Formula race-car driver Danica Patrick is the hottest thing on wheels since Roller Girl

You can't blame FHM for taking 24-year-old Danica Patrick a bit lightly upon first meeting her back in 2003. After all, at 5-foot-1 and barely 100 pounds, she's hardly intimidating. She is, however, plenty tough enough to hold her own in a male-dominated sport. Few people know better than Sam Hornish Jr., the two-time IndyCar champ and winner of this year's Indianapolis 500 who battled Danica on the go-cart circuit when the two were teenagers.

"He tried to knock me off the track, but I drove over top of him," Danica says of the time she embarrassed Hornish at a championship race. "He didn't like getting beat by a girl."

Hornish might want to check his rearview mirror because Danica was named IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year in 2005 and has very high hopes of eventually capturing the checkered flag at the Indianapolis 500. With her dominance and determination, very few people would be surprised to see this happen. At present, she’s idling at 10th place in IndyCar standings.

Danica struggled a bit mid-season when her current team, Rahal Letterman Racing, made the switch to Dallara-Honda chassis. Her first go-round with the Dallara was on June 10 at Texas Motor Speedway. Danica started 14th and finished 12th, consequently breaking a streak of placing in the top 8. Danica's best finish to date has been fourth place.

"I'm confident and I'm dominant," says the Roscoe, IL, native. "I'm aggressive—both on and off the track. I like to be in charge.

Granted, you have to be aggressive on the track, but why be that way off of it?
To maintain that level, you can’t be shy and have a weak handshake. Your overall opinion of me would go down if you thought I couldn’t hold my own off the track.

Do you think you scare men off?
I hope that’s what it is.


Wouldn’t it be just as easy to treat them sweet and kind?
No, I need to kick their asses. I need to beat them, belittle them and make them feel small. Trying to run them off the road at 170 mph isn’t sweet and kind.

What’s the sexiest part about you?
You tell me.

The red leather boots you’re wearing for the FHM photo shoot aren’t bad. What goes on under that flame-retardant suit?
I wear a fireproof shirt and underwear. So, if you pulled my suit down. . .

Please continue.
If you pulled my suit down, it’s regular underwear, like boys’ underwear. Definitely not a thong. And it’s not flame retardant.

Are you a road-rage driver on the regular streets?
Yes, and everybody in town knows it. I use my horn more in one day than most people do in their whole lives. If I can make people know they’ve done something wrong on the road, then I’ve helped them. And they won’t be dumb again—they won’t go 65 in the left lane. Some people give to charity, I run ’em off the road.

Are there times of the month when you are a more aggressive or angry driver?
Not that I’ve noticed. It’s just a different mindset. I do everything in my power to not overdrive.

You’ve been quoted as saying you like to sweat.
It makes you feel like you’ve really done something. I know the way you’re going to write that: “Sweating makes her feel like she’s done something,” wink, wink. Whatever, that’s cool.

You got some publicity when you led fellow racer Tommy Kendall around the garage by a leash and collar.
His idea. Imagine that.

Who’s the dream guy you’d like to return the favor to?
Enrique Iglesias. I used to be a Leonardo DiCaprio fan, but he’s let himself go. He doesn’t look so great lately. Enrique is a Latin sex bomb.

So which is the better scenario: uninhibited, incomparable sex with the man of your dreams, or winning the Indy 500?
Winning the Indy 500. The recognition is far greater.