At only 5'2" tall, Danica Patrick still casts a large shadow over the sports world.
Not only is Patrick a top race car driver, she was also voted the country's second most popular female athlete in a June 2007 poll conducted by Harris Interactive. She came in second to tennis star Serena Williams.

The 25-year-old driver's popularity has gained her lucrative endorsements from sponsors such as Peak Antifreeze, Hostess, Mr. Clean and GoDaddy.com. Fortune magazine estimated that Patrick earned $5 million from June 2006 to June 2007, which makes her one of the highest-paid drivers in the sport despite never having won a race in the Indy Racing League.

Patrick grew up in Illinois racing go karts and winning several championships in her teens. She dropped out of high school and earned a GED in order to pursue a racing career. Patrick's parents agreed to let her move to England in 1998 at age 16 to learn open-wheel, Indy-style racing. She excelled in Europe and eventually returned to the United States to compete in the IndyCar Series.

Her career highlight came in 2005 when she made sports history by becoming the first woman ever to lead the Indy 500. She eventually finished fourth but the race changed Patrick's life by giving her international exposure. Patrick finished fourth in the IndyCar Series Championship, earning Indy Rookie of the Year in 2005. After a second Indy Racing League fourth-place finish in 2006, she joined the Andretti Green Racing team for the 2007 season.

Patrick married physical therapist/personal trainer Paul Edward Hospenthal in 2005 and they live in Phoenix, Ariz. Patrick's racing team remains a family affair as her father still drives her motor coach and her mother handles other business matters.

In an exclusive interview with YOUNG MONEY, auto racing star Danica Patrick shared the keys to her career success, how wealth changed her life, and why it pays off to dream big.

Most casual race fans may not understand how difficult it is to achieve what you've been able to do in a very competitive, male-dominated sport. What sort of challenges did you face on the way to the top?
I think the biggest challenge for me wasn't persevering, it wasn't [finding] the passion, none of that was the problem. It was a matter of finding the right people that believed in me and believed that I could win races and do well and be successful and be a good driver. That was probably the hardest thing in my career. I definitely went through years where there was nobody fighting for me and on my side, and that doesn't pay off well when you get the short end of the stick every time. So you really have to stand up for what you believe. You have to be confident. You have to have people that are thinking the same thing you are.

You've been able to build a popular brand image through merchandising, a website, commercials and TV appearances. To what do you attribute your business success?
I think it's important to stay true to yourself and have companies and brands around you that are glimpses of you. But [it's] also finding sponsors that are really into the program, who will really activate it and go out there and market you and use you, because it's a dead-end street if a sponsor doesn't advertise and use you. How can they really benefit if they don't? They give you money to be able to advertise with you, but if they don't, then they don't get a payoff and the relationship doesn't continue because it's not a win-win. I've always felt very strongly about having sponsors around me that do that.

You must get a lot of business projects offered to you. How do you decide which ones are really worth your time?
I think that for me I've been very selective with the things that I've done. I haven't done things just to do them. I don't do everything for money. I kind of go off of gut instinct. I look at the project and I think, number one, does it fit into the schedule, and number two, is it going to make a big hit. Is it going to make an impact and be noticed? That helps me decide. And is it something that I believe in? Because I think that you best represent the product, or the idea, or the show, whatever it is, when you believe in it and when you like it. Those are the things that I think about when opportunities come up.

You are one of the highest-paid drivers in your sport. What's the biggest way that financial success has changed your life?
Money doesn't always make everything better. (Laughs) It does add complication and more work. But of course I wouldn't turn that down. I still feel like I have a long way to go. When I want to stop racing I want to be able to [do so]. I don't want to have to work any more after that. So I want to make sure that I maximize where I am in the sports world and where I am with sponsors and what I can do for them. I think it's important to maximize that. It's such a short career in reality. [Drivers] work until we're 35 or so. That's not that long so you have to take advantage.

Your parents have been a major influence in your life and career. Do you have any other role models you look up to?
I'm not about idols or anything like that. I never really had those when I was growing up. But I always had good people around me that I could learn from so that I could be a step ahead of what other people's mistakes were. I definitely tried to learn from the people around me. But I'd have to say if I was picking role models, then more than anything I really looked to my family. They're good people. My mom, my dad, my husband and my sister - those are the people that I'm closest with.

That sounds like me. Growing up I always had famous people that I respected and admired but I never had posters of them up on my walls.
Me either. I guess I subconsciously knew I was a little bit different. I know it's healthy to have them. I just always wanted to be the first Danica. I didn't want to put any expectations out there because you just don't know how big you can get. If you set your sights a little too low, then you sell yourself short. You have to really dream big and that's definitely what I did when I was young.

Have you set any long-term goals for yourself other than just trying to win as many races as possible?
I think there's on-track performance [goals] and then there's the outside-the-car business side of things. I have ideas in my head financially where I'd like to be at certain points and we're definitely working towards them. That's probably the other goal outside of the car. Just maximizing everything that has come to me and that's in front of me at the moment.

© 2007, InCharge® Education Foundation, Inc.