SAO PAULO — Ladies, start your engines.
Danica Patrick will be among four women on the IndyCar grid of the season opener Sunday in Brazil, a record number to start a series race.
Patrick will race with Milka Duno of Venezuela and rookies Simona de Silvestro of Switzerland and Ana Beatriz Figueiredo of Brazil. American Sarah Fisher is set to run on a limited schedule this year, but she will not be in the opener.
Patrick applauded the number of women racing on the streets of Sao Paulo, but said it's not happening because of her.
"I don't look at it like I'm responsible for it," Patrick said. "Everyone that gets to this level — male or female — carved out their own path, one way or another, and is here for a reason.
"I'm happy about anything that brings attention to our series and pulls in more interest."
The last time three women competed together was in Miami last year when Patrick, Fisher and Duno made the grid. They had raced together on other occasions after Duno joined the series in 2007, but IndyCar had never been able to gather more than three women drivers.
"It's extremely nice to have four of us racing together here," said Figueiredo, who likely will be the most-cheered woman this weekend in her hometown. "We are having more and more women with chances to compete in the top level, that seems to be the trend now, and we should expect to see others in the series in the future."
Figueiredo, a two-time winner in the Indy Lights series, hasn't secured a full-season ride for 2010. She is hopeful that a good performance Sunday will give her a chance to follow in the footsteps of Patrick, one of the series' biggest stars.
While Patrick downplays her influence, Figueiredo points to her as a role model.
"Danica is a reference for the women here," the 24-year-old Figueiredo said. "She is the one who actually opened the doors for others in this series."
Patrick is a huge attraction since she earned 2005 rookie of the year in the series. She became the first woman to win an IndyCar race in 2008, and last year she had a career-best, fifth-place finish in the drivers' standings. She also came in third at the Indy 500, the highest finish by a woman.
Before Patrick, there were a few women making their way to IndyCar racing.
Janet Guthrie became the first woman driver at the Indy 500 in 1977, and she was followed by Lyn St. James in 1992. But it wasn't until 2000 that a 19-year-old Fisher got to Indy.
Fisher was the first to run a full IndyCar season in 2001, and the first to win a pole in a major open-wheel circuit in Kentucky in 2002. She was the most popular driver from 2001-03, but failed to secure enough sponsorship to regularly race in the series. She created her own team in 2008, Sarah Fisher Racing.
The 37-year-old Duno, the series' first Hispanic female driver, will be making her 27th IndyCar start on Sunday. For the first time, she has a seat for the entire season. Duno, who has four master's degrees, hasn't had significant results in the series so far.
Simona De Silvestro is coming from the Atlantic Series, where the 21-year-old driver became the second woman to win a race in the developmental series in 2008. She won four times last season and just missed the title after retiring in the final race.
Terry Angstadt, president of the series' commercial division, says having women in the mix is good for business.
"It's just great to have these women in our sport," Angstadt said. "It's good for the business. Racing is the only sport where female athletes compete in absolutely the same field as the men, they race on exactly the same tracks, the same cars."
Auto Racing
Patrick among record 4 women at IndyCar opener
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Ken de la Bastide: 'Mile' back on IndyCar schedule
There was good news for IZOD IndyCar fans this week with the announcement that the famed “Milwaukee Mile” is back on the 2012 schedule.
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Ken de la Bastide: Barrichello might move to IndyCar
Although the IZOD IndyCar Series lost its most identifiable driver with the move of Danica Patrick to NASCAR, possible changes could raise the level of competition to new heights. The IZOD IndyCar season starts on March 25 and there is a chance a veteran Formula One driver could be in the mix.
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Ken de la Bastide: Stewart could aid Danica
With the Daytona 500 less than a month away, one of the big unknowns is will Danica Patrick have to race her way into the starting field or will car owner Tony Stewart buy her way in?
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Danica ditches Indy
Danica Patrick became a worldwide sensation as a rookie at the Indianapolis 500, challenging for victory and becoming the first woman to lead laps in the showcase race.
Those Indy days are fading fast.
Patrick’s shift to stock cars is long under way, and her ties to IndyCar were cut even further Monday — she said she won’t run in this year’s Indy 500. -
Ken de la Bastide: Changes looming in July
The race schedule around the Brickyard 400 this coming July will look different than in years past, but there will still be plenty of short track racing action.
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Ken de la Bastide: IndyCar back to the Mile?
Last week I received several comments regarding the lack of oval races on the 2012 IZOD IndyCar schedule.
One reader noted, correctly, that a factor for scheduling races on oval tracks has been a lack of attendance. Another reader also correctly stated that the oval races need to be promoted better to attract fans, and of course sponsorship dollars are a necessity. -
Kirby opens 2012 with Street Stock win
Tight racing through the first half of the EDCO Welding Street Stock feature gave way to leaders mixing it up in Turn 2, with Jimmy Kirby emerging as the leader.
Above normal temperatures and sunny skies on Saturday brought out more than 80 race teams and a healthy crowd of fans for the Aqua System New Year’s Bash presented by EDCO Welding. -
Ken de la Bastide: Indy 500 is top race of 2011
There should be little doubt that the 100th anniversary race of the Indianapolis 500 was the best event of 2011. One could almost make the case that the race has vaulted the “500” back to the top of all motorsports.
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‘Limitless’ racing factor in fatal Vegas wreck
Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s “limitless” racing surface was singled out Thursday as a significant factor in a “perfect storm” of conditions that led to the death of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon.
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Ken de la Bastide: Schmidt receives well-deserved honor
It was heartening to see last week that IZOD IndyCar team owner Sam Schmidt was presented with the 2011 Achievement Award at the International Motorsports Industry Show.
Schmidt was paralyzed in 2000 during testing at the Walt Disney World Speedway and the next year formed Sam Schmidt Motorsports.
The team has found success in Indy Car racing, having won five Indy Lights championships with 46 race wins, and also has fielded cars in the IZOD IndyCar series for the past nine years. - More Auto Racing Headlines
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