Danica Battles Indy, Critics Head On

INDIANAPOLIS -- "Hey Danica, I love your moxie."

The middle-aged woman wearing a Danica Patrick t-shirt had stood in line for more than an hour in blazing 80-degree heat in the infield of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway all for the chance to get an autograph from Patrick and to deliver those four words of encouragement.

Moxie, as it turns out, is a tricky thing to manage.

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Patrick, 27, is easily the most recognizable name on the 33-car starting grid for Sunday's Indianapolis 500, and also the driver with simultaneously the most to win and the most to lose.

Depending on your take -- and everyone has one -- Patrick is overrated or underestimated.

And the Indy 500, like no other race, has helped shape Patrick's unique standing in the sport.

Patrick has had to balance talent and toughness with perception and stereotype. And her tenure in the Indianapolis 500 serves as a perfect example of the challenge she faces.

Patrick's first major triumph came after an impressive debut here four years ago. But last May, she earned headlines for an angry walk up pit road to confront one of her competitors. Two snapshots that aren't uncommon in racing, but are scrutinized when you're a marketable young woman trying to excel in a traditionally male-dominated sport.

Patrick, who spent time as a teenager racing in Europe, first turned heads as a 23-year-old when she qualified fourth for the 2005 Indianapolis 500 in her first try around one of the most challenging circuits in the world. Later that month she became the first woman to ever lead the 500 (three times for 19 laps), ultimately finishing fourth -- the best ever showing for a woman and an impressive debut for anyone.

Contrast that with last year, when Patrick's day ended 29 laps early after a pit road collision with Ryan Briscoe. It was the first time she had finished worse than eighth place. In fact, of the 33 starters on Sunday, only pole sitter Helio Castroneves had better results in his first three 500s than Patrick (fourth, eighth and eighth).

But Patrick's purposeful, angry stride toward Briscoe's pit -- security intercepted her and convinced her otherwise -- was caught on camera. And replayed, and analyzed and replayed and analyzed. And she was branded.


Patrick said she and Briscoe are actually very friendly and that her reaction was the emotion of the moment. But she said this week that she has consciously worked on controlling her emotions better this season.

"I really did used to feel like I had to prove to people that I cared, by being mad, like I had to let you know I wasn't okay with being 10th by being angry and not looking happy," Patrick said.

"But it's a real waste of energy and it makes me unapproachable as well. I heard so much that people think I'm this tough person. I'm not. If you catch me away from the track, it's much different. We're just in such an intense atmosphere."

"I have learned from some of the things I've done. They've drawn attention to me and it's part of my personality, so I can't just flat out say I'm not going to be mad anymore. If I get taken out of the lead on the last lap of the race, you're going to see it again. I'm going to be mad."

That's called passion and competitiveness, two essential elements to any successful professional athlete.

What Patrick also has is a unique opportunity at celebrity that has ruffled some traditionalist feathers. Good looks and an outgoing personality and the willingness to use both have made her one of the most marketable drivers in all of auto sport. And who of her competitors wouldn't seize the same opportunities?

Patrick, however, who scored her first and only IndyCar victory last year, is repeatedly asked if she is deserving of the fame.

"I do the ads because I'm a driver," Patrick said. "I'm in the magazines because I'm a driver. I know what comes first."

In fact, even when Patrick scored her maiden win last April in Japan, some critics still begrudged her the victory, saying it was a result of another's flawed fuel mileage estimation. What about the fact that Patrick raced herself into position to take advantage of that opponent's misstep?

Her strategy worked that day. Her competitors' did not. She hoisted the trophy.

Would people have considered it less of a win if Scott Dixon or Dario Franchitti or Helio Castroneves were the guys celebrating in victory lane due to a fuel strategy? How many races have been decided that way? Or shortened because of rain?

Here's the thing. While everyone else has an opinion on Patrick -- whether she deserves the attention, whether she's good enough to win again, whether she should consider moving to NASCAR -- Patrick is digging in and adapting and persevering in a way that frankly, most of her competitors can not fully relate to.

This month, she uncharacteristically didn't go to New York City with some of the other starters for marquee appearances in the national media. Instead she stayed here in Indianapolis, training, sleeping in and, most of all, consulting with her engineers about the No. 7 Boost-sponsored car she'll race Sunday.

"It goes back to what I've always said that my successes off the track come from successes on the track," said Patrick, who is coming off a pair of top-five finishes at Long Beach and Kansas.

"The attention comes from what happens on the track.

"I tried to take some of the things that happened last year and see how I could re-direct it or change the energy, just come into things with a different attitude.

"I think it's paid off. I'm having a lot more fun this year and I feel like everyone around me is having a lot more fun. It's human nature to learn from mistakes, to learn from life in general whether it's good or bad."

Patrick, who will start 10th Sunday, is absolutely on the list of favorites, and with contract negotiations coming up next month, you'd think the stakes have never been higher.

Except that when you're Danica Patrick, the stakes are always high. Every race is the Indy 500.