After a long offseason, Danica is ready to race

With her first race win out of the way, Danica Patrick is ready to compete for the IndyCar Series title. Robert Laberge/Getty Images

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- While the IndyCar Series has one of the longest offseasons in sports, Danica Patrick doesn't mind because it allows her to be the face of the series in a different way than the steely look of determination that peers through a race visor.

If she wasn't teasing fans this offseason with her Godaddy.com commercials, taking her fifth shower of the day on webcam, then she was showing off her chassis again in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition.

Last week, however, the IndyCar Series finally started shaking off the cobwebs of an offseason that began in September 2008, and there's plenty to look forward to in '09, including the return of Patrick. While she was no better than 15th quick out of 22 car/driver combinations that posted lap times in the Open Test at Homestead-Miami Speedway, that matters little because Patrick is the face of IndyCar. And what a beautiful face it is. If this is what it takes for IndyCar to get attention in the mainstream media heading into it's April 5 season open, so be it.

"The offseason was good," Patrick said last week. "I seemed to be preparing for photo shoots quite a bit and going to conventions and signing autographs and terribly exciting things like that. But it stayed really full and busy. I don't get bored by not being in the race car because I have plenty of other things to worry about and do, so there is never a dull moment in the `Danica Racing Camp.'"

Her camp has plenty of followers, which may seem strange considering she has just one career victory in IndyCar. But remember, Dale Earnhardt Jr. remains NASCAR's most popular driver and he has just one win since May 2006.

Both are icons in their own form of auto racing, and both connect to the masses in a way no other driver does. Perhaps that's why both have lucrative deals to represent Godaddy.com -- they reach a youthful, fun-loving and inventive audience.

"For me, I fill the time pretty easily, so if nobody else is testing I don't feel like I'm falling behind -- so we are all even," Patrick said. "But if people are doing things, then I feel like I need to be out there doing something."

When Patrick was asked to pose for Sports Illustrated in 2008, she thought it was a once-in-a-career opportunity. When she was asked to pose again in 2009, she thought it might become an annual ritual.

"Let's hope this becomes a trend," Patrick said. "I was very, very flattered when I got the second invitation. There was such a positive response from the internet views. You have to look at the nuts and bolts of it and the point of the story is people buy the magazine and look on the internet at the pictures and they were doing that so I was flattered to be back. I was flattered to be a model for a day."

Patrick's participation in this year's issue was different from last year, in which she had a five-page spread. This year the issue opened with Patrick saying "Start your engines" to the swimsuit edition.

But it wouldn't be typical of Danica unless she was involved in some sort of controversy. This year's version involved an airbrush. Patrick has a lower-back tattoo of an American flag. It's been there since her days of racing in the junior formula series in England, but sometimes the photographer or the client chooses to have a clean look to the body so those tattoos are often airbrushed away. That's what happened with Patrick. It became the talk of the internet and made its way to such talking heads as Dennis Miller and Bill O'Reilly on Fox News Network.

"How funny, right?" Patrick said. "I'm very flattered that someone would take the time to talk about my tattoo. It's a good thing I picked out a tattoo that I really liked because now people know that I have one. It's just amazing how some of the smaller things nowadays make news.

"I guess it's a good sign that people want to hear about me and know what is going on."

But cuteness and sex appeal will only take Patrick so far. She realizes she needs to pick up her game to get to the next level on the track, which means more victories on her way to becoming a real contender for the IndyCar Series title.

"I think it is absolutely possible," Patrick said. "I think I'm just that little bit away here and there to make that happen and put myself in a position each weekend to take home more than just one win.

"My greatest area will be in road course racing. A few wins is a few wins, whether they are on ovals or on road courses. We are pushing really hard really early to get the things we need to work on up to par."

If Patrick can do that, she'll really give her fans and critics something to talk about .