Filed under: Nationwide Series, FanHouse Exclusive, IRL, Danica Patrick, NASCAR
Far away from the red carpet, bright lights, television cameras and massive crowds of fans,
Danica Patrick emerged from the office in her Andretti Autosport transporter Friday at Homestead-Miami Speedway dressed casually in jeans and a white polo shirt.
Smiling and engaging, she candidly and calmly analyzed what has been a character-builder of a race season juggling between her full time job competing in the
IZOD IndyCar Series and her part-time foray into NASCAR.
People are more accustomed to seeing America's most famous race car driver in sexy television commercials for her sponsor, GoDaddy.com, smiling on Hollywood red carpets or posing for provocative photo spreads.
But Patrick is one of the most thoughtful, genuine and honest athletes you'll ever meet. For all the confidence and self-assurance she exudes, she also has an air of vulnerability and is admittedly a work in progress.
Patrick has struggled this year in IndyCar, where she's ranked 11th -- her worst since finishing 17th in the final standings in her rookie year -- and has only two top-fives in 16 races. Likewise in the
NASCAR Nationwide Series, where she has yet to post a top-20 finish in seven starts.
Everyone else seems to have an opinion on her efforts as the most successful female IndyCar driver in history. As she finishes up the IndyCar season here Saturday and prepares to finish out the NASCAR schedule, here's what she has to say in this FanHouse Exclusive about what she calls a "humbling experience" in the "hardest year" of her career.
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