Twenty-nine year old Danica Patrick, the self-described object of “Danica mania” in the US, has driven at a record-setting speed of 229.88 m.p.h. But she is driven still more.
On Sunday, she will compete in the Daytona 500 in Daytona Beach, Florida - the most prestigious event in stock car racing. It is the first of ten Sprint Cup races that Patrick will compete in this season - and she might even win. It’s been decades since a woman driver caused this kind of stir at Daytona.
Patrick is the only woman in history to win an Indy Car Series race (Japan).
She also holds the highest finish by a woman at the Indianapolis 500, 3rd
place, and has been named the Indy Car Series most popular driver four
times. She is widely considered to be the most successful woman in the
history of American open wheel racing.
Earlier this week, the 5’2”, 100-pound plain spoken Patrick, who is pretty
enough to pose for swimsuit calendars and appear in popular Go Daddy
television adverts, appeared at the National Press Club to talk about her
professional transition from Indy to NASCAR.
She also talked about her youthful dreams for Formula One, which involved
three years of training from age 16 to 19 in England, where she understood
she “could learn more (about racing) in one year . . . than five years
in the States”.
In 2000, while living in England, Patrick finished second in the Formula Ford
Festival, the highest finish ever for an American, besting Danny Sullivan’s
record in 1974. But living apart from her family and friends wasn’t the
experience teenaged Patrick had envisioned.
She described life across the Pond: “When I first moved over there, I was
sleeping on a couch and racing on the weekends. And it just wasn’t going
that well. Why? I had come from such success. Was it because I was the
newest driver on a race team? Was it because I was an American on a British
team?”
“Or was it because I was a girl, maybe? Maybe it was because I was a girl in a boys’ sport. And it was really the first time that I started to feel different or out of place. And it really started to make me doubt myself, doubt my abilities. It made me really sad and really depressed, as if the lack of sun wasn’t enough to do that.”
Race car driving is second only to American football as a spectator sport in the US. Today, ten years after leaving England, Patrick has committed herself fulltime to the wildly popular NASCAR circuit and stock car racing.
Unfazed by critics of her swimwear modeling and other “out-of-car” activities, the steely-gazed Patrick embraces her unique girly status in male-dominated racing. She explained: “I've never asked for special treatment along the way. And I’m never going to hide the fact that I’m a girl, ever. That’s obvious, isn't it?”
RR: Did you really feel that you were being treated differently in England because you were a girl?
Patrick: I felt like they were treating me different. I felt like I was being laughed at a little or being made fun of. I would think age has something to do with it. I was with 18, 19 year old boys - I didn't really fit into that world. You know how you think someone's talking about you because you can see them looking and laughing in some way. You think: “they’re talking about me”. That happened a lot.
Then, at the end of my time there---after the Formula Ford Festival when I did really well---we were practising in the off season getting ready for the next year. I was the fastest car by quite a bit and I remember the team owner going up to the other cars and the drivers asked who was quickest. And he said "the girl, she's quickest---come on, get out there, get going”---like for some reason, I wasn't supposed to be (the quickest). At the time I was there, it didn't really feel that the culture was ready for me.
RR: Why is England a superior training ground for racing?
Patrick: I think there's a lot of deep-rooted history in England with racing. Lots of Formula One teams are based there. Formula One is obviously a huge sport over in England and Europe. You're in such close proximity to other countries over there that the best drivers from France and Italy and Spain and all over the place migrate to England. The best racers in all those countries go to England to race. To race in the British championships is the toughest---they're really into their racing.
RR: Is the training more rigorous in England than in the US?
Patrick: I would say that I didn't really learn much at all about race cars when I lived there. What I did get was a great education in life----how you need to protect yourself and know who you can trust. While my experience there racing was not a great one, I'm definitely glad that I got the life experiences of living there and living on my own.
RR: How were you affected by the death of Dan Wheldon? What was your reaction?
Patrick: I was really, really sad. And I think I share a lot of the same feeling as some of the other drivers that were close. I know that Marco Andretti and I felt angry. We both felt mad that it happened. I'm not saying that it was avoidable---but mad that we were put in that position on a racetrack like that with the kind of young inexperienced drivers that there were in the field. I think there were some circumstances that were not ideal. So, we were angry. Of course we were sad---but a lot of anger.
RR: Why do you think Dan wasn't a very big star in the UK but was so popular in the US?
Patrick: I didn't know that he wasn't a big star in the UK. But I would say that he really loved living in the States. He lived in St Petersburg, Florida, which wasn't where any other race car drivers lived but I really think he loved it. He loved the Indy 500 and he was such a great oval racer and I just think he fit in really well.
Perhaps people noticed that and perhaps that's why we all liked him so much---because he loved living here (in the US).
RR: Do you have any comment on other British drivers in the US---like Dario Franchitti?
Patrick: Dario's a great friend. He was my teammate for a little while at Andretti Auto Sport. I was actually in Andretti green racing then. But we were teammates and we've been friends for a long time. I raced with his brother Marino when I lived in England. There's lots and lots of great race car drivers who come out of the UK.
RR: Could you tell us more about what happened with the Honda test in 2008?
Patrick: I don't know what happened. I know Honda’s commitment to Indy Car got bigger in 2006 when they became the sole engine provider for the series. So they obviously had a heavy commitment over here in the US. They ran a new car in the American Le Mans series so that was a new project to take on. So I'm not sure why they pulled out of Formula One. But I know that their commitment to the racing series in the States had grown.
RR: There's going to be a Grand Prix in Austin, Texas and a Grand Prix in New Jersey over the next two years. Would it be a dream to race in those Formula One races? Bernie Ecclestone has reportedly said it would be the "greatest advert" to have Danica Patrick in those races.
Patrick: Well, you should probably track back in history and find some of the other quotes Bernie Ecclestone had about me [Formula One's chief executive once quipped, when asked about Patrick, that women "should all be dressed in white like all the other domestic appliances"---later to be followed up with a Christmas present from
Bernie. It was a picture of myself and Ryan Briscoe on a plaque-style, big format photo that he sent and signed. Apparently he felt like he needed to apologize a little. I'll just take it as a nice thought that I was thought of at Christmas-time.
RR: Does that mean you're not interested in racing in Formula One?
Patrick: I've never been bashful to say that I'm not really interested in Formula One. When I lived in England, it's all I wanted to do and I thought that anything else would somehow be a compromise to my dreams. But then when I came back to the States, I realised how much I loved being back in the States and how important it was for me to put myself in a situation in which I was happy. I was just not that happy in England. I love to be around my friends and family. So, if I need to be around my friends and family to make me happy then I can't leave this country.
RR: Did your experience in England prejudice you against Formula One?
Patrick: I would say my experience in England taught me how much I love being in the States. From the perspective of doing one race, I am not interested in doing events as an exhibition. I am interested in showing off what I can do as a race car driver. That doesn't come from one-off races but from full commitment---and doing it day in and day out. There's a big risk in one-off events. If I do well people will say I should have. If I don't do well people will see it as a failure.
RR: After listening to your speech today here at the National Press Club, I gather that you do not think of yourself as a driver who is not being taken seriously. You don’t seem to believe that your career has been diminished at all by your swimsuit modeling, commercials, or any other out-of-the-car activities?
Patrick: That is correct. I am a big believer in being yourself no matter what that is. Number one, it's the most consistent. You aren't going to find out one day that I'm this crazed something and suddenly there's a controversy. I am what I am---you see it all---and it makes life a lot easier.
RR: Would you agree that people who wouldn't take you seriously as a racer because you’re also a swimsuit model are really the unprogressive ones? They don't want women to be women?
Patrick: I think you're onto something. I think that's a really interesting concept. The more times I get these kinds of questions it makes me go---what really is going on? When women think I shouldn't do it, why is that? We (women) should be more liberated to do more of what we want.
RR: So, do you agree with that statement?
Patrick: I would like to agree with that. I'm a big believer in everybody being themselves. If not doing a swimsuit calendar is yourself, that's great. But if doing a swimsuit calendar is yourself, then you should be able to do it. What I do outside the car adds to who I am and expresses a different side of me.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk
“Or was it because I was a girl, maybe? Maybe it was because I was a girl in a boys’ sport. And it was really the first time that I started to feel different or out of place. And it really started to make me doubt myself, doubt my abilities. It made me really sad and really depressed, as if the lack of sun wasn’t enough to do that.”
Race car driving is second only to American football as a spectator sport in the US. Today, ten years after leaving England, Patrick has committed herself fulltime to the wildly popular NASCAR circuit and stock car racing.
Unfazed by critics of her swimwear modeling and other “out-of-car” activities, the steely-gazed Patrick embraces her unique girly status in male-dominated racing. She explained: “I've never asked for special treatment along the way. And I’m never going to hide the fact that I’m a girl, ever. That’s obvious, isn't it?”
RR: Did you really feel that you were being treated differently in England because you were a girl?
Patrick: I felt like they were treating me different. I felt like I was being laughed at a little or being made fun of. I would think age has something to do with it. I was with 18, 19 year old boys - I didn't really fit into that world. You know how you think someone's talking about you because you can see them looking and laughing in some way. You think: “they’re talking about me”. That happened a lot.
Then, at the end of my time there---after the Formula Ford Festival when I did really well---we were practising in the off season getting ready for the next year. I was the fastest car by quite a bit and I remember the team owner going up to the other cars and the drivers asked who was quickest. And he said "the girl, she's quickest---come on, get out there, get going”---like for some reason, I wasn't supposed to be (the quickest). At the time I was there, it didn't really feel that the culture was ready for me.
RR: Why is England a superior training ground for racing?
Patrick: I think there's a lot of deep-rooted history in England with racing. Lots of Formula One teams are based there. Formula One is obviously a huge sport over in England and Europe. You're in such close proximity to other countries over there that the best drivers from France and Italy and Spain and all over the place migrate to England. The best racers in all those countries go to England to race. To race in the British championships is the toughest---they're really into their racing.
RR: Is the training more rigorous in England than in the US?
Patrick: I would say that I didn't really learn much at all about race cars when I lived there. What I did get was a great education in life----how you need to protect yourself and know who you can trust. While my experience there racing was not a great one, I'm definitely glad that I got the life experiences of living there and living on my own.
RR: How were you affected by the death of Dan Wheldon? What was your reaction?
Patrick: I was really, really sad. And I think I share a lot of the same feeling as some of the other drivers that were close. I know that Marco Andretti and I felt angry. We both felt mad that it happened. I'm not saying that it was avoidable---but mad that we were put in that position on a racetrack like that with the kind of young inexperienced drivers that there were in the field. I think there were some circumstances that were not ideal. So, we were angry. Of course we were sad---but a lot of anger.
RR: Why do you think Dan wasn't a very big star in the UK but was so popular in the US?
Patrick: I didn't know that he wasn't a big star in the UK. But I would say that he really loved living in the States. He lived in St Petersburg, Florida, which wasn't where any other race car drivers lived but I really think he loved it. He loved the Indy 500 and he was such a great oval racer and I just think he fit in really well.
Perhaps people noticed that and perhaps that's why we all liked him so much---because he loved living here (in the US).
RR: Do you have any comment on other British drivers in the US---like Dario Franchitti?
Patrick: Dario's a great friend. He was my teammate for a little while at Andretti Auto Sport. I was actually in Andretti green racing then. But we were teammates and we've been friends for a long time. I raced with his brother Marino when I lived in England. There's lots and lots of great race car drivers who come out of the UK.
RR: Could you tell us more about what happened with the Honda test in 2008?
Patrick: I don't know what happened. I know Honda’s commitment to Indy Car got bigger in 2006 when they became the sole engine provider for the series. So they obviously had a heavy commitment over here in the US. They ran a new car in the American Le Mans series so that was a new project to take on. So I'm not sure why they pulled out of Formula One. But I know that their commitment to the racing series in the States had grown.
RR: There's going to be a Grand Prix in Austin, Texas and a Grand Prix in New Jersey over the next two years. Would it be a dream to race in those Formula One races? Bernie Ecclestone has reportedly said it would be the "greatest advert" to have Danica Patrick in those races.
Patrick: Well, you should probably track back in history and find some of the other quotes Bernie Ecclestone had about me [Formula One's chief executive once quipped, when asked about Patrick, that women "should all be dressed in white like all the other domestic appliances"---later to be followed up with a Christmas present from
Bernie. It was a picture of myself and Ryan Briscoe on a plaque-style, big format photo that he sent and signed. Apparently he felt like he needed to apologize a little. I'll just take it as a nice thought that I was thought of at Christmas-time.
RR: Does that mean you're not interested in racing in Formula One?
Patrick: I've never been bashful to say that I'm not really interested in Formula One. When I lived in England, it's all I wanted to do and I thought that anything else would somehow be a compromise to my dreams. But then when I came back to the States, I realised how much I loved being back in the States and how important it was for me to put myself in a situation in which I was happy. I was just not that happy in England. I love to be around my friends and family. So, if I need to be around my friends and family to make me happy then I can't leave this country.
RR: Did your experience in England prejudice you against Formula One?
Patrick: I would say my experience in England taught me how much I love being in the States. From the perspective of doing one race, I am not interested in doing events as an exhibition. I am interested in showing off what I can do as a race car driver. That doesn't come from one-off races but from full commitment---and doing it day in and day out. There's a big risk in one-off events. If I do well people will say I should have. If I don't do well people will see it as a failure.
RR: After listening to your speech today here at the National Press Club, I gather that you do not think of yourself as a driver who is not being taken seriously. You don’t seem to believe that your career has been diminished at all by your swimsuit modeling, commercials, or any other out-of-the-car activities?
Patrick: That is correct. I am a big believer in being yourself no matter what that is. Number one, it's the most consistent. You aren't going to find out one day that I'm this crazed something and suddenly there's a controversy. I am what I am---you see it all---and it makes life a lot easier.
RR: Would you agree that people who wouldn't take you seriously as a racer because you’re also a swimsuit model are really the unprogressive ones? They don't want women to be women?
Patrick: I think you're onto something. I think that's a really interesting concept. The more times I get these kinds of questions it makes me go---what really is going on? When women think I shouldn't do it, why is that? We (women) should be more liberated to do more of what we want.
RR: So, do you agree with that statement?
Patrick: I would like to agree with that. I'm a big believer in everybody being themselves. If not doing a swimsuit calendar is yourself, that's great. But if doing a swimsuit calendar is yourself, then you should be able to do it. What I do outside the car adds to who I am and expresses a different side of me.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk
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