Patrick returns to Indy seeking breakthrough win

Indianapolis, May 06: Danica Patrick has already become the first woman to win an Indy-car race. Now she hopes to become the first to capture the sport's ultimate prize - the Indianapolis 500.

The 27-year-old American beauty won last year's Indy Japan 300 for her series breakthrough and will begin her quest to conquer the famed 2 1/2-mile Indy oval when practice starts here on Wednesday for Saturday's pole qualifying.

"It's a good opportunity to really just focus on qualifying," Patrick said. "All the rest of the year we tend to not really be so heavily focused on it, and we kind of do maybe a qualifying practice run or two, but that's about it.”

"Here we get a few days to really focus on it. It's about getting the car comfortable. You want to start out with a good balanced car, and hopefully you can even take the downforce off and just get faster."

Patrick, coming off a fifth-place effort at Kansas in the final tuneup for the May 24 race, has put a check on her notorious temper, which saw her pick a fight with England's Dan Wheldon and march down the Indy 500 pit lane after Australian Ryan Briscoe.

"I've learned from the past," Patrick said. "Look, the emotional Danica is still there, but there's a time and a place. The time and place is not every weekend. So it's just easier.”

"I always felt in the past like I had to prove to people that I cared and that I wasn't happy being fifth or 12th or something by being mad. It just doesn't really pay off, and it turns people off.”

"It's a lot easier and a lot more fun to be relaxed. It's all bunnies and rainbows around here