Patrick's hotly debated legacy
INDIANAPOLIS - Danica Patrick's race car is painted in a lustrous neon green one last time, a hue that ensures its "look at me" quality even when the car is a 230-mph blur.
The color is apropos of Patrick and her racing career, which she's ending Sunday with a final attempt to win the Indianapolis 500, the race that initially made her famous in 2005.
From that race forward, Patrick - often driving the shiny green car favored by her and her longtime main sponsor, the web services company GoDaddy Inc. - has been the driver everyone watched, analyzed and endlessly debated.
That was due not only to her on-track achievements as a female in a male-dominated sport, but also to her relentless self-promotion, which together earned her the one-name celebrity of being simply "Danica."
"I can't think of a better way to end my racing career than at Indianapolis for the 500," the 36-year-old Patrick said in an interview.
