Danica Patrick, the Indy Racing League's 2005 Rookie of the Year, has finally hit the milestone that many of her counterparts have never reached: she won her first major circuit race. Patrick beat Helio Castroneves to the finish line by more than 5 seconds in a fuel-strategy, hard charging race that featured many late pit stops by prominent drivers.
Patrick was seven places behind first with less than ten laps to go, but Team Patrick's refuel strategy paid off well and allowed her to take the lead over Castroneves with just three laps left.

“She did a great job, passed me fair and square and that shows you how competitive our series is," said Castroneves.

This year seems to be shaping up as Patrick's best so far. She's placed sixth and 10th in two other races this season, hoping to dispel the myth that she is just a pretty face behind the wheel. In 2004, Patrick became the first woman in Indianapolis 500 history to lead a lap, finishing 4th overall.

Patrick spoke at length about her role in racing

."I think that the disadvantage to overcome was just that I hadn't won," Patrick said. "A lot of women hadn't really proved on a consistent basis that they could be a good driver and always run up front. I think there had been times when they had done well but not consistently.

"I can't tell you that I blame them for not believing that we could do it. But when you have 100 guys come through, finding one good one, the odds are a lot better than 100 girls since it takes a lot longer for 100 to come through. The odds are against us. But I grew up with never really using guys as a reference, using drivers as a reference, and if I wasn't fast enough, I wasn't fast enough. That was the most important thing."