Patrick wants to redefine image

It sounds more like the product of a slow news day at the Daytona 500 media session than a demand from Danica Patrick.

Still, Patrick — who makes her Sprint Cup debut in Sunday’s season-opening event — would rather be referred to as pretty than sexy. And both come behind racer.

That Patrick wants to redefine her image is acceptable, especially as she moves forward in her NASCAR career. But she’s going to have to stop doing those Godaddy.com commercials — or at least tone them down — to be taken seriously. I have yet to hear anyone whose watched one of those commercials — where Patrick entices viewers to race to the Internet to see how the suggestive commercial ends — say after viewing, “Well, that certainly was a pretty commercial.”

As for Patrick, she told reports: “If there is a pretty girl, (reporters) don’t know how to describe her other than being sexy. It has such a negative connotation to it. You don’t say those kinds of things to frame it like that for a guy or even sometimes talk about it ... .”

To be fair, Carl Edwards was likely described in a similar manner by some when he bared his six-pack abs for a Men’s Health cover in 2006.

And I agree with Patrick ... to a certain point.

Google Danica Patrick and the Internet is more likely to turn up bikini photos — including a very popular shoot for FHM in 2003 — than her racing achievements. Patrick took full advantage of her looks to advance her racing career early, but now that Patrick has arrived she’s ready to put those photos in the rear-view mirror.

Simply put, you can’t have it both ways.