Gender Isn’t His Driving Concern

Who could blame ABC commentator Scott Goodyear if he were critical of female race drivers? He broke his back twice during his racing career -- first in 1996, during practice at Rio de Janeiro, and again in 2001, in the Indianapolis 500, in a crash that involved Sarah Fisher.

Goodyear, on a conference call with reporters to promote today’s Indy 500 telecast, was asked what he thought of female drivers after the 2001 accident, which was triggered when Fisher lost control of her car coming out of Turn 2.

Goodyear said the same thing could have happened to a male driver. In other words, gender was not a factor. If it was, the accident could have been called one heck of a gender fender bender.

Trivia time: In 1977, Janet Guthrie became the first woman to race in an Indy 500. What else was significant about that year’s race?

Global event: Of the 33 drivers in the Indy 500, 16 are from countries outside the U.S. So how popular is the race in other parts of the world?

Consider this: ESPN International will televise the race live in 146 countries and on a tape-delayed basis in more than 50 others. All told, the race is available in 338 million foreign households.

Name game: If Danica Patrick happens to win the 500, maybe she could be invited to the White House along with the world’s best female golfer. Then Danica could meet Annika.

Is this oldie still a goodie? After Jerry Rice, 42, signed with the Denver Broncos last week, Jim Armstrong of AOL Sports quipped: “How old is he? The Broncos offered him a contract almost two weeks ago, but he didn’t get back to them until Wednesday. Seems he made his decision, but forgot what it was.”

The fax of the matter: Before Rice signed with the Broncos, he had his agent send a fax to NFL teams informing them of his interest in employment.

That prompted this from Randy Hill of Foxsports.com: “It’s ironic that a receiver who used to annihilate the bump-and-run now seems vulnerable to the paper jam.”

They’re everywhere: Professional golf officials want to cut back on tape-measure tee shots by commissioning balls that don’t travel as far. “I have news for the USGA,” wrote Michael Ventre of MSNBC.com. “They’re already available. They’re called ‘The Ones I Use.’ ”

Looking back: On this day in 1993, Wayne Gretzky scored three goals for the Kings in a 5-4 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 7 of the Campbell Conference finals. The win put the Kings in their first Stanley Cup finals, where they lost to the Montreal Canadiens in five games.

Trivia answer: A.J. Foyt became the first four-time winner.

And finally: Felix Trinidad, following his loss to Winky Wright, has vowed this retirement is for real.

Wrote David Thomas of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: “It should be when you lose to a boxer named Winky.”

Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.