Making headlines throughout her sport her entire career, Danica Patrick has showed doubters wrong and earned her place in a sport that has been mainly dominated by males since its inception. She first came onto the IRL IndyCar series in 2005, and became the fourth person to race in the Indy 500. She also became the first female driver to lead that race. Since then she has risen to super stardom, not only on the track but in the media and celebrity world as well.

A person looking at this situation using the feminist theory would probably be pleased to see such success coming from a woman. The amount of attention and publicity she has attained is enormous, especially recently with the announcement of her plans on competing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. However, this attention might upset people viewing it using the Functionalist theory. The disrupt in the status quo has diverted the attention off the competition and onto what some may call a distraction. She claims she wants to be treated as every other driver would, however, the attention she brings from her ads and photo shoots inevitably causes a stir in the racing community.

Either way you look at it, you can't deny that Danica Patrick is a phenomenal driver who will continue to make waves across sports for years to come.