Tom Knott: Danica Patrick plays her own sexist game

By Tom Knott (Contact) | Friday, July 25, 2008

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Danica Patrick has a habit of getting into the face of other IndyCar Series drivers only to be granted a pass because of her face and femininity.

Patrick likes to provide driver's education tips to the rest of the field, which is not always taken in the proper spirit.

Patrick was looking to help Milka Duno in Lexington, Ohio, last weekend after being unable to pass her during a practice run.

Patrick wanted to know if Duno was too busy applying eyeliner to notice that someone was trying to leave her jalopy in the exhaust fumes.

Patrick emphasized the point with profanity, which is straight out of Dale Carnegie's book, "How to Win Friends and Influence People."

Not surprisingly, Duno took exception to the questioning and threw a towel in Patrick's face.

Fortunately, Patrick did not have a towel in her possession or the confrontation could have deteriorated into one of the great towel-offs in sports history.

Instead, Patrick let Duno know what she thought of her steering technique in language that would make truckers blush.

Oddly enough, Patrick claimed she was a victim of her popularity, which apparently is an awful burden to shoulder.

"Unfortunately, things involving me tend to evolve," she told the Indianapolis Star. "I'm on the hot seat when I do something and when others do something. It's kind of the line that I walk because I'm popular."