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Not Bad, Not Bad At All

She didn't win.

But she also did not spin wildly out of control or take 10 other cars out with her as she careened into the potted plants.
Danica Patrick, in her post-race interviews, shrugged off the interviewer's yammering on about her place in history as the first woman to lead a lap of the Indy 500. One broadcaster spewed about her immortality and breaking Mt. Everest-sized barriers, and he compared her to Sally Ride and Amelia Earhart.

I wouldn't go that far. Still, she impressed me.

Perhaps her best move of the day came when she scoffed at all the verbal backslapping and high-fiving she was getting from the commentators. When they asked her a leading question about how proud she must have felt about her racing, how she thought she compared with racing legends and how she kicked motorsport butt on Sunday, she shook her head.
''I can't believe my car didn't completely demolish because I got hit, like, twice," she said. "I drove like a rookie."

I wouldn't get too excited about all the hype that Patrick may be the next A.J. Foyt or Mario Andretti with ovaries. For the first time in two decades, Indy Racing—with Darling Danica as its persona—is being featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Welcome to the wonderful world of womanhood, Ms. Patrick. You've gotten The Curse.

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