Remember when the Indianapolis 500 mattered? Remember when it was the most hallowed race in American motorsports? It sure has been awhile.
Sunday's rain-soaked affair was in some ways a metaphor for what the 500 has become. It's a washout. Its relevance is limited to those die-hards who still pledge allegiance to open-wheel racing despite the calamitous fission of 13 years ago that permanently scarred what was the dominant racing series in the U.S. The civil war between the Indy Racing League and CART (now the Champ Car World Series) dealt a crippling blow to sponsorships and TV ratings and has solidified NASCAR's standing as racing's top dog.
These days the media spends more time in the lead-up to the race talking about whether it will be the year that a woman wins the 500. This year there were three in the field and without them, it's doubtful that whatever meager interest there was in the race would have existed.
When Janet Guthrie broke the gender barrier years ago she was seen as little more than a novelty. No one gave her chance to win; it was enough for her just to finish. Nowadays there's pressure on these women to perform, especially Danica Patrick, still in search of her first Indy car win.
Why so much pressure? Because Patrick, Milka Duno and Sarah Fisher aren't just racers. They're commodities, marketed as much for their sex appeal as their racing abilities. Clearly they're competent racers, otherwise they wouldn't be able to make a living out of the sport. But to shed the "novelty" label that plagued Guthrie, they need to be more than just pinup girls.
All three women are capable of crossing the finish line in first place. Patrick's the only woman to have led the 500 and was near the front of the field Sunday before the weather mucked up the race.
Duno was auto racing driver of the year in Venezuela in 2000 and the American Le Mans Series' 2001 vice champion driver. She's also a naval engineer with four Master's degrees, as if she needed any more credentials.
Meanwhile, Fisher holds the records for the two best finishes (a second- and a third-place) by a woman in Indy car racing.
At least one of these women needs a win to vanquish the ridiculous gender monkey each carries on their back. And at least one of them needs to win — sooner rather than later — to save the sport of open-wheel racing in the U.S.
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