What a woman. I could easily be talking about Shirley Muldowney, the “First Lady of Drag Racing” or  Hayley Wickenheiser, hockey player extraordinaire, or slam dunk star Candace Parker, or even Extreme Sport genius Darian Boyle. But today I am here to honor none other than Indy racing star Danica Patrick.

“Lyfe U Want” celebrates women. Their beauty, femininity, intelligence, sexiness, and their moxie. And Danica has all of the above and more (Did you catch her bikini photo shoot? Pretty hot stuff. Girl has got it goin’ on!). She may not be the first Goddess to grace the racing scene (kudos to Janet Guthrie for that), but she has proven to be the fastest. In 2008 she won an IRL race in Japan. After becoming the first female driver to win a major open-wheel race she said, “Finally. It’s a long time coming”.  Today she tools on up to the starting line again at the Indy 500. Four words come to my mind: “Go get ‘em Danica!”

The awesome thing is the message she sends to other women: Stand up for what you believe in no matter what it looks like. Fight the odds. Do what you love. She also reminds all of us women of our strength, courage, boldness, and brilliance (BTW fellas, it seems to me that she could be reminding you of that too…).

So to you women: When you are celebrating Danica today, don’t forget to celebrate YOU.

And to you men: Whether you’re there at the Indy 500 screaming in the stands or kicking back a cold one in your living room and hollering at your TV, take the time to celebrate the amazing woman in your life–your wife, girlfriend, Mom, work colleague, or even just the woman at the other end of the bar that you really want to talk to. Remember: if it wasn’t for women, you wouldn’t even try…

Thanks Danica. You rock!