<b>Photos:</b> Danica Patrick through the years

Danica Patrick, last year’s INDY Racing League rookie of the year, poses for a portrait at the Miami Beach Marina. She will be racing in Sunday’s season opener at Homestead-Miami Speedway.   (Judy Sloan Reich/South Florida Sun-Sentinel)

Danica Patrick attends the Barnstable Brown Party Celebrating the 135th Kentucky Derby at Barnstable Brown House on May 1 in Louisville.  (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)

Danica Patrick  (Paul Buck / EPA)

Danica Patrick takes a champagne shower with second-place Helio Castroneves of Brazil on the podium after winning the Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi, northeast of Tokyo.  (Katsumi Kasahara / Associated Press)

Race car driver Danica Patrick poses for the photographers during her arrival at Churchill Downs on Saturday.  (Gail Kamenish / Associated Press)

Driver Danica Patrick had a tough time qualifying for the 35th annual Grand Prix of Long Beach.  (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Danica Patrick at the Portland International Raceway in Portland, Oregon on June 21, 2003 .   (AFP/Getty Images/Jonathan Ferrey)

Driver Danica Patrick of the US puts on lipstick before a photo op for the driver line up for the 2007 Indianpolis 500 in New York‘s Times Square. Patrick, one of three female drivers who qualified for the 91st Indianapolis 500, will start 8th in the 27 May race.   (STAN HONDA, AFP/Getty Images)

Driver Danica Patrick is seen during a photo op for the driver line up for the 2007 Indianpolis 500 in New York‘s Times Square.   (STAN HONDA, AFP/Getty Images)

IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT: Danica Patrick, talking to team owner Bobby Rahal during Pole Day qualifying, already has the respect of her fellow competitors.   (Donald Miralle / Getty Images)

Danica Patrick qualified in the second row, fourth overall, for her first Indianapolis 500. She was rookie of the year for the Indy 500 after leading 19 laps and finishing fourth, as well as winning rookie of the year for the Indy Racing League season.  (Donald Miralle / Getty Images)

Danica Patrick became the first woman to win an open-wheel race on the elite level when she captured the Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi in Tokyo on April 20. Helio Castroneves points out to Patrick the difference between the runner-up trophy and the champion’s trophy during the podium presentation.   (Katsumi Kasahara / Associated Press)

Danica Patrick and her Andretti Green teammates had a tough time qualifying for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, but they had a better race day with Patrick taking fourth and Tony Kanaan finishing third.  (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)