Danica Patrick: Go Karts to IndyCar

There is something a little unusual about Danica Patrick as compared to most women her age, she speeds. Yes, she speeds, in fact, she is considered to be a fairly good racecar driver. More specifically, Danica Patrick participates in the IndyCar Series, and has even won awards in several events. By all means, she is paving the way for women introduction into performance racing a sport dominated by men.

Danica got started at an early age, racing go karts. To help advance her career, she moved to England while still in her teens to enter various racing events. Indeed, she gave a great performance, in particular the Formula Ford Festival, where she placed second. She remains to be the only female, or American for that matter, to place so high in the competition.

More recently, Danica became involved with the IndyCar series. The 2005 season brought her a mild success of 12th place. While she may not have won the series, she still received the Rookie of the Year award for her efforts. Danica had a successful season nonetheless, and made many records for women drivers. She wasn't the first driver to compete in such races, but she still managed to make milestones such as becoming the second woman to ever win a pole position in the IndyCar Series.

During Danica Patrick’s next season in the 2006 IRL IndyCar Series, a teammate died in a crash and Danica withdrew from the first race. This may have set her back, but she still managed to place 12th overall for the season. The 2007 season added an improvement to her record 8th place overall. Clearly, she is improving and intends to prove herself among male racers.

Danica has obviously has given men in her league a run for their money. She has yet to claim a prominent victory overall, but she is clearly improving with each season. She remains to be one of the few in her profession that are female with usually around five women competing in total each season. In fact, she has become under recent criticism that she is not performing well enough. Other drivers claim that had she been male, she would not be on such a high-standing race team like the one she is on now. Critics are quick to point out that she has yet to experience a professional winning position overall.

Despite the criticism, Danica looks ahead with high hopes. She has even recently started a fan club, so that she may talk to fellow fans on a more personal level. This has been a great confidence booster to Danica, and she has received support from racing fans and women alike. Access to the fan club gives members race information, giveaways, and a newsletter to help keep fans up to date on he current statistics and news. You can find it at: www.danicaracing.com/

Danica Patrick may not be the first woman in IndyCar racing, but she is surely winning over the support for females all over the world. She still remains hopeful about obtaining a first place position throughout the course of the season, but only time will tell if she achieves this. If you were to ask family, friends, and fans from her fan club they will say it is only a matter of time. With her improving ranks overall, it looks like she might just achieve her career goal after all.