Trailblazer: Race Car Driver Danica Patrick Races Today in the Daytona 500

NASCAR Driver Danica Patrick is a real competitor. After Thursday night's contact on the race track with a NASCAR driver who pushed too close to her race car and caused her to spin and wreck her vehicle, she didn't give up. After several pit stops for repair, she raced so she could qualify in today's Daytona 500 race. To be assured of a spot in The Great American Race on Sunday, Patrick needed to finish at least 16th in her Duel qualifier. With her skill and determination, she set her race helmet to do that. 

During the duel race, she radioed her team to find out what she needed to do to make it into the most important race in NASCAR schedule of 2015 races. In an interview at FOXSports.com she said,   "At the end when they told me I need four spots or, 'You need to pass these two cars or you're 18th right now,' I was like, 'Okay, do I have to be desperate basically? Do I have to pass these cars?' Nobody answered me. I just said, 'Screw it, I'm going to be desperate.' "

Danica did it! She is racing in the 2015 Daytona 500 in her bright green #10 car emblazoned with her sponsor's logo, Go Daddy.

Danica's race car--photo from Danica Patrick's Facebook page

Many years ago, this feisty young woman was really my spark to begin featuring trailblazing women  on this blog and to tell the stories of  successful women and their careers in an eBook for girls. I want girls to hear the stories of these role models and be empowered to pursue their dream careers and goals. Danica Patrick certainly is an inspiring role model.

Danica began racing go karts when she was ten years old at the Sugar River Raceway in Broadhead, Wisconsin. At sixteen she moved to England to advance her racing career racing in the British national series. From this beginning she kept working on her racing skills and pushed on to success after success. Her win in the 2008 Indy Japan 300 is the only women's victory in an IndyCar Series race and her third place in the 2009 Indianapolis 500 the highest finish there ever by a woman.  In 2013, she became the first female NASCAR driver to win a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series pole, turning in the fastest qualifying lap since 1990 - qualifying for the Daytona. And this year she returns to Daytona to race after overcoming the car wreck and having to drive a back up car around those high sloped sides of the Daytona track.

Go Danica! 

I'll update you on the results after the race is finished this evening.

UPDATE: February 23, 2015

Danica finished 21st in the field of 43 cars. Amazing performance! She was flying around the race track at 200 mph and so were all the cars. I can only relate to driving on I-95 at 75 mph with traffic whizzing by me at 80 or 90 mph. I cannot imagine driving at those NASCAR race speeds. 

How about you? Are you interested in racing cars or being a car/truck mechanic? Leave a comment below.
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