"Danica Mania took over the IRL in 2005 as the female phenom not only finished fourth in the Indianapolis 500, but had a total of two top fives and seven top 10's on her way to a 12th place finish in the championship standings, good enough to earn her Rookie of the Year honors."
She looks more like a publicity stunt than anything else. She has an incredible PR team (anyone saw her in Maxim) and they're doing everything they can to prolong her 15 minutes of fame. She's a decent driver but I don't think she would have had the same publicity if she was "ugly".