When Danica Patrick takes the green flag on Sunday, she will join a select group of women who have driven in the Indianapolis 500. Only three women have started the race, and Patrick has perhaps the best shot of winning that any woman in history has had.
"She is a very strong -- a very good -- race car driver," Tony Kanaan, reining IndyCar champion and pole-setter, said.
If it weren't for a bobble, Patrick's qualifying run could have bumped Kanaan from the top of the podium, but he had only praise for his female competition.
"I really would like to say, if there's one great thing I think that's happened over the years, [it] is that women are being accepted into a man's world in all different areas -- whether it's nursing or flying a plane or driving a race car.
"I think it's much more accepting, and people are actually excited for it and they like to see something new and something fresh and something they've never seen before," she said.
The introduction of women onto the 500 track began in May of 1976, when Janet Guthrie became the first woman to pass rookie orientation. She then started three Indianapolis 500s between 1977 and 1979.
Guthrie is also the most successful female driver in Indianapolis history, with a ninth-place finish in 1978.
Though they are rare and haven't always finished on top, women drivers have regularly been among the fan favorites -- such as Sarah Fisher, who won the Indy Racing League's Most Popular Driver award three years in a row from 2001 through 2003. She has also been among the most competitive drivers at Indianapolis, with five starts from 2000 to 2004 and once a start as high as ninth. While she did not have success in the actual race, she held most of the major speed records before this season and is tied with Lyn St. James for most races running at the finish.
James is the most seasoned female driver in 500 history, having started seven times and finished as high as 11th, in 1992.
And 2005 may be another record-making year for women in the Indy 500, with Patrick as the driver of Rahal Letterman Racing's second car as well as the month's fastest driver so far.
"Danica is a graduate of my driver-development program, so she's the real deal," James said. "She's been dreaming about this for a long time. I think it's awesome.
"If she doesn't win it this year, I think she will be a future winner."
Despite the question of whether she will win the race, Patrick has already made history in the month of May by turning a lap at 229.880 mph during practice on May 15, making her the fastest woman in Indianapolis history. When she qualified fourth for the race, she became the highest starting woman in Indianapolis history as well.
And she still has the chance to set new records at Indianapolis: If she finishes on the lead lap, she will become the first woman to complete all 200 laps at Indianapolis. History's highest finish for a woman is ninth, but Rahal Letterman Racing, Patrick's team, grabbed first, fifth and tenth in last year's Indianapolis 500, so Patrick has a good shot to beat Guthrie's ninth-place record.
Although not the most experienced driver upon entering Indy, Patrick has impressed one of the Speedway's legends, Michael Andretti.
"I think having Danica up there is great for the series," he said. "I think she's done a fantastic job. I think she's earned a lot of respect from everybody, so I think it's good to have her up there for the sport in general."
As a record-setting female driver, Patrick has quickly become a media darling. She has appeared on the front pages of several newspapers and will soon make appearances on "The Late Show with David Letterman," ESPN's "Cold Pizza" and "The Jim Rome Show" on Fox Sports Radio. She has probably been the most interviewed driver at Indianapolis this month.
"It's just a different side of me," she said. "It's part marketing. I mean, it causes a stir, and it brings attention to the sponsorship on the sides of my cars, on the top left and right of the T-shirts. I think I have fun doing it."
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