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Danica Patrick lit a media fuse in 2005. All eyes, notepads, microphones and cameras honed in on her 5-foot-2, 100-pound frame.
Patrick, 24, placed fourth in the Indianapolis 500, earning her top rookie status. And if not for a slight wobble during her qualifying lap, she might have grabbed the coveted pole position.
A year has passed, and a bit - albeit a very little bit - has changed for the woman who has fast become the face of IndyCar.
There's still the "woman in a man's sport" buzz. But Patrick has noticed the media taking her on-track performance a little more seriously.
"If I wasn't a race-car driver, you wouldn't want to talk to me on the street," said Patrick, in town with the other 32 drivers competing in this Sunday's Indianapolis 500.
"People want to know when I'm going to win my first race, what my outlook of the race is for the weekend."
She hasn't had nearly the same success thus far this season. She qualified 10th for Sunday's 500, putting her on the inside of Row 4. In this season's first three races, she finished 17th, sixth and eighth, respectively.
"We're just struggling a little more than we did last year," Patrick said. "It doesn't mean we're incapable. It just means we have issues to work through."
Patrick is still looking for her first IRL win, an interview topic that comes up nearly as much as the, "So, you're a girl" topic.
Patrick said her publicist, Brent Maurer, figured out, on average, a driver takes 33 races to notch his/her first victory. Officially, Patrick has 20 races on her resume.
"I've been thinking about [winning my first IRL race] since I've been a kid," Patrick said. "It never goes away."
Copyright 2004 NYP Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.
