The car driven by Danica Patrick in the 2005 Indianapolis 500, when she became the first woman to lead laps in the historic race
en route to a fourth-place finish, has found a home in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum.
Rahal Letterman Racing co-owner Bobby Rahal officially presented the car to the museum during a ceremony on Monday, it having been donated by present owner Stanley Ross, who owns and maintains a number of historic race cars, including ones driven by Rahal throughout his legendary career.
"“It is an exciting day, thanks to the generosity of Stan, who was involved with us and Danica right from the start in Formula Atlantic and then graduated with her to the 500 in '05," Rahal commented, "This is the right place for the car, for sure, especially now that she's won a race. But, even prior to that, the fact that she led and it was such a precedent-setting performance, this is the right place for it.
“Early on, I asked Stanley to [join us] in the Atlantics, and he was involved in us and the car. When I said I want to take Danica to Indy at the end of '04, I said ‘will you join with us again', and he said ‘yeah' so, basically, it's his car. We suggested to him that he might want to give it to the museum, and it didn't take long for him to do so. We've been trying to hold this affair for six months, [but] I think its better that we waited until now, not just because of the win, but more so because this is Indianapolis and this is the right place for it.”
![Danica Patrick's #16 car is added to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway museum [pic credit: IRL/McQueeney]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/436305.jpg)
