Danica Patrick 20Q Interview

Our favorite fast woman debates Barbies versus Hot Wheels, remembers the go-kart days and has a message for those other Indy drivers bringing up her rear

Q1

PLAYBOY: When you were a little girl, which was your toy of choice, Barbie or Hot Wheels?
PATRICK: Well, it depends on what age we're talking about. I had a hundred Barbies, and I turned cardboard boxes on their sides and made them into Barbie houses. But I always liked Mr. T, too. That must have been the start of something masculine. And I did have the Barbie car.

Q2

PLAYBOY: What were the first vehicles you raced?
PATRICK: Little go-karts with small lawn-mower engines in them. They were five-horsepower engines that might have gone 40 or 45 miles an hour. I was 10 years old, and I caught on to it quickly. I almost won the championship the first year. I went back to Sugar River Raceway a few years ago and looked at all the files from the first year I drove. I could see the lap times, the qualifying positions and the results. You could see that midseason it clicked, and all of a sudden I was two seconds quicker than anybody else. I started winning all the time.

Q3

PLAYBOY: Do you look back and realize how seriously you took racing?
PATRICK: Yeah, that's exactly right. When I was in high school, people would say to me, "Gosh, you're so dedicated." If I had a race the next weekend, I would go out with my friends and drive them around, and I wouldn't drink. I always lived for racing, and I sacrificed everything else. That's why when people ask, "How do I become a race-car driver? Tell us what it takes," I always say I don't think I can tell someone how to do it--either you have it in you or you don't. If you're asking the question, I would look at it twice, because you should be on the path already.

Q4

PLAYBOY: When you were 12 years old you crashed into Sam Hornish Jr. during a go-kart race. Now you both race Indy cars. Have you two ever talked about it?
PATRICK: As funny as it would be, we haven't. I see him all the time. He's cool. He's a friend. We hang out since we race with each other now. It's funny how that came full circle. I remember he bumped my go-kart into the first turn with a lap or two to go. When we came to the last corner, I decided I wasn't going to let him get away with it and I drove over him. Come to think of it, he may have tried to brake-check me. I should ask him because I didn't make mistakes like that. I'll bet he brake-checked me.

Q5

PLAYBOY: What was your first car?
PATRICK: It was a Mustang Cobra, back when Mustangs were still pretty exclusive and cool. I was hard on it. I went through a brand-new set of brakes in a couple thousand miles. The car ended up with 8,000 miles on it when we sold it. I didn't have it that long, and I was on my third set of brakes.

Q6

PLAYBOY: Were you a street racer?
PATRICK: Heck no. My dad always told me not to race on the street. He had odd theories, like if your car was fast enough, it kept you out of trouble. He said, "I know you're going to try to pass semis on a two-lane road, and if you have a slow car, that other car will be coming at you too quickly." I loved his theory. It's a great outlook, don't you think?

Q7

PLAYBOY: Are you handy mechanically?
PATRICK: I've never claimed to be a handy person. Everybody asks if I know how to work on the car, and I play dumb. When we were go-karting I used to work on those a lot. I could change axles and gears. At one point I could even CC an engine, whatever that means. I don't know how to explain it, because I don't remember how to do it. I used to be able to do a lot of stuff. I'm sure I still could, but I play dumb and say I don't know how. It's easier when you don't have to do it.

Q8

PLAYBOY: When you were 16 you moved to the U.K. to race in the Formula Ford series. Was it hard to prove yourself there?
PATRICK: The hardest part was getting everyone to believe I could do it. I didn't have any help over there. I had no one to fight for me, to make sure I got the best equipment, the best treatment and the best help. I had managers, but they were in Texas and never came to England. Overall I found that proving yourself is proving yourself, but you tend to have to do it a couple of times to get the message across. Some people write you off as a fluke. You have to keep at it.

Q9

PLAYBOY: How did you prove yourself?
PATRICK: Not with a win. It was a second-place finish in the biggest race of the year, the Formula Ford Festival. All the Formula Ford racers from all over Europe and the U.K. come to a track called Brands Hatch for this race. There were more than 100 entries. You qualify, then you go into your heat races. It's cut all the way down until there are about 30 or 40 cars in the final. I finished second, the highest ever by an American. The best one before that was Danny Sullivan back in 1974, and he finished fourth. I don't think my team owner liked me. We were testing during the winter in the off-season, and I was so much faster than everybody else. He said, "Come on. This frickin' girl is the quickest. Go faster!" It was so macho and chauvinistic. I don't think they were ready for a female to step in.

Q10

PLAYBOY: You left the Formula Ford series in 2001 and returned to the States but didn't race again until 2003. What happened?
PATRICK: I have a horrible memory of it. I was four or five races into the 2001 Formula Ford season. I wasn't getting the right treatment, so I talked to my manager. My managers finally called at midnight and told me not to go to the race the next day, that I should come back to the U.S. and they'd figure something else out. For the first time in my life I purposely skipped a race. That was a weird feeling. I came home a few weeks later, but nothing ever happened. My dad and I ended up taking it into our own hands. We started going to all the CART races and watching the Indy Lights and Champ Cars, just searching out a ride. We just hung around.