One significant indicator that Danica Patrick's immediate future is in open-wheel racing is the fact that she still hasn't turned a lap in a stock car. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Patrick is currently ranked fifth in the IndyCar Series championship -- best of the drivers who aren't steering a car owned by Roger Penske or Chip Ganassi and ahead of recent past champions Dan Wheldon and her AGR teammate Tony Kanaan, who is presumably in the same equipment.

The remaining three races are on ovals -- Patrick's strong point -- including the Twin Ring Motegi in Japan where Patrick made history last year as the first woman to win a major open-wheel race.

She's had nine top-10 finishes and led 26 laps in 14 starts this year. Her best showing was a third in the Indianapolis 500, a race where she's proven herself a legitimate favorite starting with her 2005 debut there.

People forget that the 27-year old Patrick is only in her fifth full season. And her stats -- one win, 16 top-five finishes, 45 top-10s -- stack up favorably when compared to the first five seasons of drivers like Kanaan (1 win, 16 top-5s, 49 top-10s) and three-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves (seven wins, 16 top-5s, 34 top-10s).

In fact, through his first four seasons Patrick's teammate, Marco Andretti, has the same number of victorires (one) and nearly twice as many DNFs (22) as Patrick (12) but is widely touted as one of America's best racing talents.

Another few wins, a real run at a title and Patrick is on the verge of something genuinely significant.

Of course there will always be that certain segment of the population that can't get past an attractive woman succeeding against males in athletic competition. They will demean her and her successes, no matter how well she fares.

Patrick's good looks -- and her penchant for using them -- work for and against her, often making her an easy target in the sports world. But they have nothing to do with her ability to drive a car.

The Sports Illustrated swimsuit spreads are cool, but so is earning the coveted cover as a racer. She's done both.

I remember when her former car owner, Bobby Rahal, brought Patrick into the massive media center at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2004 for a formal introduction. In a very low-key interview session attended by only a dozen or so reporters, Patrick confidently predicted good things were in store.

They are. And by making this sound, reasonable decision to resist the temptation of NASCAR a little while longer, Patrick still has everything to gain and nothing to lose.

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or Speed Channel