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Danica Sue Patrick (born March 25, 1982
in Beloit, Wisconsin) is an American auto racing driver
competing in the IndyCar Series. She is from an
Irish-American family and was raised in Roscoe,
Illinois. Danica 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.
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 England at the age of 16 in
order to advance her racing career. She has also earned
a GED. Focusing primarily on road racing, Patrick raced
in several developmental open-wheel series while in
Europe, including Formula Ford and Formula Vauxhall. A
big achievement was finishing second in England's
super-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. After making several starts in
the Barber Dodge Pro Series, she moved to the Toyota
Atlantic Championship for 2003. Driving for the highly
regarded Rahal Letterman team 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 finisher on the podium
(top three); however, she never won a race. In 2004,
Patrick finished third in the Championship.
IRL IndyCar Series, 2005: After the 2004 racing
season, following much speculation as to where Patrick
would race in 2005, during the off season, Rahal
Letterman Racing officially announced that Patrick would
drive in the 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 for
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 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 blunders to finish fourth in the
race, the same position in which she started. Her car
stalled in the pits about halfway through the 500-mile
race, dropping her to the middle of the field.
Shortly after reclaiming a spot in the
top 10, Patrick spun on a caution period just before an
intended green flag, that caused a four car accident.
The accident caused damage that was fortunately limited
to the nose and front wing of her car. Her competitors
behind her did not fare as well even though she caused
the accident. Her pit crew promptly made repairs, and
due to the subsequent yellow, was able to rejoin having
lost only one place.
When the leaders pitted for fuel on lap 172, the timing
was perfect for Patrick to stay out and take the lead.
Later, she lost it on lap 184, and then regained it on a
restart with 11 laps to go. However, as she had not
pitted for fuel, Patrick needed one more long yellow in
order to reach the finish without having to refuel. 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, and she was quickly 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.
In 2005, she finished 12th in the IndyCar Series
championship, with 325 points.
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.
In January 2006, Patrick competed in the Rolex 24 at
Daytona along with co-driver Rusty Wallace. The 24 hour
event was her longest race to date.
2006: She 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. Patrick finished 6th in St.
Petersburg and 8th in Japan. At Indy she took eighth
place after starting tenth. After Indy she finished 8th
at Watkins Glen. However, the following week Rahal
Letterman racing switched to the Dallara chassis and the
team struggled to grasp a hold of them. Patrick had
struggled to remain competitive, but her 4th place
finishes at Nashville and Milwaukee tied her career best
IRL finishes, and helped her move up to 9th in the
season point standings. The following week at Michigan,
though, her car died with three laps to go and she
finished 17th. She rebounded at Kentucky and Infineon to
finish 8th.
In her final race at Chicagoland with Rahal Letterman
Racing, Patrick recorded a 12th place finish and a 9th
place finish in the point standings besting her 12th
place points finish as a rookie.
2007: 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
beginning in 2007. She will be driving a car sponsored
by telecommunications giant Motorola, as well XM radio
and Go Daddy.
In Patricks's first race with Andretti Green Racing at
Homestead-Miami Speedway on March 24th 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. Benefits
include a "Pit Kit," contests and giveaways,
sponsor discounts and promotions, a members only web
site loaded with features and more.
Patrick ended up starting and finishing eighth in the
91st running of the 2007 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 and she
subsequently fell one lap down to 13th place after
making repairs. However she used a timely caution to get
back on the lead lap and managed to 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 and
less then a second behind eventual winner Sam Hornish,
Jr.; though a late-race crash between Scott Dixon, Helio
Castroneves and Dan Wheldon helped her cause.
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.
Controversy: Some racing journalists, IndyCar
fans, and other drivers (such as Robby Gordon) have
claimed that Patrick's relatively low body weight gives
her an advantage in a competition where engine size and
car weight are strictly regulated. (Patrick's height is
5'2, and weight is 100 Pounds.) The IRL president, Brian
Barnhart, disagrees, telling Dave Caldwell for The New
York Times that Patrick's weight "had a [...]
minimal effect on the competition."
Patrick has also had to deal with sexist remarks from
fellow racers, who feel that auto racing is a man's
sport. In May of 2006, after an appearance on ESPN
SportsCenter's Budweiser Hot Seat, Patrick made comments
that ruffled the feathers of former NASCAR drivers. When
asked if she would ever make the jump over to the NASCAR
circuit, Patrick commented that, while she wouldn't make
the jump, she hadn't even "gotten a phone call
(from NASCAR representatives)." 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 of 2005, Patrick got 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?", As
of July 8, 2007, she has not won a race in IRL. |
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