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Danica Patrick Eyes New Level

The Associated Press

Race driver Danica Patrick, center, is surrounded by the media during an interview session for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Thursday.

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By TONY FABRIZIO The Tampa Tribune

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 25, 2008

INDIANAPOLIS - Danica Patrick is the only woman to lead the Indianapolis 500 and is the race's highest female finisher. Last month at Motegi, Japan, she became the first to win a major-league American open-wheel race.

But before Patrick came along, Sarah Fisher scored a second-place finish at Homestead in 2001. A year later at Kentucky, she became the first woman to win a pole in a major-league American race, and she set a track record in the process.

Patrick and Fisher both have talent and historic achievements. So why in today's 92nd Indy 500 is Patrick a huge star driving for a powerhouse team and Fisher an afterthought driving for her own team with six full-time employees?

Why is Patrick, 26, on the cover of Sports Illustrated with the caption "Yes She Can," while Fisher, 27, is hoping against hope to run 500 miles?

Training, timing, opportunity, the glamour factor and Patrick's willingness to self-promote all are part of why there's such a large separation between two drivers who may not be so drastically unequal in ability.

"I don't think there is an answer to that question that is simple, other than I believe there was a lack of chemistry or lack of trust that existed with some of Sarah's previous teams," said Lyn St. James, one of the pioneers for women in open-wheel racing. "I think Danica has been able to generate that."

Janet Guthrie, who in 1978 became the first woman to race at Indianapolis, points to the fact that Patrick had parents who were able to pay "six figures a year" on her training in go-karts and that she moved to England at age 16 to compete on road courses.

"That definitely gave her a running start, and then of course she landed with Bobby Rahal her first team owner," Guthrie said. "So it was a whole bunch of things coming together, and Sarah didn't have that kind of a background."

Different Situations

Patrick and Fisher are two of three women in today's race. Milka Duno, a former sports car driver from Venezuela who holds four master's degrees, starts behind both of them.

Only Patrick has a chance to win, and it's a good one. She starts fifth and drives for Andretti Green Racing, which won in 2005 with St. Petersburg's Dan Wheldon and last year with Dario Franchitti.

"I feel ready," Patrick said. "I feel among the top eight cars, we're all within maybe a half-mile per hour of each other. Let's go racing."

Fisher has won by merely making the field with her own Sarah Fisher Motorsports car. She is the first female owner/driver to make the race since Guthrie in 1978, and there were days when she wondered if there would be money to keep the lights on in her shop.

After sponsorship from a Florida-based energy drink fell through, Fisher practiced and qualified with the sidepods on her blue car blank. Sympathetic fans read about her plight and started sending her checks. Some $30,000 came in.

"To have people come up and just hand me a $20 bill, I've almost cried over that," Fisher said. "I had one guy hand me a $100 bill the other day, and he said, 'you know, I've always pulled for the underdog.'"

Fisher's husband of eight months, Andy O'Gara, is her crew chief. John O'Gara, Andy's father and a 30-year racing veteran, is the team manager. The pit crew that will work today's race has never practiced together.

On Thursday afternoon, less than 72 hours before the race, a company called text4cars.com came through with a one-race primary sponsorship.

Fisher doesn't know if she'll race beyond today. And yet she seems happier than she did during her earlier years in the Indy Racing League.

"It's exciting to do your own thing and have a plan put together that you believe in," she said.

Fisher came into IRL with Walker Racing when the most of the good teams and drivers in open-wheel racing were still competing in CART. Consequently, her success - including 30 laps led at two tracks in 2002 - didn't draw nearly the attention Patrick's has.

And Fisher, though she became the youngest woman to start the 500 when she did so at 19 in 2000, hasn't had success on that stage.

Building A Brand

Patrick exploded into the national consciousness in 2005 when, as a 23-year-old rookie, she led 19 laps, held the lead during the final 10 laps and finished fourth.

"Danica came in and led the Indy 500 and people saw here on national TV," said Dennis Reinbold, Fisher's team owner with Dreyer & Reinbold in 2002-2003 and 2007. "To her credit, she has turned that into a bit of an empire for herself. And frankly, that's good for all of the rest of us in the series."

Patrick is not only attractive, she also is glamorous and fit, and she makes no apology for using her looks to promote herself, her sponsors and her sport. She has done countless photo shoots, some risque and others simply bold, such as her Sports illustrated swimsuit appearance earlier this year.

Guthrie says the edgy photo shoots are "not something I would have done" and "I don't believe anything Sarah would do," but acknowledges they've probably helped Patrick build her brand.

St. James works with young females in a driver development program. She says the girls sometimes ask her if they'll have to do such things as swimsuit shoots to succeed in racing.

"I say, 'no,'" St. James said. "What you have to find out an early age is who you are and be authentic. Danica's answer to all of this is that's who she is. She draws the line as to what is appropriate, and the key is to be authentic."

Fisher returned to the IRL last year after an unsuccessful run in the lower levels of NASCAR. She has rejoined a series that is becoming increasingly balanced between street/road courses and ovals.

Street and road courses are where the difference in ability between Patrick and Fisher is most apparent. Patrick, who trained on them in Europe, is competitive. Fisher, who only did some go-kart racing in America, is not.

That's one reason Patrick has bolted to the forefront, and yet another is the fact she has proven she can win.

"I was in Italy the day she had won," said 1998 Indy winner and current TV analyst Eddie Cheever. "On the front page of the Italian newspaper, it wasn't so much about Danica, it was about the fact a woman had won an international motor sports event. That's groundbreaking."

Buddy Lazier, the 1996 Indy winner, cites most of the reasons already mentioned for why Patrick and Fisher are on different paths. He then gives a summation:

"You've got to be fair,' he said. "Danica is an usual talent. And that usually will show itself one way or another.

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