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Written by:
Jeff Olson
Senior writer, RACER Magazine http://www.racer.com/speedtv
Senior writer, RACER Magazine http://www.racer.com/speedtv
04/20/2008 - 02:12 AM
Motegi, Japan
Danica celebrates: no more having to answer "The Question". (LAT Photo) » More Photos
Danica Patrick doesn‘t have to answer the question anymore.
Using a wily fuel strategy devised by team manager Kyle Moyer, Patrick scored an historic first IndyCar Series win, becoming the first female driver to win a major closed-course auto race and removing the self-imposed pressure that has dogged her since reaching the IRL in 2005.
“I feel like such a wuss for crying,” Patrick said in a emotional interview shortly after removing her helmet. “But it’s been a long time coming. … I‘ve worked so hard for this. We've worked so hard for this. Thank God.”
The emotions were the culmination of Patrick’s patience and Moyer’s call to bring Patrick’s No. 7 Andretti Green Racing Dallara-Honda back into the pits with 50 laps left in the race. Only two other drivers tried that strategy -- Helio Castroneves
However, Patrick, who dropped back as far as eighth place after the top-off, stayed with it, passing a fading Castroneves for the lead with little more than two laps to go in the race. After 50 IndyCar races and seven years of formulas and ladder series prior to that, Patrick had accomplished what she wanted most.
Dixon looked like being the man most of the way, but a late splash-and-go cost him. (LAT photo) » More Photos
“When I actually had to talk on my radio, finally the emotion came out,” Patrick said. “I really couldn't manage any other words than ‘thank you.‘ And then I was as relieved, as I expected I would be years ago, how I knew I would feel when I won my first race. But I guess over time that feeling has only gotten bigger, and over time I've been asked so many times when I'm going to win my first race. Finally, no more of those questions.”
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