As one of auto racing’s most captivating figures, Danica Patrick is re-writing the playbook on intermixing racing passion and pop-culture stardom.  With her decision to give NASCAR full-time attention starting in 2012 comes a level of Danicamania widely anticipated by throngs of racing enthusiasts across the country.

As she did in 2010 when she made her Nationwide Series debut, Patrick is jumping into her expanded role in NASCAR with JR Motorsports and the No. 7 GoDaddy.com team.  The partnership with the Dale Earnhardt Jr.-owned company has already reaped rewards, as in 2011 she became the highest-finishing female in NASCAR national touring series history with her fourth place at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 5, 2011.  Patrick led 14 laps and scored three top-10s in 12 races during her sophomore campaign, sending notice to believers and skeptics alike that Danicamania wasn’t just for grips and grins.  She had come to race.

Set to compete for the 2012 Nationwide Series championship with JR Motorsports, Patrick will also make her debut in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for 10 races with Stewart-Haas Racing, marking yet another milestone for a sport ready to embrace its next female star.

Patrick’s plunge into full-time NASCAR racing comes after seven full seasons in the IndyCar Series, which catapulted her to stardom in 2005 when she won Rookie of the Year.  That year she became the highest-placing female in the Indianapolis 500 with her finish of ninth, a record she would later break in 2009 when she crossed the bricks in third.  The 2005 Indianapolis 500 also saw Patrick lead 19 laps, making her the first woman to ever lead the Brickyard’s prestigious event.  The historic 2005 campaign was capped with Female Athlete of the Year honors by both USA Today and US Sports Academy.

In 2008, Patrick scored her most memorable accomplishment yet by becoming the first female to win an IndyCar Series race.  She claimed that honor in the Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi. 

Patrick’s start in racing began like many of her peers, coming up through the ranks of the World Karting Association.  She won her first national points championship in the Yamaha Sportsman class in 1994 and continued to impress by winning 39 of the 49 feature races in 1996.  In her final full season in karting, Patrick captured the WKA Grand National Championship in the HPV class in 1997.

At the age of 16, Patrick traveled overseas and made her European debut in the Formula Vauxhall Winter Series.  She continued to compete in Europe in the Zetek Formula Ford Championship as well as the European Formula Ford Series over the next three years before returning to the U.S. in 2001.

Patrick initially captured the attention of Team Rahal when she competed in five Barber Dodge Pro Series events for them in 2002.  She made her debut in Toronto, qualifying 11^th and finishing seventh.  That year, she also won the Pro Division of the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race at the Long Beach Grand Prix from the pole position.

Patrick spent two years in the Toyota Atlantic Series program, driving for Team Rahal.  In 2003, she became the first female in series history to stand on the podium with a third-place finish at Monterey, Mexico.  She completed the season with five top-five finishes.  In 2004, Patrick finished third in points with 10 top-fives in 12 races and was the first woman to lead the Toyota Atlantic Series point standings. 

Equally as impressive as her on-track resume is her off-track credentials, in which she has become a mega pop-icon.  She has graced the cover of Sports Illustrated, SHAPE, and ESPN the Magazine, and she was featured in the 2008 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue.  In 2006, she joined Dale Earnhardt Jr. in a cameo role for Grammy-award winning artist Jay-Z’s “Show Me What You Got” music video.  She has made guest appearances on a variety of television shows, including Good Morning America, The Ellen Degeneres Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Late Show with David Letterman and Late Night with Conan O’Brien.  She has starred in 10 Super Bowl ads for GoDaddy.com, making her the celebrity with the most Super Bowl commercial appearances.