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Great time for women drivers

Submitted by SHNS on Fri, 05/23/2008 - 17:31

It's a great time to be a woman in a racecar.After Danica Patrick's breakthrough IndyCar win last month, three women will be competing in Sunday's Indianapolis 500, with Patrick among the favorites. Also on the grid are Sarah Fisher and Venezuela's Milka Duno.Fisher, who returned to open-wheel racing after a short foray in NASCAR, owns her team, a first for any woman driver in Indy Racing. Two women -- Ashley Force and Melanie Troxel -- won events this season in NHRA's Funny Car division, another milestone.Kristin Bumbera, 20, can see herself on Victory Lane, too. In NASCAR, it's only a matter of time before a female driver becomes a regular on the Sprint Cup circuit, and she's among the leading candidates."Danica won a race; that definitely means a whole lot to us as women drivers," said Bumbera, who pilots the No. 00 Chevrolet in the NASCAR late-model division for Golden State Racing at All American Speedway. "I admire her for going out there and proving a girl can do it. It's giving everybody hope, from people like me to 7-year-old girls starting out in karts."Added GSR teammate Laura Hayes: "Danica opened up a road for all of us. I'll try to follow her up to the top."Patrick, who starts fifth Sunday, has revved up women around the country who want to be like her."There might be girls that come along that start blowing me out of the water," Patrick said in a teleconference. "That's what's going to show in 20 years from now when I look back and say, Wow, that was the start of a major wave."That wave is building momentum on local tracks such as Roseville, Calif."A few years back, female drivers weren't as prevalent," Hayes said. "Now, there's six or seven of us out at Roseville every week."Hayes, 18, splits time between sprint cars and late-model stock cars and considered an open-wheel career before focusing on NASCAR. Receiving national attention since she was 13, Hayes graduates from Pleasant Grove High School next week.Bumbera, who lives in Houston, commutes to Roseville for more competition and opportunity. From hundreds of applicants, she is one of eight NASCAR Drive for Diversity finalists, three of whom are women.Among that trio is Katie Hagar, who drives the No. 10 Toyota for Bill McAnally Racing at Roseville. The 22-year-old Maine native will compete in 10 races here this season.Also, McAnally has Pennsylvania's Lindsay Barton, 22, in his No. 32 Toyota. Both young women are making great progress, he said."They're two worth putting some time in to help develop," he explained. "We look for the total package."McAnally helped Fisher, who will compete Sunday in her seventh Indy 500, and NASCAR's Allison Duncan in their careers. He sees great potential for female racers."The opportunity is definitely there," McAnally said. "Corporate America would love it. As soon as a female driver proves she's competitive at the Cup level, she could write her ticket."Through NASCAR's diversity program, Bumbera was teamed up with Roseville's Frank Jordan and Golden State Racing."We have three asphalt ovals in the whole state of Texas," said Bumbera, whose parents both raced. "Here, we have five within an hour of Sacramento."Before coming west, Bumbera became the first woman to win a late-model race at Houston Motorsports Park and the first woman to lead the point standings in a Texas late-model series."There really is no difference between men and women race car drivers," Bumbera said, "except for maybe getting sponsors."Fisher, who made her Indy 500 debut in 2000, paved the way for Patrick and others in her sport. Now as a first-time team owner, she's juggling driving and management. She starts 22nd out of 33 cars Sunday."For sure, the driving part of it will be the relaxing part for me (because) we've worked so hard to make it happen," Fisher said. "My biggest problem that I have is I don't delegate well enough. I try to do everything myself."Fisher, 27, lived in her motor home parked at Cal Expo fairgrounds while she was trying to break into NASCAR via Sacramento-area tracks. She sympathizes with other young women following that same route."It's tough," she said. "The best advice is really whatever sponsorship you have, whatever backers you have, you need to treat them really well. And try to get them to stick with you."(Contact Debbie Arrington at darrington@sacbee.com.)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)