Danica Patrick finished third at this weekend’s Indianapolis 500.

But when it comes to women that men most wish to see pose naked in Playboy, there’s a good chance she’d rank number-one (see poll below).

Perhaps Patrick has taken a step toward that milestone event, as she answered a series of questions in the latest issue of that magazine. We’ve included a couple excerpts from the interview below.

Who do you most wanna see nude in Playboy?

What was your first car?
It was a Mustang Cobra, back when Mustangs were still pretty exclusive and cool. I was hard on it. I went through a brand-new set of brakes in a couple thousand miles. The car ended up with 8,000 miles on it when we sold it. I didn’t have it that long, and I was on my third set of brakes.

Is it hard to be both sexy and a racer?
When I was younger I felt uncomfortable because I didn’t want people to look at me and think, She’s just some girl, and write me off before they gave me a chance. There’s nothing I can’t do in a race car because I’m a girl. These days I love being a girl.

Click on the Danica Patrick pictures above to enlarge images of this racing beauty.

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