On or off the track, IndyCar driver
Danica Patrick
is a magnet for cameras. The 26-year-old has appeared in FHM Magazine and on the
covers of TV Guide and ESPN The Magazine's Hot & Cool issue. She's graced the cover
of Sports Illustrated (twice) and is featured in a four-page spread in Sports Illustrated's
2008 Swimsuit edition.
Not all the photos are flattering. Photographers were there to capture Danica marching
angrily down the track toward Ryan Briscoe's parked car after he inadvertently knocked
her out of the
Indy 500
in May. They were also there to photograph the confrontation between Danica and
another IndyCar Series driver, Milka Duno, at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in
July 2008.
Danica looks just as good in motion. Her video credits include an appearance in
the Jay-Z video, "Show Me What You Got," as well as three
Super Bowl commercials
produced for global registrar Go Daddy. The 2008 ad didn't "air" on TV at all because
Network censors refused to run it during the game. The Go Daddy commercial that
was shown that day drove Danica fans to GoDaddy.com to watch the banned commercial.
"Exposure" broke all Go Daddy records for game day, netting the industry leader
a total of 2 million site visits.
Voted IndyCar's Most Popular Driver for three years in a row, Danica added her name
to the list of history-making women when she won the Indy Japan 300 in April 2008.
Less than a month later, her name appeared on another list. Maxim Magazine named
her to the annual "Hot 100," calling her "The best thing to blaze up the Indy Racing
circuit since ethanol."
The risqué photos, the racy ads -- some complain it all just detracts from the
Indy racing
star's very real merits as an athlete. She disagrees. "God gave me gifts. Some of
them have to do with beauty, some of them have to do with talent," she is quoted
as saying in the New York Times. Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit editor, quoted in
the same article, agrees, calling Danica "a natural - as good as any model I've
ever worked with."
Expect to see more of Danica Patrick in the coming year as Go Daddy continues its
sponsorship of her and the
Andretti Green Racing Team
through 2009.