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Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP) -- The buildup for Danica Patrick's first Daytona 500 began in earnest at Thursday's annual media day, where auto racing's sweetheart was saddled with a full schedule of commitments. Patrick was shuffled from interview to interview, answering questions and shooting promotions for her first full season in NASCAR. She couldn't even find solitude in the bathroom:

Danica Patrick and sponsor GoDaddy.com will announce their plans for 2012 next week in Phoenix, sources told FOXSports.com A press conference is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 24 at 10 a.m. PT. According to sources, Patrick, 29, will run the full season in the Nationwide Series for JR Motorsports in 2012. A limited schedule in the Sprint Cup Series with cars fielded by Stewart-Haas Racing, with the intent of moving full time to Cup in 2013, is in the works

As she exited her car after her first Indianapolis 500 pole day qualifying attempt on Saturday, Danica Patrick was frustrated. Very frustrated. [...] Danica Patrick being booed? What the heck?

Danica Patrick signed with JR Motorsports on Tuesday to give NASCAR a try, but her schedule in the second-tier Nationwide Series has yet to be determined. Patrick will make her stock car racing debut in the Feb. 6 ARCA race at Daytona International Speedway, a day before she’ll be featured in a pair of Super Bowl ads for sponsor GoDaddy.com. The IndyCar sensation unveiled her green and orange No. 7 Chevrolet in a news conference at Chase Field with GoDaddy.com, which is sponsoring her in both series. “We’ve all been working very hard for some time now to bring this...

Reporting from Indianapolis -- Danica Patrick's ability to market herself is without question. But can she win another race? Patrick will make her fifth attempt Sunday to win her sport's biggest prize, the Indianapolis 500, the race that rocketed her to stardom when she led and nearly won it in 2005, her rookie year. Getting to the front won't be easy. The 1-2 starters, pole-sitter Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe, drive for powerhouse Team Penske And the IndyCar Series' other leading team, Target Chip Ganassi Racing, has 2007 Indy 500 winner Dario Franchitti starting third and defending Indy 500 winner...

The Indianapolis 500 is Sunday and we know this because we’ve been treated to a month of questions to Danica Patrick about when she’s going to give NASCAR a try. It’s a sign of how far general interest in open-wheel racing, not to mention its signature event, has fallen. The hard-core fans will still turn out and tune in this weekend, but it’s saying something when the most asked question is about the future of a driver who isn’t even a favorite to win the race. Jimmie Johnson has heard the questions and Patrick’s open-ended answers about the possibility of...

Is it me or is the line between professional race car driver and bikini model getting extremely blurred for one, Danica Patrick. This time, she's showing off her stuff for a Shape Magazine bikini photoshoot. I'm thinkin that Danica should just drop the whole car racer charade anyways. For one, she's not even that good and on top of that, she is wearing far too much clothing. She should pick up a sport like beach volleyball or naked curling... Ok fine, I'm not even sure if that second one's a sport but hey, its a good suggestion.

[photos] For god’s sake, man, is there no morality left in the world? Now Sports Illustrated has admitted that its swimsuit issue actually included models who had been (gasp) enhanced with PhotoShop. This is such shocking news, such a remarkable revelation, that we must pause to gather our senses about us. OK, we’re back. This is truly....

Eight years after Hoop Magazine controversially airbrushed one of Iverson's tattoos for its cover shot, Sports Illustrated has airbrushed Indy Racing's biggest star. The victim? Patrick's American Flag tattoo on the small of her back.

Danica Patrick became the first female winner in IndyCar history recently, winning the Indy Japan 300 by 6 seconds. Some women's advocates and Patrick herself are complaining about a new rule which feminists claim is "aimed at the women in Indy." The rule says that lighter drivers have to carry ten more pounds on them. Race car driver Robby Gordon has a different perspective, saying that Patrick is at an unfair advantage over the rest of the competitors because she only weighs 100 pounds. Because all the cars weigh the same, Patrick’s is lighter on the race track. He says:...

When it comes to being sexy, Victoria’s Secret writes the book, or at least takes the pictures for the book. So now, to go along with their book they have published their list of “what’s sexy. “ Monica Mitro, a spokeswoman for the intimate apparel company, says it’s not just how a person looks that creates sex appeal, USA Today reported on Thursday. “(Sexy) is about how you are as a person, “ Mitro said. The sexiest female athlete is Indy Racing League’s Danica Patrick. The speedy brunette has turned a lot of heads both on and off the track...

Danica Patrick's new car got a grand introduction on Tuesday. She took it on a short ride through the Chicago streets before officially unveiling the No. 7 Motorola she will drive for Andretti Green Racing next season. ``It's black, it's sort of sleek, it looks fast,'' Patrick said. And it resembles a batmobile. She hopes it performs like one, too. Patrick rode to stardom in 2005 when she finished fourth at the Indianapolis 500 and was the IRL rookie of the year. But this year was difficult. Teammate Paul Dana died after crashing during a warm-up for the season-opener at...

CHICAGO - Danica Patrick's "heart and soul" are with the Indy Racing League, so that's where she'll stay — for now. A new career in NASCAR will have to wait. Though she isn't ready to give up the speed of open-wheel racers for the popularity of stock cars, Patrick is switching teams. One of the IRL's most popular drivers in years signed Tuesday with Andretti Green Racing, which has produced two straight series champions and last year's Indy 500 winner. Her current contract with Rahal Letterman Racing expires at the end of the season, and she had toyed with the...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- A fellow IRL driver says Danica Patrick has what it takes to succeed if she switches to the paint-swapping world of NASCAR and she's plenty aggressive in open-wheel racing when it's ``the right time of the month.'' Ed Carpenter, who trails Patrick by four slots in the IRL IndyCar Series' points race, made the comment when asked how Patrick might handle NASCAR racing during a radio appearance to promote Saturday night's Firestone Indy 200. ``I think Danica's pretty aggressive in our cars,'' Carpenter said Wednesday on WGFX-FM in Nashville. ``I mean, you know especially if you...

In the rearview mirror, objects often look smaller than they did when we passed them. Lots of people were thrown--or threw themselves--into the spotlight this year, many of whom we will never see again, unless they have shrewd publicists or the reality shows get desperate. But they can always think with fondness or remorse of 2005, when, for a while, theirs were the names on everyone's lips. JENNIFER WILBANKS Runaway bride must repay the city--but did she keep the Crock-Pot?DAISY WRIGHT The nanny broke up Jude Law and Sienna Miller, at least for now. Her real impact? More jobs for...

KANSAS CITY, Kansas -- The pole and the crowd might have belonged to Danica Patrick. The trophy - and the last word - went to Tony Kanaan. "You guys wanted Danica to win? Sorry," Kanaan said after his Indy Racing League victory yesterday at Kansas Speedway. "You got to wait until next time." A 1-2-3 qualifying effort by Patrick and Rahal Letterman Racing teammates Buddy Rice and Vitor Meira led some to believe the team might dominate the Argent Mortgage Indy 300 - as it did here last year, when Rice edged Meira in the second-closest IRL finish in history....

Danica Patrick has surged onto the open-wheel racing world, but that might not be sitting well with the old-school boss of Formula One racing. Formula One is getting its most high-profile United States presence with the U.S. Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend, but Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone doesn't seem to be too crazy about Patrick joining her male competitors on the track, despite her recent Indy 500 success. "She did a good job, didn't she? Super. Didn't think she'd be able to make it like that," Ecclestone told a gathering of reporters about Patrick's Indy 500...

Lesbian Basketball, Season 9 vs. the Indy Chick June 02, 2005 By Debbie Schlussel What’s the difference between the WNBA and Danica Patrick? For one thing, she looks like a woman, and they don’t. Then there’s Title IX—affirmative action for useless women’s sports no-one cares about, like water polo and crew (a/k/a “You Gotta Regatta Lesbiatta”). WNBA players had Title IX to succeed, but are in season nine of extreme failure. Danica Patrick—the rookiette race-car driver who came in forth at Sunday’s Indy 500—didn’t have Title IX. They don’t have it in racing. The IRL only has that amazing non-governmental...

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) -- Robby Gordon accused Danica Patrick of having an unfair advantage in the Indianapolis 500 and said Saturday he will not compete in the race again unless the field is equalized. Gordon, a former open-wheel driver now in NASCAR, contends that Patrick is at an advantage over the rest of the competitors because she only weighs 100 pounds. Because all the cars weigh the same, Patrick's is lighter on the race track. "The lighter the car, the faster it goes," Gordon said. "Do the math. Put her in the car at her weight, then put me or...

INDIANAPOLIS -- Everywhere Danica Patrick goes at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the crowds follow. There's the camera crew documenting every move of her first month at the 2½-mile track, and a curious media corps -- from ESPN to People magazine -- that continually peppers her with questions. When she finally gets a break from that, the autograph seekers are waiting. It can be trying even for a veteran. But Patrick, a rookie, sees it as a chance to prove herself.