First Thing First

One year after she set auto racing on its ear by nearly becoming the first woman to win the Indianapolis 500, Danica Patrick still draws the biggest crowds of any driver here, fans craning for a glimpse of her.

With the 90th running of the legendary race today, Patrick’s own promotion machine also remains at full tilt. There’s her just-released autobiography (“Danica, Crossing The Line”), her spree of television appearances, her seemingly endless list of commercial endorsements and the incessant interview requests.

But there is something else dogging Patrick as she prepares to drive at speeds exceeding 225 mph around the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway today: She has yet to win in the Indy Racing League.

Patrick came close a year ago, taking the lead with 11 laps to go in the 500, and that launched “Danicamania,” the 24-year-old Illinois native instantly becoming one of the most recognizable figures in sports.

She nearly won the Indy 500 pole in 2005, then became the first woman to lead the race before surrendering the front spot with only six laps remaining to Dan Wheldon, who went on to win.

Patrick finished fourth, and was named rookie of the year, both in the 500 and, at season’s end, the IRL.

But she has started this year in mediocre fashion, and the question of when she will reach Victory Lane is still squarely in front of her and her team, Rahal Letterman Racing.

Deserved or not, the pressure on Patrick to win a race keeps building in lock step with her celebrity.

It hasn’t helped that Patrick has struggled to keep pace with the fastest cars here this year, though her speeds have steadily improved.

The field is led by two-time IRL champion Sam Hornish Jr. and two-time 500 winner Helio Castroneves of Marlboro Team Penske, along with reigning IRL champion Wheldon and Scott Dixon of Team Chip Ganassi Racing.

Hornish will start on the pole, after qualifying at 228.985 mph, with temperatures expected to be in the upper 80s when the green flag falls. Castroneves and Wheldon join him in the front row of the 33-car field.

Other notables include two-time winner Al Unser Jr., 1998 winner Eddie Cheever and Michael Andretti, all of whom came out of retirement to drive the race another time. Michael’s 19-year-old son, Marco, is making his 500 debut.

Patrick will start 10th, on the inside of the fourth row, after qualifying at 224.674 mph. But she said speed alone didn’t guarantee success.

“Last year, people knew about me because I was fast,” she said. “I had the fastest speed of the month. I almost got the pole. I almost won the race.

“We’re struggling right now. But I don’t think anybody thinks I’m a bad driver. I promise you, there’s not a single time I got out on the track without giving everything I’ve got.

“It’s such a long race and so many things can go wrong. You have to make sure all your passes are good, and you keep it on the track. You have to be patient.”

Still, the question of when she’ll win reverberates through the entire series, because, as her team’s co-owner and 1986 Indy 500 winner Bobby Rahal said, Patrick’s arrival has “elevated the sport of open-wheel racing.”

She also has given the IRL a much-needed boost, as the series continues to struggle in the aftermath of its split a decade ago with what is now the Champ Car World Series, the other major form of U.S. open-wheel racing.

Although those organizations are discussing reunification, each also is prepared to keep going it alone, and Patrick’s drawing power among fans will continue to be badly needed if the IRL stays independent.

But Rahal and others rejected the idea that Patrick must win, and soon, to maintain her fan base and the impact she has on the sport.

They noted that, on average, it has taken Indy car drivers 33 races before they recorded their first victories.

This will be Patrick’s 20th start in the IRL. And some IRL regulars have never won. Vitor Meira, for instance, is a top driver, yet is winless after 48 races.

“I think she’s done a great job,” Rahal said. “Everything has to be in your corner to win, and it takes a whole team to win and not just a driver.

“It’s unrealistic to expect her to have won last year, and I hope she does it this year. It’s going to happen at some point in time.”

Tony George, head of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the IRL, said, “I don’t know that she necessarily has to [win]” to maintain her popularity or keep helping his series.

“You don’t need to ask me, you really need to ask people down there,” George said, pointing to the thousands of fans from his perch high above the speedway.

One fan, Heidi Henson of Indianapolis, said Patrick would win eventually and that she was rooting for Patrick in the meantime “because she’s a female.”

“I like how she’s out there playing with the guys,” Henson said. “I love her.”

To win today, however, she’ll first have to outmaneuver Hornish and Castroneves -- a tough task because they’ve been consistently fast all month.

“If we make it to the end, we’ll be right there fighting for it,” Hornish said after his final practice Friday.

Or, as team owner Roger Penske put it, “It’s our race to lose.”

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Ladies, start your engines

How women have fared at the Indianapolis 500:

YEAR-BY-YEAR

*--* Year Driver Finish Laps Status 2005 Danica Patrick 4 200 running 2004 Sarah Fisher 21 177 running 2003 Sarah Fisher 31 14 accident 2002 Sarah Fisher 24 196 running 2001 Sarah Fisher 31 7 accident 2000 Sarah Fisher 31 71 accident 2000 Lyn St. James 32 69 accident 1997 Lyn St. James 13 186 running 1996 Lyn St. James 14 153 accident 1995 Lyn St. James 32 0 accident 1994 Lyn St. James 19 170 running 1993 Lyn St. James 25 176 gearbox 1992 Lyn St. James 11 193 running 1979 Janet Guthrie 34 3 burned piston 1978 Janet Guthrie 9 190 running 1977 Janet Guthrie 29 27 engine

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OVERALL

*--* Driver Years Races Best start Best finish Laps Danica Patrick 2005 1 4 4 200 Sarah Fisher 2000-04 5 9 21 465 Lyn St. James 1992-00 7 6 11 947 Janet Guthrie 1977-79 3 14 9 220

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Source: Associated Press