I hear pedicures are one of your indulgences.
Danica PatrickYes, I think everybody deserves a pedicure every week, all girls do, it’s important, it’s good for you. I think whether it’s a pedicure or a nap, or a trip to the mall or whether it’s a massage, I think you should take a little bit of time for yourself and I think it’s a healthy thing to do.
You can fit that into your schedule?
Danica PatrickI have 30 minutes every now and again, so it only takes 30, 45 minutes to do it, between getting there and getting home, so I think I make time for it. I don’t let it get in the way though, my husband wouldn’t be too happy if he got home and I wasn’t there and he’s been gone at work all day, I try and make sure I do it when he’s not there.
Tell me about your book.
Danica PatrickIt comes out May 2. It’s just a book about my life. It’s an autobiography … it was a lot of work actually, it took a lot of time, but it is a book about my life from the time I started racing basically all the way up to the start of this current year now, and it talks about the things I went through, where I lived, what happened, what made me who I am today … It kind of summarizes and makes little lessons at the end of the chapters It is a feel good book, but it is a bit of a roller coaster, just when you think things are going good, it goes bad and good and bad … I thought it was a good and important thing for the people to know my life wasn’t all just sugar and spice. It was hard at times. Everybody should know for something you want, something that’s really good, you’re going to have to work hard, and it doesn’t just come easy. You can’t just sit around waiting, you do have to push and things will eventually come your way if you want it bad enough.
Is it overwhelming to think at 23, almost 24, that you have an autobiography already?
Danica PatrickIt is kind of funny, because I always thought, maybe I’d have a book at the end of my career, I’ll write a book that everyone would definitely learn some things about me, but it happened a lot earlier. People are still going to learn about me, there’s things actually my husband read, he didn’t know. It was an opportunity that came about and it made sense and I thought it would be good for the younger kind of fans. The younger fans are a large percentage of my fan base. I thought it was an interesting thing to do. It did end up being more work than I thought it was going to be, but I didn’t sacrifice anything, because it was a story about my life about things people have never heard before. Stories I’ve never told before, and so when it came to that, it was important that I put everything into it … It’s really interesting you’ll learn a lot about me, a lot about who I am today, why I’m hard or why I’m tough.”
How did you become so self-confident? Were you always like that or did that come from going away at 16 and living in England?
Danica PatrickIt did. Every time I came home from England, because I moved there when I was 16, my parents always commented on me being different every time I came home. Whether it was more mature or more tough, it was always just I was a different person, by the time I was done there, I came home and I was really kind of cold and I had less emotions. It was hard over there, I was not treated the best, and I didn’t have the best of friends, that was hard. I was alone for three years, at a time when people are molded. You know, you’re 16 to 19 years old, those are important years. I was there alone and it was hard, so I think a lot of my characteristics came from those years, but I wouldn’t change anything about my life where I’ve been, what I’ve done.
Are you having fun?
Danica PatrickRight now, sure (she laughs, gesturing at the pedicure). In my life, yeah. Sometimes I wonder what made me so lucky to be where I’m at, what I did to deserve it. I have a really wonderful husband, I have a wonderful career, I’ve had success already, in such a difficult series, the IRL. I’m just really fortunate, really lucky, really blessed to be where I am today. You just count those blessings and never stop trying, it can go away in an instant.
Any idea what you’d be doing if you weren’t a racecar driver?
Danica PatrickI have no idea because I’ve never had to think about it. I started racing when I was 10 years old, and I from the time I started racing, I started thinking I wanted to go to college for engineering. That way I could work on my race car and know how to change it and make it go faster. And that was from time I was 10 … The first thing I wanted to be was a veterinarian, but then I decided that was not good because I had to put needles in dogs, and sometimes you had to put them to sleep, and I decided that was going to be the end of my veterinarian job. Then I wanted to be a secretary, because I thought it was really cool. I just loved the thought of dressing up and answering the phone and putting it down on a schedule and I don’t know, I thought it was kind of fun. And then I wanted to be a singer, but that ended soon, because I didn’t really like my teacher. And after that I wanted to be racecar driver.
What kind of advice do you have for young girls who are thinking they want to be drivers?
Danica PatrickI think they need to try it out and have fun with it, and see if it is what they want to do, if they love it and are willing to do anything, they can probably get there.
Do you ever foresee a time when it won’t be a novelty for women to be racing?
Danica PatrickI think it’s getting better right now. It’s getting better, but at the same time I am still the only girl, so I am a novelty.
Are you surprised at the level of interest in you?
Danica PatrickIt was a bigger deal probably at Indy than what I knew because I was right in the middle of it, because I was the one driving the car, not watching TV every day and seeing everything that was going on outside. It was a bigger story than I could have imagined in the grand scheme of the year for all sports due to the story that it was. I’m not surprised, I mean sponsors need something cool and something new and something fresh and different that people are going to pay attention to, recognize the product that I’m standing and endorsing. And it makes sense, I’m very different, but again you have to take advantage of them when they’re there, because they’re not always there.
You do a lot of exercise.
Danica PatrickEvery day I can. I mostly run and lift weights, it’s important for me to have endurance and strength, so that’s kind of what I focus on. When I have time I do yoga, because I really like it. It’s relaxing but yet at the same time, you gain a little bit of flexibility. Which is important. I think you know along with strength, I need flexibility too. I think people that are flexible recover a little bit quicker from a crash or something like that. It’s amazing how much your body stretches and goes in a new direction or a little bit further than it should, liked your neck or your arm or something, but if you’re flexible you can handle it a little bit more. But when you’re not flexible you get injured a little bit more.
Do you consider yourself an athlete?
Danica PatrickOh absolutely. We’re in the car for anywhere from two and a half to four hours, and we’re sweating and we’re working and we’re mentally and physically working and so, we’re definitely athletes and it looks really easy. And everybody equates it to driving their road car, but it’s absolutely different than that. There’s no power steering in the car. You are pushing yourself to your limit the whole time and if you come to the race, you’ll see, all the drivers are very fit, they’re ripped. You can’t get away with not being fit.
Do you have any pre-race rituals?
Danica PatrickNo, I just pretty much make sure I have a good breakfast, and sit down and relax just a little bit. I think that’s important for me to feel rejuvenated for the day and rested.
What do you do in your free time?
Danica PatrickMy husband I, we love to cook, we take a lot of time and make meals and we watch reality TV. It’s really simple watching, it doesn’t really take a lot of brain power. It’s good. It kind of lets me relax.
Do you have a specialty you cook?
Danica PatrickWe cook pretty healthy. It’s probably my fault, vegetables. He can get away with eating anything, when you can eat anything, you don’t have to learn what you have to eat to be healthy or be slimmer. We cook a lot of fish and chicken and vegetables, stuff like that. I eat a little more variety now that I know him. If I feel like it, I’ll have a piece of pizza or wild rice.
Do you have any particular indulgences?
Danica PatrickWhat is my indulgence? Gosh, you know, if I have a piece of pizza, that’s pretty much an indulgence.
I read you like to travel. Are there any places you particularly like to go?
Danica PatrickI just like to see new things. Islands, that’s my favorite kind of travel, is vacations and islands that’s the best for me. It’s neat to see different cultures. We race in Japan and my husband went with me to Japan and we had an awesome time in Japan. We had so much fun, and we just like the culture, we just like to see new stuff and new areas and new places.
Favorite food?
Danica Patrick I like chocolate, and I like cottage cheese, I like pineapple [together] that’s really good.
What do you eat for breakfast?
Danica PatrickI usually eat oatmeal and egg whites.
Favorite TV shows?
Danica PatrickReality junkie and Desperate Housewives. I watch Desperate Housewives, The office, that’s reality, and House, that’s a good show, too. But then I like the Bachelor, and The Apprentice and America’s Next Top Model. Those are the main ones.
Do you TIVO them?
Danica Patrick You have to TIVO those - they’re on at the same time some of those.
What’s in your iPod?
Danica PatrickI love Alanis Morissette, she’s my favorite. I listen to her more than anything. I like all the chart music. I like Maroon 5, I listen to Alicia keys a little bit now. It’s all chart music, I don’t know.
What’s your personal car?
Danica Patrick645 BMW and an Acura MBX.
Three words that best describe you?
Danica PatrickDetermined. Focused. Driven. They all kind of fall in the same category, I think they spill into many areas. If you’re determined, you’re determined to do anything. If you’re focused, you’ll be able to get your grocery shopping done really fast, it doesn’t matter what it is.
What, if anything, scares you?
Danica PatrickFailing. Not being with my husband ….. if one day he was gone, that’s very sad. I get to see him a lot. He comes to all the races.
Is there anything you’re not good at?
Danica PatrickI took tumbling when I was a kid because I was a cheerleader and I wasn’t very good at tumbling. And I’m not very good at video games because I never play them. Every time I try I’m not very good, I don’t try very often because if I’m not good at it, I just don’t do it.
Do you drive your personal car fast?
Danica PatrickI do. I drive fast, but I don’t drive ridiculously fast. I just like to drive. I don’t like to follow. If somebody wants to do 90-95 on the highway, I’ll let them pass me, but I’m not very good at following somebody doing 82 miles an hour, I’ll go 85 just because I can’t quite follow.
Have you been pulled over?
Danica PatrickI’ve been pulled over a lot. I don’t get pulled over as much, because now they have cameras that just take my picture. But I do get pulled over. I’ve been pulled over probably a dozen times or so.
How do you manage all your commitments now?
Danica PatrickIt’s funny actually, we were gong through the schedule last night with my parents and the guy who does PR for the team, and it’s so busy I seriously cannot do any more. I cannot put one more day in the schedule between now and June or July. I really just don’t have much time. It’s ridiculous between the travel and racing, it’s so compact this year, between obligations for certain things, committed to, it just don’t leave much time for anything else.
Are there endorsement opportunities you’ve turned down?
Danica PatrickOh yes, certain things I’ve turned down, they don’t excite me, they don’t make sense, they’re not enough money. There are various reasons, why I’ve turned some of them down, some of them just wouldn’t want to do, it wouldn’t be my style. I do the ones that make sense. The ones that excite me, the ones I think would be funny, the ones that would get me good publicity along with the endorsement deal that it is, it would also have a good marketing campaign, because that keeps your name out there. Because you’re not racing all year long, not always in the front, not always qualifying on the pole, not always winning races. But with the endorsements it does keep you out there, keeps people excited about you and keeps a large fan base.
Is that why you agreed to deals with brands like Secret and Hostess?
Danica PatrickI’ve used Secret since I was a girl. A little girl? I am still a girl, as you can clearly see. So you know they’re a huge great brand. I was more than happy to endorse their product. And Hostess, I have a large fan base of kids and I’ve got voicemails left on my phone, from my nieces, ‘Danica we saw you in the grocery store. Hi Aunt Danica. OK, bye.’ That’s the kid fan base and I have a lot of them. It was a good idea, good thing to do. Everywhere there’s a Hostess stand, I’m right there. I walk by the grocery store and grab my milk, I look over to the left I’m like, ‘Geez, there I am.’
The reaction from the other drivers has varied. There was that incident where they didn’t want to be at an autograph session, because you had your own line.
Danica PatrickI think that has to do a lot with the teams and I have no control over the autograph sessions and everything like that, but it’s got to be hard, because they’re really was a lot of attention on me, an overwhelming amount of attention, in comparison to some of the other guys. I don’t know how I would have handled it, so I can’t be the one to critique the way they handled it. I thought they all handled it pretty good.
Do you think you intimidate them?
Danica PatrickI know I did when I was a little kid, I used to walk by and they’d be like ‘oh my gosh, that’s a girl walking by, that’s a girl,’ but that was when we were young and we were 10 years old, and boys are still boys and they don’t quite have egos yet and aren’t quite so scared of girls.
Do you consider yourself a sex symbol?
Danica PatrickObviously not today (laughs at her shorts and T-shirt). They can make you up however they want to. I think most people don’t look exactly the same in photos as in real life, but I definitely have a contrast to myself, I like to look pretty and I like to look sexy and I like to look like a girl and I like to have my makeup done and my hair and my toes painted, and it’s good, it’s all fun and but then I’m very tough at the track, so I think that contrast is kind of cool. It’s attractive to sponsors and I’m able to show a little bit of personality.
Did you hesitate before agreeing to the FHM shoot?
Danica PatrickNo, man, I was all over it. Unfortunately it was like my first ever real photo shoot, so I didn’t really know exactly how to pose or what to do, but I had fun and I didn’t know what it was going to be all about. All I knew it was a 20-page speed section in their magazine. I didn’t know if I was going to have one photo and be in my race suit, of if I was going to be dressed like I was, but it was dressed like I was. But it was fun, I don’t regret it, I never second-guessed it. The thing I needed to do was create some attention and make people want me as their driver. I knew as soon as I was able to drive, if I could drive for them, that I would show them I could do it. I just needed to get there. Whether I got there because I could market a product and draw sponsors or not, it didn’t really matter to me, that’s all part of the game, so I didn’t care.
Would you do it now?
Danica PatrickNo, I wouldn’t do it now. I’m so fortunate to be able to pick what kind of media I want to do, what direction I want it to go. I don’t need to do things that don’t appeal to all of my fans. You have your whole career to do things afterward or later on that you want. I’ve done some of that, I’ve had fun with it and it worked. I’d love to be in like Vogue or Glamour or Cosmopolitan, now I think those would be cool. I’ve always wanted to do a really pretty photo shoot, something where I was kind of high fashion, as opposed to like half-dressed.
Is there a place where you draw the line? Playboy was interested and you said No.
Danica PatrickAnd FHM was interested again and Maxim was too and some of them wanted covers. It’s just not what I’m doing right now and I said No. I don’t regret that either.
Do you have to be careful so you aren’t viewed in a certain way?
Danica PatrickYes, you do. I don’t really care how I’m viewed. I would only do things I’d want to do. Nobody can force me to take my clothes off for a picture. Only if I feel comfortable enough to do something will I do it. I have a lot of younger fans. I think if a mother won’t buy a certain T-shirt for their daughter because of what it says or what it looks like or they won’t buy a magazine, then you have to kind of second guess it a little bit. So long as you can appeal to the masses, you should.
You don’t want to be viewed in the same way as Anna Kournikova is?
Danica PatrickIt’s just because she didn’t win a major tournament, I don’t think, and she was overwhelmingly prettier than probably what she was talented. That doesn’t mean she wasn’t talented, it just means she was really pretty. She’s a beautiful girl, so I feel bad that she was critiqued so badly, I feel bad that somebody would walk away from her career, thinking she was a horrible tennis player … Would I want my career to end with someone saying, ‘oh she was just pretty and that was it?’ No, because, again, I don’t think that’s true, not even if I stopped today.
The comparison, though, is about winning a race.
Danica PatrickSure. I’d love to. You can never tell when, but the facts would still say that even if I won a race in the average amount of time a normal driver wins their first race, that still puts me into next year. Thirty three races is what it takes a normal driver to win their first race and at the end of this year, I think we’ll be at like 32 or 31, or something. It still puts me into next year. So it’s like you know lots of great things happened really fast and that’s why people talk about winning and I’m flattered that they have.
How did you feel about the criticism that you have an advantage because you weigh less than the other drivers?
Danica PatrickI didn’t really care. I thought it was kind of funny. And if I had that big of an advantage you’d have thought I’d won, right? There are so many other things that come in to play when the race happens, as far as pit stops, lap traffic and all kinds of things that weight will not be a factor.
Are you worried about a sophomore slump?
Danica PatrickYeah, I’m worried about any slump, I don’t want to have a decline in performance. But I’ve been saying this frequently, you never can tell, when maybe you’ll just have an off year. Maybe the team won’t have it together quite as well maybe you’ll be struggling with the car all year, maybe all these things will happen and you just can’t control that kind of stuff. It might not be me being a worse driver, I might be a better driver, but if everything doesn’t fall into place then you can be the best driver in the world and you won’t be in the front.
How did you end up in the IRL or did the IRL find you?
Danica PatrickThe team I drive for, they were a Champ Car team and then they got into IRL and you know it’s kind of where the sponsors want to go. If the sponsors want to go to a certain series, you have to go where that money is, because I don’t know about you, but I don’t have 7 or 8 million dollars to fund my own car wherever I want it. You’ve got to go where the money is.
There’s been talk of your moving to NASCAR or Formula 1. Do those interest you?
Danica PatrickIt might happen one day, but it might not. I think I have to go where the fun is for me. I’ve lived in England and I’ve traveled into Europe and stuff, and I don’t know it’s just right now I’m not excited about Europe very much, so therefore I’m happy where I am in the states. I have my family and my friends and NASCAR is just so many races. You race almost every single weekend, it seems like … that you don’t have a life. My husband still works a little bit, by no means would I want to be away from him that much. It’s all about what makes you happy in your life. And your life is way too short to just work. And so what if you make a lot of money at the end of it, if you can’t do anything with it. Or if you didn’t have a good life because you were just working the whole time, what was the point?
But do you feel like you’re always sort of fighting this uphill battle because NASCAR is so well known?
Danica PatrickWell, you are fighting an uphill battle, but you know we’re just a different kind of racing a little bit. We have a slightly different fan base, but it doesn’t mean that we can’t be big, too, because about 10 years ago, it was. Everybody knew Indy/Champ Car. It was one series, now there’s two and it caused confusion, and people lost interest, but you know if they’re excited about racing the statistics would say they’re excited about all racing. So we’ve just got to let people know where we’re at, and that way they can come watch.
Tell me something people don’t know about you, you think would surprise them.
Danica PatrickI can’t do that. I’ve got a book coming out in May. No honestly it’s what we’re doing right now, people might not know I’m a girlie girl, or that I like to dress up. I like doing that kind of stuff. They might not know that because all they see is my race face and they wouldn’t know when I get home I like to cook for my husband and I like to go out to nice fancy dinners or I like to stay in and cook with my husband or I like to go get massages or pedicures and maybe they wouldn’t know that. Maybe they wouldn’t know I like to wear skirts more than I like to wear jeans.
The 2005 Indy 500 Rookie of the Year, Danica Patrick qualified on the inside of Row 4 with a four lap average of 224.674 mph, as she improved her speed on each of her four laps. in the No. 16 Argent Mortgage Honda/Panoz, on May 20, 2006.
