Danica Patrick as a spokesperson for DRIVE4COPD

Patrick using celebrity to promote COPD awareness

Joining NASCAR's health initiative to fight disease

Perhaps the most anticipated and talked about driver to enter the NASCAR scene, Patrick realizes the level of celebrity she's attained as an IndyCar driver, part-time swimsuit model, mover of merchandise (she's already a NASCAR top seller) and actress (she'll appear on CSI: New York) is both rare and powerful.

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Being a popular person followed by a lot of fans gives me a platform I can use for good things.
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DANICA PATRICK Being a popular person followed by a lot of fans gives me a platform I can use for good things," Patrick said while taking a break from a sponsor photo shoot in a west-end Manhattan warehouse loft teeming with impossibly tall models. "I want to use my celebrity to make a difference."

She is doing just that as a spokesperson for DRIVE4COPD, joining NASCAR in promoting a multi-year public health initiative to alert millions of Americans who may be at risk for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).
As a kid growing up in Illinois, Patrick fondly remembers playing in her grandmother's house. Those good times were cut off, however, when her grandmother died in her mid '60s from an affliction not as well known as cancer or heart disease but one that's nonetheless the fourth-biggest killer in the U.S.

While Patrick decided to use her massive fame to fight the disease that took her grandmother, NASCAR was striking a unique partnership with DRIVE4COPD. The campaign will become the "Official Heath Initiative of NASCAR" -- educating fans about the disease and providing screening at Nationwide and Sprint Cup series races.

Additionally, DRIVE4COPD will become the title sponsor for the season-opening Camping World Truck Series race at Daytona International Speedway, the DRIVE4COPD 300 (8 p.m. ET Feb. 12, SPEED).

"NASCAR cares about our fans, and we are very proud to partner with DRIVE4COPD," said Steve Phelps, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for NASCAR. "COPD affects an estimated 24 million people -- half of whom are undiagnosed. NASCAR fans have a history of being receptive to and involved in health initiatives, and we believe we can make a difference in this unique partnership with the DRIVE4COPD."