Danica
Patrick
2009
 

2009 IRL Race Schedule & Results and Standings
2009 Snippets
Danica Patrick reviews her 2009 season
Behind the Scenes at Danica Patrick's SI Swimsuit Shoot
CHM Announces Driver Lineup for Rolex 24

Danica Patrick reviews her 2009 season


It's hard to look back at 2009 and not feel a little bit frustrated or just want to shrug your shoulders and wonder why or how things went the way they did for us this year.

That's not to say that it was all bad. I finished fifth in points, which is the best finish I've had in the points in my career. So that's a good thing and it's not something you want to take lightly. But let's face it - at the end of the day you want to be contending for wins every weekend and battling for the championship until the last lap of the season, and we just weren't at that level this year.

There's no question that our team knows what it's like to be in that position. AGR has obviously won a lot of races and has three championships to show for its time in the IndyCar Series so far. We have talented drivers - all of us have won races and Tony Kanaan has a championship on his resume, so we all know how to get it done. But, in the last couple years, we've just not been doing that like we used to.

In general, I think one of the bright spots for me this year was having Michael Andretti call my races and run my pit. Mike has seen just about everything during his career as a driver and now as an owner, and having that insight is really a plus. He made some good strategy calls this year and helped us make up for some of whatever we missed in qualifying at some races. Long Beach comes to mind, specifically, and Toronto, too. The street circuits and road courses this year were particularly tough for us in qualifying, and we really made the best of those two specifically with strategy.

We finished third at Indy, which was my best career finish there and, of course, the best finish ever there for a woman. But the nice thing about it this year - as strange as this sounds - is that people didn't make that big a deal of it. I kind of appreciated that because it made it clear to me that people expected me to be there and weren't shocked by it. I certainly wasn't satisfied with third; I go to Indy every year with the idea of winning it. That's all I want to do. Third is a decent day in the biggest race of the year, but it's not a win.

Indy was also part of a good stretch for us early in the season and that's when we really put ourselves in a good position in the championship. We had four straight top fives between Long Beach and Milwaukee and had eight top 10s in nine races there. It's by far the best stretch I've had in my career so far. But we needed a couple wins in there to stay with the Penske and Ganassi guys and we just didn't have the pace to do it. That's when we kind of lost touch with them for the title and had to focus on holding on to fifth.

All in all, I'm happy with the season. We've got a lot of good people on the team and have a lot of work to do. But I know everybody at AGR is ready to dig in and do what it takes.
Source: www.indycar.com/news/?story_id=15449

2009 Results (Grid/Finish/Qualifying SPeed/Laps Completed/Status)

Date

Track

Start
Finish
Qual Speed
Laps
Status

4/5/09

St Pete

15
19
103.141
31
Contact

4/19/09

Long Beach

22
4
98.859
85
Running

4/26/09

Kansas

3
5
210.470
200
Running

5/24/09

Indianapolis

10
3
222.882
200
Running

5/31/09

Milwaukee

7
5
165.168
225
Running

6/6/09

Texas

5
6
165.168
225
Running

6/21/09

Iowa

5
9
0.000
249
Running

6/27/09

Richmond

10
5
164.197
300
Running

7/5/09

Watkins Glen

7
11
135.997
60
Running

7/12/09

Toronto

18
6
100.952
85
Running

7/26/09

Edmonton

20
11
113.611
94
Running

8/1/09

Kentucky

5
8
NA
200
Running

8/9/09

Mid-Ohio

12
19
119.993
83
Running

8/23/09

Infeneon

11
16
106.820
74
Running

8/29/09

Chicagoland

10
12
214.104
200
Running

9/19/09

Japan

6
6
200.519
200
Running

10/10/09

Homestead-Miami

7
19
211.258
187
Running

Snippets - 2009


Danica is still expected to make her stock-car debut in the Feb 6 ARCA opener at Daytona, but she will not attempt the Nationwide race. Instead, her Nationwide debut will be at the Auto Club Speedway race Feb 20 in California followed by the Feb 27th race at Las Vegas.

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Danica Patrick is expected to drive a Chevy in an ARCA race (NASCAR) for JR Motorsports February 6 at Daytona.

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Patrick signed a three-year contract extension with Andretti Autosport on Monday, which could pave the way for her desired foray into NASCAR.

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Danica gridded 7th at Homestead and finished in 19th. She held on to finish fifth overall for the season, her highest level in the Indy Car series..

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Danica gridded 6th at ther Twin Ring Motegi and finished in 6th.. She continues in 5th over-all.

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Danica gridded 10th at Chicago and finished in 12th. She continues in 5th over-all.

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Danica gridded 11th at Sonoma but was involved in a multiple car accident on the first lap and finished 16th She continues in 5th over-all.

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Danica started 12th at Mid-Ohio, got shunted off course by Mike Conway and finsihed in 19th place and was able to maintain her 5th place ranking overall.

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Danica started 5th at Kentucky (grid was by season standing) and finsihed in 8th place to maintain her 5th place ranking overall.

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Danica gridded 20th and finshed 11th at Edmonton. She maintains 5 place in the standings.

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Danica was gridded 17th at Toronto and ended up in th. She holds the 5th place spot in overall points. Off to Edmonton in a couple of weeks.

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Danica was gridded 10th at Richmond and ended up in 5th. She holds her 5th place spot in overall points. Off to Watkins Glen next weekend.

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Danica was gridded 5th and lead for 24 laps and ended up in 9th. She holds her 5th place spot in overall points.

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Danica was gridded 5th at Texas Motor Speedway and finished 6th after very close racing with teammate Marco Andretti in the last few laps of the race.

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Danica was gridded 3rd at Kansas Speedway and finished the race in 5th giving her two top five finishes out of three races. With this finish, she moved up to 6th overall. Off to Indy.

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Danica was involved in a mishap on lap 31 of the 100 lap race and finished 19th of 22 cars at the first race of the seasonn at St. Petersburg.

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Danica was gridded 22 in the second race of the season on the streets of Long Beach and moved through the pack to finish 4th.

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Danica gridded 15th and was involved in a mishap on lap 31 of the 100 lap race and finished 19th of 22 cars at the first race of the seasonn at St. Petersburg. She currently ranks 19th of all Indy Car drivers.

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Danica made the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition for the second time. and See More.

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Making a coming back after a slow start was the No. 2 Childress-Howard Motorsports Gentlemen Jack Pontiac Crawford of three-time Rolex 24 winner Andy Wallace, Rob Finlay, Casey Mears and Danica Patrick, which finished eighth. They were 23rd

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Featured in the 2007 "Women in the Winners Circle" calendar

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CHM Announces Driver Lineup for Rolex 24 Includes Danica

 

Behind the Scenes at Danica Patrick's SI Swimsuit Shoot


FanHouse was recently fortunate enough to go behind the scenes with Danica Patrick for her 2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue photo shoot here in New York. Patrick talked to us between takes about what it means to be in the Swimsuit Issue in consecutive years, as well as her secret to staying in shape. Watch the video below to see what Danica had to say about this and more, and check back in a few days for a transcript of the full interview.

More Photos of Danica from the shoot: sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009_swimsuit/models/danica-patrick/index2.html

And don't forget to check out SI.com for an in-depth look at the 2009 Swimsuit Issue.
Source: backporch.fanhouse.com/2009/02/10/behind-the-scenes-video-from-danica-patricks-si-swimsuit-shoot/?icid=200100397x1217759909x1201208561

Danica video sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009_swimsuit/video/danica-patrick.html

CHM Announces Driver Lineup for Rolex 24


The driver lineup for the Childress-Howard Motorsports entry in the 2009 Rolex 24 at Daytona has earned victories in the Rolex 24, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the IndyCar Series.

The talented driver quartet for the No. 2 CHM Pontiac Crawford Daytona Prototype is headed by three-time Rolex 24 overall winner Andy Wallace (Oxford, England) (1990, ’97, ’99). NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver and 2006 Rolex 24 overall winner Casey Mears (Mooresville, N.C.), IndyCar Series star and 2006 Rolex 24 competitor Danica Patrick (Roscoe, Ill) and veteran sports car racer Rob Finlay (Charlotte, N.C) will all see significant time behind the wheel.

Only five drivers have won more Rolex 24 overall titles than the three earned by Wallace. His trophy case also includes trophies from the 24 Hours of Le Mans (1988), the 12 Hours of Sebring (1992, ’93) and the Petit Le Mans (1999).

Patrick has been one of the top stars of the IndyCar Series since making her debut there in 2005. Last April, she became the first female to win a major closed course auto race when she took the checkered flag at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan.

" So many drivers come together for this event, which everyone wants to win and do well, but there's such camaraderie at this event," Patrick said. "I just had a really great time (in 2006). The cars are fun to drive and there’s just a unique way of competing in a 24-hour race with the car and the people. I missed being a part of it."
Source: www.childresshoward.com/news/index.cfm?cid=20265

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Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.



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