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It's enough to drive a woman to racing

Shaun Powell

April 22, 2008

The numbers compiled by the great baseball Hall of Famers of a distant era are encased in Cooperstown, to be admired by all, and to be questioned to an extent. No doubt, the men who played in the game's first 50 years were terrific in their time, but their careers also come with a catch:

They didn't compete against blacks or Latinos, and therefore, never really proved themselves against some of the very best.

We can all agree that today's baseball players, as well as football and basketball players, are lacing them up with no strings attached. These sports are open and welcome to all, and there's little doubt that a no-hitter or 50-point game or 200-yard rushing game carries more weight now than before.

Well, then consider this: In the distant future, will the records compiled by the great auto racers of yesteryear be tweaked somewhat because they weren't challenged by women?

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The Rahals and Unsers and Earnhardts would still have their cherished wing in the Hall, and their busts would still be bronzed and scratch-free, and their contributions to the sport on and off the track wouldn't be devalued by anyone, at least not anyone with any sense. But just for fun, if not for debate, let's assume Danica Patrick, who just grabbed her first Indy-car victory, finally gets girls realizing that racing doesn't require strength or speed or any of the other physical advantages men have over women.

Let's assume girls start realizing that all they need are nerves of steel, a lead foot, a firm grip on the wheel and one hell of a pit crew.

Can we then assume that, say 50 years from now, more women will do what Patrick did over the weekend in Japan?

The most surprising thing about Patrick winning a race is that people were surprised. There's nothing remotely shocking about her win. She didn't quarterback her team to victory on NFL Sunday, or shake past LeBron James for a basket, or strike out David Wright. This was no "Ripley's Believe It or Not" moment, where a woman outlifts or outruns a male professional athlete. All Patrick did was drive her car faster than the guys.

She wasn't at some severe handicap. You could even argue whether she was disadvantaged at all.

This is auto racing we're talking. She's on the same level as the men, in terms of qualifications and God-given ability, much as blacks and Latinos were with whites in baseball back in the day. She's doing what many women are capable of doing, but for various reasons, don't bother doing.

Patrick deserves more applause for following her dream and traveling off the beaten path for women than for winning a race. You can take a spin on the LIE any day of the week and realize women can drive just as well as men, or just as dumbly. Obviously, it's a whole different game when it's done on the oval, where strategy and composure are almost as valuable as speed. But that's also where women measure up just as well as men, if not better. Mental toughness isn't restricted to male genes. Mental toughness can be found in many women trying to survive in a male-dominated world.

What else is needed to win a car race? Steady hands? The ability to fit into the seat? Sharp eyesight? A gift for anticipation? Aggressiveness? Check, check, check, check and check, women have all that.

What they didn't have, until now, is encouragement or a reason to give racing a try.

Other than Patrick becoming the first woman to win an Indy-car race, women also have other reasons to get behind a wheel. Millions of reasons, in fact. The money is staggering right now and will only grow, especially from endorsements, where Patrick probably makes more than anyone except Maria Sharapova. The lure of cash, and the understanding that you don't need to be blessed with strength or speed to win or get rich, should put future female drivers on alert. You can't name three other sports where women are guaranteed to make a fortune.

The big surprise, then, is why it took this long for a woman to race, much less win. That's about to change soon. Fifty years from now, more women will greet the checkered flag, and society will wonder what all the fuss was about with Danica way back when.

Belles of the ball

Other notable firsts for women athletes in a world of men's sports:

1945: Golfer Babe Zaharias qualified for the Los Angeles Open and made the 36-hole cut.

1970: Diana Crump was the first woman to ride in the Kentucky Derby aboard Fathom.

1977: Janet Guthrie was the first woman to drive in the Indianapolis 500 (she finished eighth).

1978: UCLA's Ann Meyers was the first woman to sign a contract with an NBA team (Indiana Pacers).

1991: Goalie Jenny Hanley of Hamline University (St. Paul, Minn.) was the first woman to play on a men's college hockey team.

1993: Jockey Julie Krone was the first woman to win a Triple Crown race, aboard Colonial Affair in the Belmont Stakes.

1997: Ila Borders was the first woman pitcher in professional baseball (St. Paul Saints, Northern League). She was also the first woman to pitch in a college baseball game (Southern California College in 1994).

1997: NBA official Violet Palmer was the first woman to referee a regular-season game for a men's pro sports league.

2003: University of New Mexico's Katie Hnida was the first woman to score in an NCAA Division I-A football game, kicking two extra points against Texas State.

2004: Michelle Wie, 14, was the youngest player in a PGA Tour event.

2005: Angela Ruggiero was the first female non-goalie to play in a men's pro hockey game, with the Tulsa Oilers of the Central Hockey League.

2006: Michaela Hutchinson, a sophomore from Anchorage, Alaska, was the first girl in the United States to win a state high school wrestling title competing against boys.

SOURCE: Newsday research