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Danica Patrick shows
owners how to persist

This year's Indy 500 race was one of the most exciting races I've seen in years. It was history in the making as Danica Patrick, the only woman in this year's 33-car lineup, led eight of the 10 final laps in the race. She is the only woman to ever lead one lap, let alone 19 laps, throughout the entire race.

Fans stood cheering for this rookie, lap after lap. Despite some setbacks -- rookie mistakes -- including a minor accident, Danica still pulled off a bold move toward the end of the race that put her in the lead again. If she had just a half-gallon more fuel, she could have very well won.

Danica Patrick ended the Indy 500 in fourth place, but she showed the world what she was made of. Right now, Danica Patrick is the fastest female to have raced in the Indy 500, and she has a very good chance of coming back next year to take the first-place prize.

With all the obstacles she had to overcome throughout the race -- an engine stall in the pits, a 360-degree spin out, a bump from another racer's tires, and later a minor accident -- she continued to recover, gain her composure, stay focused, and come back, again and again.

Choosing not to take one last pit stop was a risky and bold move approved by her championship coach, Bobby Rahall, and it proved to be the perfect move that got her in the final four on the last lap, and kept all the fans in the stadium on their feet rooting for her. As he looked at the best course of action for her to take, Danica's coach kept her focused, so she was able to do what she does best -- drive fast.

What you can take away from Danica's performance as a small-business owner:

Her focus, determination, and ability to handle an Indy car as well as, if not better than, the next guy is an example for all small-business owners who experience a "stall" in their business, or get into an accident with a business move that doesn't pan out as well as they'd hoped.

Keep this in mind:

>> A stall doesn't mean defeat.

>> Failures and mistakes don't mean defeat. Even the risk of running out of funds (or fuel) should not stop us from using every ounce of energy we have to pursue our goals. It's tough mentally, but you need to focus only on moving forward.

You can't make determinations for your future based on one-time incidents because you just never know what's ahead. And Danica Patrick, a 23-year-old woman from Illinois, certainly proved that as she raced her heart out in the 2005 Indy 500.

Let her inspire you to keep going forward in your business, even when you think the chips are down. You just might make history.