Danica Patrick, video game boss?

That’s right, the girl who grew up playing “Mario Kart” is turning polygonal in Activision’s slick new racer “Blur.” Patrick plays one of nine rivals in career mode and according to her at least, “My character will do whatever it takes to put you in your place.” The game features over 50 licensed cars, from the Audi R8 to the Corvette ZR1, and if you beat Patrick’s character in the game, you can swipe her ride for use in both single and multiplayer levels. What she’s driving in “Blur,” though, Patrick won’t say. “We don’t want to spoil it before the game comes out,” she says. “It’s a little bit of a secret, but as you can imagine, I’m a good driver.”

As for her favorite part about virtual racing? “When you crash you can keep going,” Patrick laughs. “You can also hit people, and there’s the ability to fix your car on the go with a mechanic button. You can even shoot off bombs at cars and use boost.

“We have push to pass at IndyCar, but that’s only like five horsepower. That’s pretty pathetic compared to the warp speed that you get in the game.”

Patrick recently spent the day at Activision recording lines for her character, and as she explains, “You’re going to see me on some level in the game, but you’re really going to hear me.”

But gamers aren’t the only ones who will hear Patrick talk trash, as she already started with one of the game’s producers. “I got to practice a little bit, then I got to play against one of the guys who made the game. It’s funny, because I was watching him play and he was showing me some stuff, then I was like, ‘Would you consider yourself good at this game?’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, probably.’ And he was all smirking. So then we played the game and I won. He was totally blown away. I think that’s what’s cool about ‘Blur.’ If you have a comprehension of cars and racing at all, you can play the game right off the bat. There are all kinds of cars, so there are cars that are loose, cars that are balanced, cars that understeer more or push more. There’s all kinds of different handling, and you can fine-tune it for your driving as certain cars work better on certain tracks.

“There’s a lot to learn, but I was pretty good off the bat, so I was excited about that.”

Getting to know Danica Patrick 

Aside from the video game, I also had the chance to talk to Patrick about a variety of subjects. Here are some of the highlights: 

On what car she drives in real life: “I have a Mercedes SUV and I also have a Lamborghini. I don’t drive the Lamborghini enough. It’s just not practical. The first car I ever bought was a BMW, then I sold it and got the Lamborghini, and I figured one time I’d go get groceries in it. Why not? Then one time I had to go pick my sister up at the airport but she had all her bags and everything. It was a little embarrassing.” 

On her ability to inspire young girls to become race car drivers: “I guess I inspire young girls, and that’s a really cool role to have and I don’t take it for granted. I always encourage kids to do whatever they want. If they want to be a race car driver, that’s fine, but I want them to be able to do whatever they want, not just a race car driver.” 

On whether or not some people will always doubt her ability as a driver because she is a woman: “I do everything I can not to read into it or read it at all or pay attention. Unfortunately in this world, negative attention gets more attention than the good stuff. You have to be really careful of what you expose yourself to, but there are always going to be people that don’t think you can do it or don’t think you should be there or doubt you, but that’s alright. That’s what makes the world interesting.” 

On racing stock cars versus Indy cars: “There’s a level of bravery you have racing stock cars because there are fenders all the way around. You can go into a corner, and if it looks like somebody is coming down, you go, ‘Well, they’re either going to get spun or spin me, or we’re going to get through and you’re going to wish that you didn’t do that.’ So the fenders are a level of bravery.” 

On how hard it is to drive the streets without getting speeding tickets: “I kind of wish I just had a free pass, but I don’t and it’s unfortunate. I have a racing license, which is better than a regular license, so one of my friends said this joke where I should show my racing license to the cop when I get pulled over. That was brilliant. When they ask for my license, I’m going to give them my racing license and see what happens. You would think that would get me out of jail. Or maybe we can just have a race. If I win, you let me off, if you win, give me the ticket. Maybe I can challenge some of the cops to a game of ‘Blur’ and if I beat them in the game, I don’t get tickets anymore.” [News & Picture Source]