Danica Patrick 'On the Record'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}This is a rush transcript from "On the Record ," April 24, 2008. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, HOST: She is the most famous female driver in America--well, actually, probably in the entire world--racecar driver Danica Patrick.
Danica Patrick just had her very first win, and this is giant. This weekend she won the Indy Japan 300, which makes her the first female winner in IndyCar history. Meet Danica.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VAN SUSTEREN: First of all, Danica, I have to congratulate you for winning the Japan 300. How fun was it?
DANICA PATRICK, RACECAR DRIVER: Thank you. It was the best weekend in IndyCar yet. It was so nice to finally win a race. And I love Japan anyway. I enjoy the country, I like the culture, I like the food. So I always knew there was a reason why I liked going to Japan.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Watch Greta's interview with Danica Patrick
VAN SUSTEREN: Well, it certainly was huge for the racing industry, huge for women. Women are all proud of you, so is the racing industry. You've got a lot of fans.
So tell me, when did you actually realize you were going to win?
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}PATRICK: About 30 second before the race was over with. So I had about one lap left. It was very much a fuel strategy race, and it takes until all the way to the ends of the race to really see how it plays out.
And so if a caution flag would have come out in those last couple of laps and I had not passed Helio(ph) for the lead, I would not have won, probably. So you never really know until you actually cross the finish line.
VAN SUSTEREN: In terms of the fuel strategy, who's making those decisions as to what to do?
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}PATRICK: Well, each driver has a race strategist. And his name is Kyle Moyer. He's been with Andretti-Green(ph) for a very long time, and a good friend of Michael Andretti. So he's got a lot of experience, very good at what he does, but he the one that calls the shots during the race.
VAN SUSTEREN: What was your average speed, do you know?
PATRICK: We're a little bit slower in Japan than we are at some of the others. Lake Indy is the fastest. We average 230, about. And there it was more like 190, 195 during the race, and about 200 for qualifying.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}VAN SUSTEREN: Now, that's the average, so what's the fastest do you think you went in that race?
PATRICK: If the average speed is 195, then probably 210-ish probably.
VAN SUSTEREN: I assume, and I might be wrong on this, but that each racetrack has sort of its own personality, different skills that you have to have, or different considerations you have. Is there anything special about this racetrack, for instance, compared to the Indianapolis one?
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}PATRICK: Yes. This is a pretty unique track. It's really good for racing. Both the ends are different. One end is really, really wide and a long sweeping corner, and then the other end, turns three and four, it's a much sharper corner, so you have to slow down. It was a couple of downshifts in the race to get down to the speed so you had enough rpm coming out of the corner.
So it makes for really good racing. Whenever you're flat out completely, just pedal to the metal the whole time, then there's not much difference in speed. And so it takes a lot more to really get ahead and stay ahead of people.
In Japan it's difficult to pass. So when you get it done, you usually earn those spots and earn them for a long time.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}VAN SUSTEREN: So how much chance do you get to practice on that particular track? I guess you don't get to compete much on that track much, but how many times were you on that track prior to winning?
PATRICK: You know, it's interesting, actually. We really spent about the same amount of time at each track other than the Indy 500 in Indianapolis. So we had a couple of hours of practice before the race. We were cut short due to rain, so we didn't actually qualify. We went off of our points in the championship.
But you usually get a couple of hours before qualifying and then the race at each track. But obviously it's very difficult to get the cars over there and actually have a test day that's realistic cost-wise.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}VAN SUSTEREN: But that doesn't seem to be very helpful. You're almost going to the track cold. You just described that the track is different at the two ends. So I take it you have to study the track in advance of actually driving the track.
PATRICK: Well, it's good to have a little bit of knowledge about it. A lot of drivers in their first year will watch video footage of previous years, in-car cameras, that video footage.
But you know what? We as drivers are put in those situations a lot. Conditions are always changing for us, and that's what really makes a good driver is the ones that can adapt to those and be able to go fast right away.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}VAN SUSTEREN: What did your family say?
PATRICK: The obvious answers. But, you know, we're all relieved. The congratulations and they loved me and still do, of course. And my dad said it was the best day of his life. So I thought that was a pretty top sort of answer, since he had a couple of kids and got married and all kinds of other stuff.
So we were all very relieved. We've been working very hard for this. Now this is my 17th year in racing, and my fourth year in IndyCar. So it's a big relieve to have it out of the way and a big relief having it out of the way before the month of May in Indianapolis, which comes up very soon.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}VAN SUSTEREN: And, of course, we'll all be watching you at Indianapolis.
What do you drive off-track? What do you drive at home?
PATRICK: I have an impractical car that I have for my normal car going to the grocery store for awhile, a Lamborghini. I still have that. And I have a Mercedes SUV. So I ride in style.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}VAN SUSTEREN: Ever been ticketed?
PATRICK: Have I ever been ticketed? What do you think?
VAN SUSTEREN: For speeding.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}PATRICK: Yes, I know. What do you think?
VAN SUSTEREN: I don't know. That's why I asked. As a lawyer, let me recommend you to take the fifth. Take the fifth. I'm a lawyer.
PATRICK: Absolutely, I have been ticketed. And I don't get ticketed quite as much as I did probably when I first got my license. But every now and again you come across that evil cop that tries to pretend like he has no idea who I am. And then all of a sudden it's on the news that night.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}And I promise I'm not speaking from experience.
VAN SUSTEREN: Indeed you are not.
But, anyway, I can't tell you how fun it was for everybody, Americans, women, everything, to watch you win. And believe me, I'm rooting for you at Indianapolis. I'll go right out on a limb now and say that to you. Good luck.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}PATRICK: Thank you very much.
Content and Programming Copyright 2008 FOX News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Transcription Copyright 2008 Voxant, Inc. (www.voxant.com), which takes sole responsibility for the accuracy of the transcription. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No license is granted to the user of this material except for the user's personal or internal use and, in such case, only one copy may be printed, nor shall user use any material for commercial purposes or in any fashion that may infringe upon FOX News Network, LLC'S and Voxant, Inc.'s copyrights or other proprietary rights or interests in the material. This is not a legal transcript for purposes of litigation.