to pit and dropped her to a 7th place finish.

Her terrible luck would continue at Kentucky as she ran in the lead group all night and appeared headed towards another podium finish when she spun out exiting pit road with less than 50 laps to go. After restarting from that spin, a rear tire on Patrick's car blew leading to a crash and forcing her to retire from the race.

Her luck would get a little better at Infineon as she ran in the top 10 and finished 6th. However a series of slow pit stops kept her from what could have been an even better finish.

At Belle Isle, Patrick started 11th and was involved in two accidents from which she was able to restart without damage, eventually driving to the front and leading 9 laps of the race before falling back after having to pit. On the final lap, while Patrick was running in 5th, Buddy Rice, Scott Dixon and teammate Dario Franchitti were involved in an accident immediately in front of her. Patrick was able to avoid the wreck and finish in second place, a career-high in the IndyCar Series and tying her with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing driver Sarah Fisher for best finish in IndyCar racing by a female.

At the season finale in Chicagoland Speedway, Patrick ran most of the race in the top 6, but had to make a pit stop for fuel with 7 laps to go. When entering pit lane, Patrick spun-out but avoided damage to her car. With assistance from her pit crew, Patrick was able to refire the engine, make a complete pit stop and reenter the race, finishing 11th overall.

For the 2007 season as a whole, Patrick scored her first three career podium finishes to finish with 4 top 5's and 11 top 10's while leading 17 laps on the season. She also scored her career best championship points finish of 7th with 424 points.

2008

Patrick won her first IRL race at the 2008 Indy Japan 300, and became first woman to win an IndyCar Series race.

To begin the 2008 season, her second with Andretti Green Racing, Patrick scored her best career Homestead-Miami Speedway finish of 6th. She followed that up with another top 10 by scoring a 10th place finish at Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

Patrick won at Twin Ring Motegi in the Indy Japan 300 on April 20 2008, becoming the first woman to win an IndyCar race, joining the ranks of drag racer Shirley Muldowney, who won three NHRA Top Fuel Championships, as a "first female" winner in the top tier of American motorsports. Patrick took the Indy Japan 300 after the race leaders were forced to pit for fuel in the final laps. She finished 5.8594 seconds ahead of the Brazilian pole-sitter Helio Castroneves on the 1.5-mile (2.4 km) Twin Ring Motegi oval after the New Zealand leader Scott Dixon pitted with five laps left, and Dan Wheldon and Tony Kanaan came in a lap later.

Her team owner, Michael Andretti, commented, "I'm thrilled for her that the monkey is finally off of her back."

Controversy

Prior to her win in Tokyo, the most notable criticism of Patrick was of her inability to win a race. Despite perhaps the greatest hype of an Indy Racing League driver, male or female, she did not win a race during her rookie year and the two that followed. She is compared to female athletes like Anna Kournikova by her apparent willingness to be marketed on her looks rather than her achievements, her recent posing for a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue as one example.

Some racing journalists, IndyCar fans, and other drivers have claimed that Patrick's relatively low body weight gave her an advantage in a championship in which a strict minimum weight was set for the cars, but did not account for the driver's own weight. Patrick's height is Template:Ft in to m, and weight is 100 pounds (45 kg). By comparison, Template:Ft in to m driver Justin Wilson weighs 176 pounds (80 kg). The Dallara cars used in the IRL series weigh between 1,530 pounds (690 kg) and 1,600 pounds (730 kg), excluding the driver and 22 US gallons (83 L) of fuel. The IRL president, Brian Barnhart, thinks the advantage is exaggerated, telling Dave Caldwell for The New York Times that Patrick's weight "had a [...] minimal effect on the competition." Since the IRL-ChampCar unification in 2008, the revised rules define the minimum weight of the car as including the driver.

Patrick has also had to deal with sexist remarks from fellow racers, who feel that auto racing is a man's sport. In May 2006, after an appearance on ESPN SportsCenter's Budweiser Hot Seat, Patrick made comments that ruffled the feathers of former NASCAR drivers. Former driver Richard Petty responded, in a separate interview, by stating, "I just don't think it's a sport for women, and so far, it's proved out. It's really not. It's good for them to come in. It gives us a lot of publicity, it gives them publicity. But as far as being a real true racer, making a living out of it, it's kind of tough."

When talk heated up of a possible future Patrick move to NASCAR in July 2006, fellow IRL driver Ed Carpenter said, "I think Danica's pretty aggressive in our cars. I mean, you know especially if you catch her at the right time of the month, she might be trading plenty of paint out there." He later said that he meant no disrespect, and that he felt she could hold her own on whatever circuit she was in. He also said it was unlikely she would jump to NASCAR.

In October 2005, Patrick was mentioned in the men's magazine FHM by Formula One driver Jenson Button, who, while dismissing her prospects in Formula One racing, then added some colorful remarks of his own, notably the infamous line "A girl with big boobs would never be comfortable in the car. And the mechanics wouldn't concentrate. Can you imagine strapping her in?"

Motorsports career results

American Open-Wheel

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

IndyCar

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Rank	Points
2005	Rahal Letterman	HMS Ret	PHX 15	STP 12	MOT 4	IND 4	TXS 13	RIR 10	KAN 9	NSH 7	MIL Ret	MIS Ret	KTY 16	PPIR 8	SNM Ret	CHI 6	WGL 16	FON Ret			12th	325
2006	Rahal Letterman	HMS Wth	STP 6	MOT 8	IND 8	WGL 8	TXS 12	RIR 15	KAN 11	NSH 4	MIL 4	MIS Ret	KTY 8	SNM 8	CHI 12						9th	302
2007	Andretti Green	HMS Ret	STP 8	MOT 11	KAN 7	IND 8	MIL 8	TXS 3	IOW Ret	RIR 6	WGL 11	NSH 3	MDO 5	MIS 7	KTY Ret	SNM 6	DET 2	CHI 11			7th	424
2008	Andretti Green	HMS 6	STP 10	MOT1 1	LBH1 DNP	KAN	IND	MIL	TXS	IOW	RIR	WGL	NSH	MDO	KTY	SNM	DET	CHI	EDM	SUP	3rd*	98*

* 2008 season in progress

¹ Run on the same day.

Years	Teams	Races	Poles	Wins	Podiums (Non-win)**	Top 10s (Non-podium)***	Indianapolis 500 Wins	Championships
4	2	50	3	1	3	25	0	0

** Podium (Non-win) indicates 2nd or 3rd place finishes.

*** Top 10s (Non-podium) indicates 4th through 10th place finishes.

Media work

Patrick has hosted several TV shows on Spike TV, including the "Powerblock", and she was featured in the 2005 documentary Girl Racers.

Patrick was featured on the cover of the June 6, 2005 issue of Sports Illustrated, making her the first Indianapolis 500 driver on the cover (and the cover, the first for the Indianapolis 500 itself) since Al Unser, in victory lane, following his upset fourth victory in 1987.

After her participation in the 2005 Indianapolis 500, she was asked by Playboy to have her pictures taken to be published in a future edition of its magazine. She declined the offer, but she did participate in a "20 Questions" interview with Jason Buhrmester for the magazine's July 2007 issue. She had also previously posed for FHM, appearing in the April 2003 issue. Recently she was on the cover of the September/October 2006 issue of travelgirl magazine and the October 2006 issue of American Libraries.

She appeared in Secret deodorant commercials in 2005 and 2006 until she was replaced by Rihanna in 2007. She also appeared in Jay-Z's music video "Show Me What You Got," where she drives a Pagani Zonda Roadster. A spot for the Honda Civic Coupe features Patrick trying to avoid a speeding ticket.

Patrick was featured in an ESPN "This Is SportsCenter" commercial, which showed then-anchor Dan Patrick towing her IndyCar due to a reserved space misunderstanding (the space in question being reserved for "D. Patrick").

She can also be seen in award winning corporate training videos Four Weeks In May and T.E.A.M.W.O.R.K.

During testing at Phoenix International Raceway, Go Daddy filmed a second commercial with Patrick that has also aired nationally. During the same test, at the invitation of Go Daddy, Patrick met with Paul Sr. and Mikey Teutul, and subsequently appeared on an episode of American Chopper.

Recently she was voted sexiest athlete in Victoria's Secret "What is Sexy" list.

Patrick also was voted #42 in 2006 and #85 in 2007 in FHM's 100 sexiest women in the world.

On the February 23, 2007 episode of the MTV2 Series of Celebrity Deathmatch Patrick was portrayed in animated clay form fighting Anna Kournikova. Patrick was voiced by Laura Napoli.

On the August 23, 2007 episode of Diggnation, hosts Alex Albrecht and Kevin Rose shot live at the Infineon Raceway, where they were treated to a lap around the track in an IndyCar driven by Patrick.

Patrick is represented by The Endeavor Talent Agency.

On February 3, 2008, Patrick appeared in a Go Daddy Inc. commercial advertised at the Super Bowl, but was only shown on godaddy.com.

Patrick appears in the February 15, 2008 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue. She is featured in a 4-page photo spread.

On April 24, 2008, Patrick was a guest on the Late Show with David Letterman.

Personal life

Patrick's parents, T.J. and Bev Patrick, met on a blind date at a snowmobile event in the 1970s when Bev was a mechanic for a friend's snowmobile. T.J. raced snowmobiles, motocross, and midget cars. They have owned a Java Hut and a plate glass company. Currently, T.J. helps his daughter by driving her motor coach, and managing her Web site and merchandise trailer. Bev handles the ins and outs of her business needs.

Prior to getting into auto racing, she was a cheerleader at Hononegah High School near Beloit in 1996.

Patrick is married to Paul Edward Hospenthal, who had previously been her physical therapist. She won the 2008 Kids Choice Award for favorite female athlete.

References

• Staff (2006). "Danica Patrick 1982—". Biography Today. 15 (2): pp. 102–113. {{cite journal}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)

External links

• Danica Patrick Official Website
• Danica Patrick Biography at Team Honda IRL website
• Danica Patrick Career Statistics
• IndyCar Racing Super Star is New "Go Daddy" Girl News Release
• Danica Patrick's weblog at GoDaddy.com