IN the 107-year history of the Indy 500, just nine female drivers have taken part in the iconic race.
By The U.S. Sun – Bob Williams
May 27, 2023
They range from Janet Guthrie who broke the gender barrier in 1977 to Danica Patrick, who went on to date NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers and model for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition.
Meanwhile, Venezuelan Milka Duno has four Master’s degrees and has appeared on the covers of numerous fashion magazines in Latin America as well as in Hollywood movies.
This year, British driver Katherine Legge is the only woman in the race, competing for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
The 42-year-old is the first female driver to take part since Simona De Silvestro made her sixth start in 2021.
Last year’s field was the second time in three years that the Indy 500 did not have at least one woman on the grid, with the 2020 race being male-only.
Ahead of this weekend’s Indy 500, here are female trailblazers who have made their mark in the ‘Greatest Spectacle in Racing.’
Danica Patrick
The ‘Queen of the Brickyard’ is arguably the most successful and most recognizable female in motorsports history.
Danica started eight Indy 500s between 2005 and 2018, scoring six top-10 finishes in the process.
She burst onto the scene in 2005 qualifying in fourth, which remains the best starting position of any female driver so far.
That year Danica led the race for 19 laps before finishing fourth to win the rookie of the year award.
Danica is also the highest-placing woman in the Indy 500, with a third-place finish in 2009, making her the only female driver to stand on the podium.
In 2012, Danica left IndyCar to join the NASCAR Cup Series, where she recorded seven top-10 finishes in her five-year run.
Before retiring in 2018, she took part in the Indy 500 one final time but crashed in that race.
Danica dated New York Jets quarterback Rodgers for two years before the couple called it quits in 2020.
She was also married to physical therapist Paul Edward Hospenthal from 2005-13, and has dated NASCAR driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and businessman Carter Comstock.
She has worked as a model, posing for Sports Illustrated in 2008 and 2009, and had a cameo role in the 2019 remake of Charlie’s Angels.
Danica has since returned to the Indy 500 as a regular studio analyst for NBC Sports, a role she will continue this year.
“I think by not thinking about myself as a girl or using women as a benchmark for anything, it’s probably what gave me my level of success,” Danica said this week.
“But in all of history, in all aspects of life, there will always be the four-minute mile people.
“There will always be people that do things for the first time, and people need to see it, and then it enters the collective or the zeitgeist, and then all of a sudden you see more of it right away.
“Whatever level of contribution I had to that, I’m honored. I was not the first woman to come along but the first to do a few things.
“Happy and proud to have my part in history.”
Milka Duno
The Venezuelan had an unusual journey into motor racing after starting life as an academic with four master’s degrees – in organizational development, naval architecture, fishing and aquaculture, and maritime business.
Milka did not start motor racing until she was 24, having been invited to a car clinic in Venezuela.
After working her way up in her home country and then in the United States, Milka made history as the first Hispanic female driver to compete in the Indy 500, running the race in 2007-09.
She became one of only two rookies to qualify for the Indy 500 in 2007.
The following year she finished a career-best 19th place, making her the highest finishing female driver ahead of Danica and Sarah Fisher.
In 2008, she had a well-publicized argument with Danica during an IndyCar Series practice in Mid-Ohio, with Milka throwing a towel at her fellow female driver.
“What the hell? It’s not my fault that you’re slow!” Danica retorted.
Despite limited success and criticisms about her lack of speed, Milka went on to have a long racing career in the IndyCar Series, ARCA Racing Series and NASCAR circuit.
Milka has since capitalized on her fame and good looks to grace of numerous fashion magazines in Latin America.
She has also had movie appearances, with a cameo role as Kellie “Gearbox” Kalinkov in the 2008 Hollywood live action animated movie Speed Racer.
Janet Guthrie
In the 1970s, Janet became the first woman to compete in both the Indy 500 and Daytona 500, paving the way for generations of female drivers to follow.
She made her Indy 500 debut in 1977 but finished 29th with engine problems.
Before the race, there was reluctance from Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s management to change the event’s traditional start command of “Gentlemen, start your engines.”
However, after pressure from Janet and her team to make a change, they relented and changed it to: “In company with the first lady to qualify at Indianapolis, gentlemen, start your engines!”
Janet went on to compete in two more Indy 500s, finishing ninth in the 1978 race.
It would not be until 1992 that a second woman competed in the Indy 500 after Lyn St. James secured qualification.
Janet faced much skepticism in a male-dominated sport about her abilities to compete as an elite motor racing driver.
“Most of the oval track drivers had never had the experience of running with a woman driver, and they were sure they weren’t going to like it,” Janet told ESPN.
“That got calmed down within the course of the races that I ran in 1976.
“But in NASCAR, it took until May of ’77 before I could walk through the garage area without guys looking at me squinty-eyed.
“The public, I think, needed to be convinced, too. So qualifying for the first time was really a major moment of my life.”
Janet’s legacy lives on as the first woman elected into the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame.
She was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2006 as well as inducted into the Sports Car Club of America Hall of Fame in 2018.
Katherine Legge
The Englishwoman will be making her third appearance at this year’s Indy 500 — and first in 10 years.
The 42-year-old previously took part in 2012 and 2013, with her best finish coming in 2012 with 22nd place.
She will drive the No. 44 car for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, in what is scheduled to be her only IndyCar Series race this year.
Katherine currently competes full-time in for Gradient Racing in the GTD class in International Motor Sport Association racing.
She also had experience in Formula 3, Formula E, ChampCar and Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters.
“I’m trying to encourage more women to get into racing if that’s what they want to do,” she told People magazine.
“If you can see it, you can be it. Right?
“And so while the car doesn’t know the difference, the people do and it gives them somebody to cheer for because they can relate to me.”
Katherine is disheartened by the lack of female drivers at the Indy 500 despite the general growth of women in motorsports.
“Because it isn’t a gimmick anymore, the spotlight isn’t necessarily as much on you, which means it’s hard to find sponsors and such,” she told NBC Sports.
“I think it very much depends on the individual now, rather than just the fact that you’re a girl and racing.
“It depends on whether you can actually drive and not just turn up.
“So in a way, it’s good and it’s bad.”
Lyn St. James
Lyn qualified for the Indy 500 an impressive seven times between 1992 and 2000.
Her best start was sixth in 1994 and her highest finish was 11th in her debut race.
She was 45 when she first competed 1992, making her the race’s oldest rookie at the time, a mark she held for 30 years.
That year Lyn became the first woman to win the Indy 500 rookie of the year award.
Lyn began her motor racing career in the 1970s, and has competed in numerous events in North America and Europe, including the 24 Hours of Daytona, 24 Hours of Le Mans and 24 Hours of Nurburgring.
In 1994, she founded the Women in the Winner’s Circle Foundation, which promotes women leaders in the automotive and motorsports industries.
“It’s the body of work. It’s the fact that I survived that length of time,” Lyn told Autoweek about her career highlights.
“It’s not the danger aspect…it’s more the fact that it is so hard to have a career in racing, but the fact that I was not only able to have one, but sustain it professionally for basically two and a half decades.
“That’s what I’m probably the most proud of.”
Rest of the pack
Sarah Fisher the youngest female driver to have started the Indy 500, making her debut in 2000 aged 19.
Sarah holds the record for most career starts with nine appearances between 2000 and 2010.
Her best qualifying position came in 2002, lining up ninth, while her best finish was 17th in 2009.
She went on to have two podium finishes in the IndyCar Series and became an owner with Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing.
Pippa Mann became the first British woman to start the Indy 500 in 2011.
She later qualified for six more races at the Brickyard between 2013 and 2019, recording her career-best finish of 16th in 2019.
When Pippa did not compete in 2020 due to a lack of sponsorship, it ended the 20-year streak of female drivers on the grid.
Swiss driver Simona de Silvestro was the only female driver on the grid for the 2021 Indy 500.
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