One of the IndyCar Series' brightest young drivers, Danica Patrick has blossomed into one of the country's brightest sports stars. But Patrick, who was featured on the covers of Sports Illustrated, TV Guide and ESPN: The Magazine, is anything but an overnight success.

Born in 1982, Danica has been racing cars since she was a kid. She grew up in Roscoe, Illinois, where her parents were big racing fans. Danica's dad raced snowmobiles, motocross bikes and midget cars, while her mom worked as a mechanic. Danica first entered the racing world at the age of ten when she entered a go-kart race. She struggled in her first race but would go on to win dozens of go-kart races over the next few years. At the age of 16, she moved by herself to England to advance her career by racing formula cars.

After four years of pushing cars over 200 miles per hour on the English race circuit, Danica returned to the USA and joined the Rahal Letterman Racing team, co-owned by David Letterman and racing legend Bobby Rahal, on the IndyCar Series. In her first year, Danica made quite an impact with several top ten finishes and created plenty of buzz for IndyCar racing. In 2005, Danica became the fourth woman to race in the Indianapolis 500 and led the race for several laps before finishing fourth.

In the first race of the 2006 season at Homestead Miami Speedway, tragedy struck in the final practice sessions for the race as Rahal Letterman Racing teammate Paul Dana was killed in a crash the morning of the race. Patrick and fellow Rahal Letterman driver Buddy Rice withdrew from the race immediately.

Some have said that Danica's relatively small weight gives her an advantage in a competition where engine size and car weight are strictly regulated. Others have claimed that a rookie driver would have faced much tougher racing competition and would never have been sponsored by a top racing team if it were not for the decline in popularity and competitiveness of Indy car racing.

In April 2006, Danica released her autobiography, Danica: Crossing the Line. In July, she announced she had signed a deal to drive for Andretti Green Racing beginning in 2007. She will be driving a car sponsored by Motorola.

Books by Danica Patrick...
Danica Crossing the Line