Aside from the intense media attention and the birth of 'Danica Mania,' Danica
Patrick's rookie campaign in the IRL IndyCar Series has actually been pretty
typical, on the track at least.
source: crash.net Midway through the 2005 season Patrick is the leader in the Bombardier IRL IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year and sits tenth in the overall standings. Her chief rookie rivals, Ryan Briscoe and Tomas Enge have also felt the roller coaster of a rookie campaign and have performed on a par with Danica at varying times through the season. However they have done so largely under the medias' radar and have been allowed to continue their rookie learning curve without the media circus that surrounds the 23 year-old Rahal-Letterman Racing driver. Following her historic fourth place finish at Indianapolis, much has been written about the rookie sensation's need to win a race to justify the intense media coverage. The expectation is that she will shed the rookie label and begin posting results that often elude a veteran of the sport. Patrick is vying to become just the fourth true rookie in the IndyCar Series history to win a race in their first season. Only once in the last seven seasons has a true IndyCar rookie (Tomas Scheckter) posted a victory in their inaugural season and it has happened only three times in the League's history. "There is nothing that I want to do any more than win, I promise you that," said Patrick. "It's my first year and I'm learning a lot. Every track I go to is a new track. Everybody has a certain learning curve. Everybody has a certain amount they have to digest and become comfortable and current with and you have to have good instincts for everything. Everything on track has to be just a reflex. I'm learning so many of those things. I can understand how this sort of thing [expectations] happens.
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