FONTANA, Calif. - The Indy Racing League will look into a confrontation between Danica Patrick and Jaques Lazier that took place after the drivers bumped and wrecked during the season-ending race at California Speedway.

Just three weeks after Panther Racing co-owner Mike Griffin referred to her car as the “Princess mobile” at Watkins Glen, the 2005 IRL Rookie of the Year was involved in a crash with Jacque Lazier with 15 laps to go in Sunday’s Toyota Indy 400.

The replays seemed to indicate that Lazier moved up on the race track rather than Patrick’s car pinching him down on the lower groove, but it didn’t keep Target Chip Ganassi Racing team owner Chip Ganassi from calling her “(darn) dangerous.”

Even Scott Goodyear, the color analyst for ESPN’s telecast said, “I think Chip needs to get a pair of glasses,” after Ganassi blamed her for the crash.

The first person I saw after the accident was Jaques and that wasn't a good thing," Patrick told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune. "I confronted him. I told him how I felt. I was mad at him."

At first, Lazier said Patrick punched him in the head, but then backed off that story, agreeing with Patrick's version that she had simply poked him in the forehead.

"Look, we had a difference of opinion about what happened, and we were both emotional," Lazier told the Indianapolis Star. "If she said she hit me on the temple with her fingers, that's fine. It doesn't matter."

"My son hits harder than she does," Lazier told the Valley Tribune in reference to his 4-year-old, Kayden.

Patrick denied Lazier's initial accusation that she punched him, saying that she was telling him to use his noggin.

"So you're telling me that Jaques is saying he got beat up by a girl?" Patrick told the Star through a Rahal Letterman Racing spokesperson.

“It seemed like I was going around in this vicious circle with the pink car,” said Patrick, referring to Lazier’s pink-colored entry promoting breast cancer awareness. “Lazier was a problem all day, he’s been a problem for years. I complained on the radio about him. He was all over the place. His driving all over the place ended up in the side of me.

“Needless to say, I’m mad. I did not want to end the season this way. I didn’t deserve to end the season that way.”

Patrick suffered a bruised elbow from the crash but did not stop her from swinging away at the comment made from a team owner whose drivers crashed 28 different times this season, including a serious crash by Ryan Briscoe at Chicagoland Speedway on September 11 that sent him to the hospital and ended his season.

“That’s kind of ironic considering they’ve done how many millions of dollars in damage at that Team Target team?” Patrick said. “I think they’ve crashed every race.”

The sniping hurled at Patrick began shortly after this year’s Indianapolis 500, when Patrick nearly won the pole, was leading the race with seven laps to go before finishing fourth and dominated the attention.  Her performance even overshadowed Indy 500 winner Dan Wheldon, who showed up at the next race at Texas Motor Speedway with a t-shirt reading, “I actually won the Indy 500.”

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Patrick continued to be the new, fresh face of the IRL, giving the series media attention it badly needs.  But as television ratings were increasing and the mainstream media discovered the IRL, other drivers were beginning to feel slighted and overlooked.

The four drivers at Andretti Green Racing staged a boycott of an IRL autograph session at Milwaukee in July, which led to a fine from IRL officials. Tony Kanaan said Patrick drove like an “idiot” in the Chicagoland race in September.

When IRL officials did not tow in Tomas Scheckter after he had a mechanical failure at Watkins Glen, Panther Racing’s Mike Griffin said they would have towed in the “Princess mobile.”

“Hey, that’s OK - I’m the only other chick out there,” Patrick said.

Sunday’s charges were just the latest in the line made at Patrick.  But took the shots and fired back some of her own.

“I’ve had a lot of attention,” Patrick said. “I’m sure some people are looking for things to talk about. Staying in the media for various reasons isn’t always the worst thing in the world. I definitely have my strong beliefs and I believe that the people around me and the people that are important do, too.

“As long as they are with me, then I’m going to keep driving.”

At the time of the crash, the two drivers were running seventh and eighth. Patrick even led the race twice for two laps.

She easily was the IRL’s best rookie this season, posting three poles, two top-five finishes and seven top-10s. She also finished 11th in the 2005 driver standings, ahead of 2003 IRL champion Scott Dixon (14th) and 2004 Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Rice.

Patrick will be honored as the series rookie of the year at Monday night’s IRL Awards Celebration at Paramount Studios in Hollywood before returning to Scottsdale, Arizona and preparing for her upcoming wedding to Paul Hospenthal.

“I went into the season hoping that I’d be Rookie of the Year, hoping I’d be Rookie of the Year at Indy, hoping that I would have success, hoping that I would make progress each and every race,” Patrick said. “I feel like that’s what I did.

“So like in two months am I going to walk out of my house and go, where is the media? What happened? Am I a loser now?  It’s going to be a needed break. It’s going to be important to get away for a little while.”