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First of All, It's Patrick -- at Last
Danica Patrick enjoys the spoils of victory after triumphing in her 50th start, in her fourth Indy Racing League season. "It's a first. Firsts are always in history books," she said.
(Jonathan Ferrey - Getty Images)
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A few drivers publicly questioned the attention she was getting, but Patrick's car owners and teammates lauded her dedication to the sport. And yesterday, in a rain-delayed race on Motegi's Twin Ring circuit outside Tokyo, Patrick's hard work paid off.
With qualifying rained out, drivers lined up for the start according to the points standings, which placed Patrick sixth. That's roughly where she ran until the waning laps around the 1.5-mile oval. With five laps to go, leader Scott Dixon pitted for fuel. Front-runners Dan Wheldon and Tony Kanaan followed suit.
That left Castroneves and Patrick to settle it, each determined to milk what fuel remained in their tanks. Castroneves backed off the throttle, and Patrick passed him for the lead on Lap 198 of 200. Her crew chief radioed that as long as she kept the Brazilian in her rear view mirror, the victory was hers.
Finally, her crew chief radioed, "Use as much fuel as you want and bring her around to the checkered flag!"
Said Patrick, after her long flight home: "It's been a long time I've waited for this. I wish it could have happened sooner, but I'm not going to argue."
Her margin of victory -- nearly six seconds -- was a whopper. And Castroneves, who is as famous for winning "Dancing With the Stars" as he is the Indianapolis 500, had nothing but praise. "She did a great job," he said. "She passed me fair and square."
The victory came on her 50th start, in her fourth IRL season.
"She needed to win to give herself legitimacy," said Eddie Gossage, president of Texas Motor Speedway, who has promoted IRL races for a decade. "Even though she has had some really good finishes, it has been enough time."
That said, Gossage plans to use images from Patrick's Sports Illustrated swimsuit spread to help promote the June IRL race at his track. He has already secured the photo rights. Her victory, he added, gives him another selling point.
"She was already one of the strongest assets that we had to work with as a promoter," Gossage said. "There are only a handful of people that you can call by one name and everyone knows who it is. Now, she has legitimacy. Anybody that wanted to be a detractor before could argue that she never won; 'She's just a novelty act!' They can't say that anymore."
