Danica Patrick: A Rising Star
At the age of 10, Danica began racing go-carts. Despite struggling in her first race, she went on and had a successful series of wins in go-cart racing. Between 1992-1997, she won numerous championships in various national and regional divisions of the World Karting Association. In 1999, Danica entered the Formula Vauxhall Winter Series in England. In 1999, she finished in the top 10 in the 14 race series.
In the year 2000, Danica entered and finished second in the England Formula Ford Festival, making her the highest finishing American driver in the history of the event. Also during 2000, she competed in the Zetec Formula Ford Championship with Haywood Racing.
In 2001, Danica test drove a Ford-powered midget car for the Ford factory. In 2002, she went on to win the Pro Division of the annual Toyota Pro Celebrity race at Long Beach, beating former Trans-Am champion Tommy Kendall and IRL driver Sarah Fisher.
That same year, she signed on with Rahal-Letterman Racing with a multi-year contract. This racing league was founded by a former race car driver Bobby Rahal and television personality David Letterman. During that same year, she participated in five Barber-Dodge Pro series events. She finished fourth in that series in Vancouver. In her first season with Rahal-Letterman Racing, she finished sixth at the Toyota Atlantic Championship in 2003
In 2004, Danica finished third in the Toyota Atlantic Championship for Rahal-Letterman racing. On May 12, 2005, she posted the fastest speed of 227.633 MPH in practice for the Indianapolis 500.
