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INDIANAPOLIS -- Despite vastly different personalities and resumes, the women of this year's Indy 500 share a common goal: Each believes she can change the face of auto racing in her own way.
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Danica Patrick, Sarah Fisher and Milka Duno work just yards apart in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway garages, but they all have their own approach to the sport, even if they face the same hurdles.
"It's not like the sport is flooded with females," Fisher said Wednesday. "You still have to be able to compete and drive and that's the bottom line. You still have to do well."
Increasingly, women in all forms of racing are succeeding.
Since Janet Guthrie and Shirley Muldowney started knocking down gender barriers in the late 1970s, there have been more women drivers, more women owners and, yes, even a growing list of women winners.
The encore to Patrick's historic IndyCar win in Japan last month came the following week when Ashley Force beat her dad, John, to become the first woman champion in drag racing's Funny Car division. Less than 24 hours after Patrick's victory, Simona De Silvestro became the second woman to win a race in the developmental Atlantic Series, joining three-time winner Katherine Legge, who now drives touring cars in Europe.
Even Formula One teams are talking about finding women to compete in the series.
Next week, the 33-car starting grid at Indy could include three women for the second straight year, with Patrick again creating the biggest buzz around the 2.5-mile oval. She's even this week's cover girl on Sports Illustrated.
It's a far cry from the early days when Guthrie, the first woman to start at Indy in 1977, acknowledges it was difficult for women to find sponsors or chances.
"Back then, I predicted it might be two generations (before a woman won)," Guthrie said last month. "But it turns out to be just a generation and a half."
Patrick's success has changed everything.
Her glitzy photo shoots opened the door to new marketing opportunities, and her driving savvy and tenacity have proven she's every bit as talented as the boys. A win May 25 at Indy would be considered the most significant achievement for women in this traditionally male-dominated sport.
That's not how the 26-year-old Illinois native views it. While winning in Japan may forever change the perception of women in racing, Patrick insists it has only fueled her passion to win more often.
