The first woman to ever win an IndyCar race hopes 2009 will produce the biggest milestone of her career.
"My goal is always to win the Indianapolis 500," she said Saturday while attending qualifications for the Red Bull Indianapolis, GP. "If someone were to ask me whether I'd rather win the Indy 500 or the championship, I'd say the Indy 500 because I don't know if there's a bigger goal in motor sports."
For Patrick, it has been a wild ride since her astounding Indy 500 debut in 2005. Back then, she finished fourth in the race and became the first woman to ever lead at Indy.
But it also raised the expectations for Patrick.
She instantly became the most recognizable face in IndyCars and was constantly asked when she would finally win a race.
In April, she produced the breakthrough win at Japan and again ran strong at Indianapolis until a pit road collision with Ryan Briscoe took her out of the race.
While she recovered to finish sixth in the points, a career-high, Patrick never made it back to Victory Lane, and couldn't catch the more dominant drivers from Target Chip Ganassi or Penske Racing in the standings.
Patrick even found herself embroiled in several controversies this year.
After the accident with Briscoe, she stomped down pit road toward Briscoe before being led away by track security. The next month, she was criticized by other competitors for her driving style and also got into a confrontation with Milka Duno at Mid-Ohio.
Overall, though, Patrick believed she did the best she could.
"Obviously winning as much as we could was the goal," she said. "The team struggled a lot more than we did last year (2007). But everything goes in cycles, and we went from being the best to definitely one of those teams that was working hard."
Success has led many to wonder whether she might one day switch series to join the lucrative NASCAR circuit.
It is possible, she said, but after talking to her former teammate, Dario Franchitti, the 2007 Indy winner and series points champ, about his failed experiment on the Cup circuit, Patrick is content to pursue her ultimate dream of reaching Victory Lane at Indianapolis.
"Absolutely, it (NASCAR) would be a challenge," she said. "I have talked to Dario about it, and I know it's not as easy as you think it is. There's a lot to learn. I think it's good that he's come back because you almost never see NASCAR guys come over here.
"I know he's really, really glad to be back in IndyCars because that's what he grew up with his whole life. But he enjoyed his time over there, and you never know what might happen."
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