Is it the car or the driver?
Janet Guthrie and Shirley Muldowney were the original pioneers
that broke the female auto-racing barrier back in the late 1970s.
Last weekend in Japan, Danica Patrick went the extra mile by
becoming the first woman in history to take the checkered flag at
an Indy Car Series event. Patrick claimed the rain-delayed Japan
Indy 300 by 5.86 seconds over Helio Castroneves and Scott
Dixon.
While the historic win is one for the record books, auto racing
is the only sport where something like this could happen
– which proves that the car has a lot more say in the outcome of
these races than any driver would ever admit.
Is it the car or the driver?
Janet Guthrie and Shirley Muldowney were the original pioneers that broke the female auto-racing barrier back in the late 1970s. Last weekend in Japan, Danica Patrick went the extra mile by becoming the first woman in history to take the checkered flag at an Indy Car Series event. Patrick claimed the rain-delayed Japan Indy 300 by 5.86 seconds over Helio Castroneves and Scott Dixon.
While the historic win is one for the record books, auto racing is the only sport where something like this could happen – which proves that the car has a lot more say in the outcome of these races than any driver would ever admit.
Call me a sexist, fine. But I’m not discrediting anything that Patrick accomplished last weekend. In fact, I’m congratulating her with this column. What I am saying is that a feat of this magnitude simply wouldn’t happen in any other sport, which is precisely why there needs to be male and female sports – so everyone has an opportunity. It’s the reason why Title IX was first instituted on college campuses and universities throughout the country.
Auto racing is a different breed. It’s a playing field equalizer because the car is the mechanism of speed, strength and stamina. The car is doing all the work. I’m not saying that Patrick isn’t in great physical shape. What I am saying is that she simply has to have the same skill set that we all need in order to drive from here to San Jose, only with quicker, more-polished reflexes.
Given those variables, a 13-year old could theoretically win an Indy event. But a 13 year old could never win the 100-meter dash in the Olympics. A 13 year old would never have the physical strength to win a homerun derby during Major League Baseball’s All-Star break, or, for that matter, the Wimbledon Championship, the Masters, the Stanley Cup, the Super Bowl MVP award or an NBA title. Just as none of these pioneering woman could have beaten Muhammad Ali in his prime.
There’s a saying in golf. It’s not the arrow, it’s the Indian. In auto racing, I’m not sure that’s the case. In auto racing at the Indy or Champ Car level, it’s all about having the budget to compete and assemble a winning car.
In 1977, Guthrie finished 12th at the Daytona 500 and was 29th later that same year at the Indy 500 after suffering engine problems in both events. There was nothing wrong with her skill set but the car had engine trouble. Had it not, she might have won. So how much then does it all come down to luck and the ability to keep the car running strong?
Muldowney, who is known as “The First Lady of Drag Racing” was the first woman to earn a license to drive a top fuel dragster. In 1977, ’80, and ’82, Muldowney captured the NHRA top fuel championships. Clearly, those years she was able to pop the clutch quicker than anyone else, anticipate the lights on the tree and keep the pedal to the metal and the car going straight, but it was ultimately the horsepower in her pink dragster that allowed her to put up times that bested those of her male counterparts that season.
It took Patrick 50 tries before she won for the first time last week. It probably won’t take 50 more before she wins again. Why? She will now have more money to toss at the car, to make more practice runs, to hire the best engineers, etc, etc. Are you starting to get the picture? I thought so.
