Sunday, May 11, 2008
Danica Patrick brings long-lost sizzle to the Indy 500, and not just because of those bikini pix. Plus: Heat win, but they're still in trouble. And: The mystery of "his'n."
May 26, 2005 | I can't remember the last time the Indianapolis 500 got this much attention.
The race is hot because Danica Patrick is starting in Row 2, and Danica Patrick is hot. I don't mean did you see her pix in FHM magazine hot, though she's hot enough in that sense to get her pictures in FHM. And she wouldn't be hot like this if she weren't hot like that.
I mean when's the last time an American driver became the biggest celebrity in open wheel without having won Indy? When's the last time a rookie driver went on David Letterman's show, even if Letterman owned the driver's team, as he co-owns hers?
The old boys were on to something 29 years ago when Janet Guthrie became the first woman to qualify for the Indianapolis 500. Let one woman in and next thing you know the whole thing'll be spoiled for the men. The women'll take over.
Patrick is the fourth woman to start in the Indy 500, but the first who's been treated seriously by those who know about these things as a threat to win. For the moment, what she seems to have spoiled is the Indy Racing League's inexorable decline.
Guthrie, owner of a ninth-place finish in 1978 that's still the best ever for a woman, has pointed out that Patrick's the first woman to get to the Brickyard with the equipment and financial backing necessary to win. Lyn St. James started seven times in the '90s and Sarah Fisher carried the flag for the last five years before losing her sponsorship and moving on to stock cars.
That's it. Not exactly taking over. But Patrick heralds a new era by being a woman who's not at Indy as just a token or a curiosity, though she is also those things. She's reportedly respected and accepted by the male drivers, who, Patrick likes to point out, have realized that when people are watching her, they're also watching them.
And what about fans? Well, any open-wheel fan would have to be a fool not to realize the boon Patrick is bringing to a sport that's been hammered by political squabbles and left in the dust by NASCAR.
If people are interested in her, they're interested. And if other women follow her into the big time, this new fan demographic that's opened up for the moment will stay open to at least some extent.
It's a tall order to expect more Danica Patricks to follow. As Christine Brennan notes in USA Today, "You have to look good and be able to drive 200 mph. What a demanding profession."
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