No. 4 girl

Fresh from a fourth-place finish at Motegi and starting fourth on the grid of the 89th Indianapolis 500, the fourth woman to qualify for the legendary May race wants to change her number. The sublimely confident 23-year-old from Roscoe, Ill., expects to trade that number 4 for a 1 on May 29. Practically assured of becoming Rookie of the Year, her real goal is Victory Circle, and she has little doubt that she can be the first woman to finish first at the Brickyard.

Danica Patrick will be racing in the May 29 Indy 500.

“I have a great chance of winning,” she declares. “I’ve been fast all month. I’m very confident and I’m a good driver with a good team.”

That team is Rahal Letterman Racing, where team owner and former Indy 500 winner Bobby Rahal has been grooming her for a starring role as he moved her up the ranks from Formula Atlantic to the Indy Racing League.

“I hate to say it like this,” Rahal says, “but she’s the best I’ve seen as far as female drivers go. She’s good, dang good. She’s a very good race car driver — and she’s got a very bright future.”

Patrick began laying the foundation for her future when she was only 10 by following her younger sister’s lead in go-karts. Her first run ended in a concrete wall, but that didn’t deter her; she went on to win her first World Karting Championship at age 12 and continued to rack up titles and championships in karting over the next five years.

Recognizing the need for a well-rounded racing education, in 1996 she enrolled in Lyn St. James’ driver development seminar, a weekend program designed to imbue racers with media relations skills, impart nutrition information and assist with their concentration in the cockpit. St. James praised Patrick as a model student: “She’s talented, committed, poised and she’s got two parents who are completely supportive. That’s a great combination.”

Impressed by Patrick, the former female Indianapolis 500 starter helped the young hopeful up the career ladder by introducing her to John Mecom Jr., the Texas oil tycoon who fielded Graham Hill’s Indy-winning car in 1966, and his son, John III, who in turn gave the 14-year-old girl racer an introduction to the legendary Jackie Stewart. Having made a similarly good impression on the Scot, Patrick was offered a ride in the Formula Vauxhall series in Europe.

Patrick made a bold decision to end her high school education at age 16 in order to move to Milton Keynes, England, to further her racing education and jumpstart her career. Admittedly not proud of failing to earn a high school diploma (although she did get a GED later), Patrick focused on motor racing. “In my eyes, [leaving school] wasn’t really a sacrifice at all,” Patrick said. “I wasn’t missing out; I was doing bigger and better things.”

In 1998, she debuted in the Formula Vauxhall Winter Series, continued to compete in karts and attended the Formula Ford racing school in Canada. She confesses to not learning much about the cars, but believes she learned a lot about life.

“What impressed me is that at such a young age she would leave home and go live in England because that’s the toughest environment and every young gun in the world is over there,” Rahal claims. “That spoke volumes about her commitment and dedication to what she wanted to achieve. A lot of young people say they want to be race car drivers, but not many are willing to do the things you have to do. She had the hunger and dedication to succeed and she went toe-to-toe with those guys.”

Serving her apprenticeship in the highly competitive European ladder system, Patrick competed in the British Zetek Formula Ford Championship and the European Formula Ford Series. Her hard work and training started paying off in 2000 with a second-place finish at the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch — the highest ever for a woman, tying Danny Sullivan’s 1978 finish as the highest for an American driver.

Her success led to a Formula Three test, where Rahal hoped to place her in the Paul Stewart Racing Formula Three development program. But Rahal’s dismissal from Jaguar by boss Niki Lauda coincided with the cancellation of the F3 program, and the opportunity vanished.

She also had test runs in USAC Midget, Toyota Atlantic and ALMS cars, but remained in Formula Ford in 2001 for one final lackluster year, out-driven by her male teammates because she couldn’t adapt her driving style to the uncompetitive Mygale car.

The school of hard knocks continued with a disappointing 2002. Back in America and signed to pilot a BMW M3 GTR in the American Le Mans Series, Patrick missed most of the 2002 season when the team was banished. Instead, she won the Toyota celebrity race at the Long Beach CART race and signed with Rahal to run a limited season in the Barber Dodge Pro Series.

Patrick spent the next two years in the Toyota Atlantic Championship, part of the then-Championship Auto Racing Teams ladder system for young drivers. Leaving her mark, she was the first female to post a podium result and to win a pole position in the 30-year history of the Atlantic series.

Patrick assesses her style: “I’m assertive and aggressive with the moves I make. Road racing is just flat-out, and that’s me.” With such a strong road racing background — and such strong road racing aspirations — a move to Formula One or Champ Car was in Patrick’s plans, but a change of series by Rahal dictated otherwise and Patrick is now an IRL regular. The woman who once said she “always wanted to be in F1” has resigned herself to an oval series. Patrick claims it doesn’t bother her, confessing that the IRL’s addition of two road races comforts her, and admitting that being closer to friends and family is a welcome change.

Mentor Mecom expressed concern that Patrick needs to significantly tame her game to succeed on the ovals. Instead, the brash young driver has tamed the big oval at Indy. “Five years ago, I didn’t envision coming to Indianapolis for the first time and being one of the fastest cars,” Patrick reflects. “Knowing the quality of this team and with the success we had at Motegi, I did come here thinking there was a realistic chance we would be pretty fast. Driving for a good team will bring out the best in you as a driver.”

Driving at speeds higher than she’s ever gone, learning to control her car through the corners as well as her urge to over-correct, the Indy rookie is experiencing a steep learning curve. Ever the self-assured young driver, she insists she can do the job. “Experience is the only thing I lack — how to set up passes and work through traffic is a big challenge. But I have no doubts I can do it; I usually race better than I qualify.” She intends to rely on her instincts, ability, limited experience and advice from her teammates: 1999 Indy 500 winner Kenny Brack (substituting for reigning Indy 500 champ Buddy Rice, who sustained a back injury during practice) and veteran Vitor Meira.

While her performance through Rookie Orientation and the first week of practice gave rise to expectations of qualifying on the pole, a bobble on her second lap dashed her hopes. Bitterly disappointed, the 5-foot-1-inch powerhouse lost her composure in public — a rare occurrence for this media-savvy marketing dream. By the time her next press conference rolled around, Patrick had put a positive spin on it, even if she hadn’t completely come to grips with her result. “I think I earned respect,” she says, “because everyone sees I can handle a difficult car.” Still, she reluctantly admits that the toughest part of the month of May was accepting her fourth place starting position. “I had the fastest speed in qualifying,” she quickly points out. “I just didn’t have the fastest four-lap average.”

Her boss is full of praise for the young talent. “The thing I’ve been most pleased with is that she’s been very focused,” Rahal says. “I thought Danica would do well, but she has exceeded my expectations.” Her former mentor also lavished praise on Patrick. “One of the things we’ve always liked about Danica is her aggressiveness,” Mecom III says. “She’s very talented, and she knows what she’s doing in a race car.”

“When I was 14, I wanted to win the Indy 500,” she recalls. “Counting-go karts, this is something I’ve been working toward for 13 years.”

“I don’t care what other races you win, everything else pales in comparison,” Rahal claims. “From a career standpoint, professionally, personally and commercially, if she were to win the Indy 500, it would do more for her than anything else.”

It wouldn’t hurt the ailing IRL either. Patrick is the first to recognize that her presence has brought the series more attention. “The Indy hoopla is more than normal because I’m doing really well,” she says. “The really big media is contacting me to do things.”

Patrick is comfortable in the spotlight, having done promotional work for BMW and appearances on Spike TV. She’s also comfortable using her sex to sell herself, posing provocatively and bikini-clad in a men’s magazine. “If being a long-haired, pretty girl is different, then I’m willing to use it to my advantage,” she says unabashedly. “It’s certainly easier to get people’s attention that way.”
The petite driver likes to get attention by doling out handshakes with what some define as an “exaggerated firmness that evokes notions of coached first impressions.”

“She just crushes you,” Mecom III says.

In the end, it’s all just marketing, she says. “I mean, it causes a stir and it brings attention to the sponsorship. It’s nothing more than a bit of fun and benefit for attention and sponsorship. It’s important for the sport to draw attention. It’s important to get the sponsors out there, to reach all kinds of markets, so you can spark interest in the sport. I hope other drivers are doing as much for their sponsors as I am.”

She revels in the spotlight, alleging it keeps her “hungry and fiery,” and she says she doesn’t want the attention to go away. However, aware that “no girl has ever made it really big in racing,” Patrick knows she has to “set the world on fire” with her driving.

Comparisons to the previous three women are inevitable, but ultimately, Patrick wants to be remembered for her performance on the track. And the ballsy little brunette with the crusher handshake thinks her performance will be the best. “No woman has been consistently fast,” she emphasizes. “I’m not the first female here, but I’m the first who is truly competitive and race savvy — the first who qualifies and races well consistently. I learned a lot in England and I learned a lot in Atlantics. I had that groundwork, which I don’t think Sarah [Fisher] had and that’s probably the biggest difference.”

Despite an outpouring of support from fans and media, Patrick knows she has to prove herself. What little negativity she has encountered just firms her resolve to perform. “I would hate to get beaten by a girl, so I can’t imagine how the guys must feel. Who would have ever thought a girl would be a good race car driver? I’m going to prove I belong here,” she predicts. “I’m a great driver, not just a girl driving for a great team.”