Danica Patrick: A Fast Lady In A Man's World

by Dennis Townsend, Contributing Writer

When I first saw Danica Patrick about 10 years ago, I was watching a sports show about auto racing on television. It was a show that she was hosting, and at that time, I had no clue that she was a driver. It was 6 months later that I found out that she was driving Indy style cars in the Indy Racing League.

She soon had a contract driving for Andretti Racing, driving Indy cars, and I was amazed. I am a NASCAR fan and have been for quite a while, so I never watch the Indy Car Racing League unless it’s the Indianapolis 500. Since you don’t see many women driving race cars, and the Indianapolis 500, which is known as The Great American Race was coming up, I figured this would be a good time to check out Danica just to see if she could really drive. I was, to say the least, impressed with the way she handled that car going over 200 miles per hour. An Indy car can go as fast as 240 mph, and the car is made of a lightweight material called "carbon fiber". When you have a crash going over 200 mph in a carbon fiber car, there’s not much left, and Danica had no fear. Not to mention that she was racing with men who sometimes can be a little disrespectful of a woman in a man’s game. One thing I did notice about her that I thought was beneficial because she was racing with men, she has a temper, and will not back down to anyone.

She was raised just outside of Chicago, Illinois, and grew up racing "go carts", and when I first saw her on T.V. she looked good enough to be a model. Come to find out, that’s what she does when she’s not racing. She was only the second woman to lead laps at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and after about 5 years with the Indy League, she decided to make the jump to NASCAR. When you start in NASCAR, you must first run in what’s called the Nationwide Series. And since she has been a spokesperson for the web site GoDaddy.com for quite awhile, they have traveled with her throughout her racing career. They were with her during her time in Indy Cars, and moved right to the Nationwide series with her. Since sponsorship is a big part of any race team, if you bring your own sponsor with, you can just about be assured that you will get hired on any race team if you have a reasonable amount of talent.

She was fortunate to be picked up by J.R. Motor Sports which is run by Dale Earnhardt Jr., in 2012 to run the Nationwide Series. After that first year, which had it’s ups and downs, she was ready to move up to the big show known as the "Sprint Cup" series. She signed on with Tony Steward and became a part of the Steward / Haas Racing stable in 2013. And yes, she still has GoDaddy.com as her sponsor, and 2 year ago, she became the first woman to win the pole position and lead a lap at the famed Daytona 500.

So while it may be tough competing in a mans world as a woman, it can be done even going 200 miles per hour. So if you get the chance to see a Sprint Cup Race, be on the lookout for the lime green GoDaddy.con Chevrolet, and watch a "fast woman" at work..

    
DLTPONCH33


Photo courtesy of ZAP2IT.COM

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