Ladies day at the Indy 500

Lyn St. James was a 16-year-old fan when she first visited Indianapolis Motor Speedway. No women were allowed in Gasoline Alley, the track's famed garage area, so James had to hail passing drivers and push paper and pen through a chain-link fence in order to get autographs.

Today, a little more than a generation later, there will be a record four women drivers competing in the Indianapolis 500, including Danica Patrick whose autograph is easily the most sought after of all drivers walking Gasoline Alley. Also competing are 29-year-old veteran Sarah Fisher, and rookies Ana Beatriz of Brazil and Simona de Silvestro of Switzerland.

"I think we're getting closer to the day when gender won't be a headline here," St. James said yesterday in a phone interview. "When I was racing back in the '90s, I was predicting this. I'm actually suprised it's taken as long as it has."

Not only was James predicting it, she was setting the groundwork for it to happen. James, who drove in the Indianapolis 500 seven times, started a school through her Women in the Winner's Circle Foundation in order to identify and help young women drivers. Both Fisher and Patrick went through the school. Fisher believes it is a big reason why more and more women are becoming involved in racing.

While Fisher, who raced against St. James in her first Indy, believes having four women in the race is something to celebrate, Patrick seems to want to distance herself from the girl-power theme some have attached to this year's race.

"I'm not a go-girl person necessarily, I'm like a go-person person," Patrick told ESPN. "Whatever gender barrier they're breaking down, it's just about people giving their all, doing what they love in life and being the best at it."

Fisher, who was in New York last week with Patrick and other drivers to promote today's race, said when she first got into racing she wasn't interested in being a pioneer. Now, however, she pays more attention to the history of the sport.

"I know I owe a lot to the people who came before me," Fisher said.

Some more of that history could be written today. Three-time winner Helio Castroneves starts on the pole for the fourth time in his 10 races at Indy. A victory would match him with A.J. Foyt, Rick Mears and Al Unser Sr. as the only drivers to have won the race four times.

From its inception in 1911 until 1976, no women drove in the Indy 500. Then, Janet Guthrie, an engineer who had gotten her racing start on Long Island, made the race and finished 29th. She would qualify two more times with her best finish being ninth in 1978.

St. James appeared in seven Indy 500s. In her final race, in 2000, she and Fisher made the field, the first time more than one woman was on the starting grid.

Patrick came along five years later, and it is her success, both on and off the oval, that has inspired a new generation of women drivers. Patrick was the first woman to lead at Indy back in 2005, and the first to win an Indy car race (Japan, 2008). Last year, she finished third at Indy.

Off the field, Patrick is the sport's most recognizable face. Television ratings spike when she is in the field. With her recent foray into NASCAR, Forbes magazine tabbed her as a soon-to-be powerhouse in the world of athletic endorsements.

In interviews from Indianapolis this week, both Beatriz and de Silvestro have cited Patrick as an inspiration. Yet, like Patrick, neither is eager to talk about the race in terms of the field of women drivers. Beatriz noted at a news conference this week that there is no prize for the woman who finishes first.

"It think it's great from the fan's perspective," she said of the four-woman field, "but inside the track, everybody is the same."

In other words, no one is being asked to stand outside the fence and pass a pen and paper through when it comes to getting autographs. In fact, as Fisher is quick to note, the changes in Gasoline Alley are not limited to drivers.

"We have engineers who are women, mechanics who are women," Fisher said. "There are more and more women working in racing every day."

Fisher broke a new barrier in 2009 when she became the first female car owner. She believes the day will come when it is no longer newsworthy to talk about how many women are in the Indianapolis 500.

Said Fisher: "It won't be until females have won it a couple of times, and are overall more consistent in winning. It could be a long time, but maybe not. There's a ton of talent coming up."