KANSAS CITY, KAN. ? Those who know the auto-racing game insist any comparison between Danica Patrick’s talent level in her sport to Anna Kournikova in hers is absurd. Neither has a victory to her name, but that, the experts tell us, can be explained easily enough.

Patrick drives for Rahal-Letterman Racing, which took a gamble and lost when it decided to send its drivers onto the track with a Panoz chassis at the start of this season, whereas everyone else went with a Dallara chassis. After five races in Panoz cars, the move was made to Dallara, and thus the Rahal-Letterman Racing engineers are in grade school in terms of learning the cars, when everyone else already has moved on to college.

The drivers only can do so much with the cars they’re given, and for how disappointed she was, standing on the track chatting after the race, Patrick didn’t do so terribly in finishing 11th Sunday at the Kansas Lottery 300.

Although Patrick’s results haven’t been as impressive as in 2005, when she was the IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year, but she’s driving as well or better.

“I’ve made less mistakes and stuff, but we’re just slow,” Patrick said. “If we had the answers, we’d apply them to the car, but we don’t. You know, we’re slowly working our way at it, but it’s a difficult process, and it’s getting frustrating. It’s a difficult process to get to know a car completely when you’ve only had a couple of races and everybody else has had a couple of years.”

Teammate Buddy Rice won three races in 2004, including the Indianapolis 500, so nobody questions his ability behind the wheel. He has battled the same hurdles this season as Patrick and isn’t driving as well. Patrick has finished ahead of Rice, who went into the wall Sunday to place 17th, in five of the eight races, and is 22 points ahead of him in the standings.

Nobody sells the sport better than Patrick, who doesn’t show any wear and tear from the demands placed on her time. Her outdated contract is up at the end of the season, and all the attention she brings to the Rahal-Letterman Race Team ought to be reflected in her next deal if they expect to keep her, right?

Sam Hornish Jr., front, passes Dan Wheldon in the final laps. Hornish went on to win the Kansas Lottery 300 Sunday at Kansas Speedway.

“I hope that primarily if there are improvements from this year into next year from anywhere I hope that it’s mostly a direct result of my driving,” Patrick said. “I want people to hire me for my driving. I’ve talked about a complete driver a lot, and a complete driver is one that can drive and one that can talk and walk and, you know, be mature, be able to interact with all different sorts of people, be able to look the part, you know, and bring a lot to the sport. I think that’s part of being the package, so if they like me for my driving first off, then hopefully they’ll think they’re getting the package.”

Patrick finished fourth at the Indy 500 a year ago. This year, driving a Panoz, she placed eighth.

Tim Tuttle, the biggest name among motor sports writers, put the eighth-place finish in perspective as he walked alongside the track.

“It was a fantastic ride with that car,” Tuttle said. “There wasn’t another Panoz in the top 20. It was fantastic. I’m telling you, I’ve covered 27 straight Indy 500s, and that was a fantastic ride.”

Patrick will win a race once the playing field is leveled by the engineers.

– Sports editor Tom Keegan can be reached at 832-7147.