The upcoming 100th anniversary Indianapolis 500 has a plethora of storylines.
One of the more interesting things to follow are the women drivers, all four of them: Danica Patrick, Simona de Silvestro, Pippa Mann, and Ana Beatriz.
According to Yahoo.com, the top searched Indianapolis 500 drivers are the four female drivers in the field. Impressive.
More women are growing to like the sport and these up-and-coming drivers are proving that they deserve to race.
Pippa Mann is new to the IndyCar series and will be driving in her first Indy 500. She was on the pole for last year’s Indy Lights race on carb day. She didn’t finish however, because of an early wreck.
Simona has gained a tons of fans thanks to her willingness and toughness to qualify her backup car after totaling her new car. I can’t imagine risking my life and the amount of pain she must have felt driving her car with burnt hands.
And then of course Danica Patrick. Despite just winning one IndyCar race, she is one of the most popular open-wheel drivers. It is amazing the amount of transactions processed by her merchandise truck weekly. Many fans are beginning to be turned off by Patrick who isn’t afraid to speak her mind because she hasn’t put out results on the track.
Rumors have swirled over the last year about whether she will move to NASCAR full-time. Although Wednesday she said this is the first she had heard of it, the answer is yes. Everyone I have talked to this month at the Speedway has had no doubt she is out. The money, sponsors and publicity are all there.
This will be a devastating blow to IndyCar. They are already suffering to gain additional sponsors and the crowds have been weaker in recent years. It won’t affect the diehard fans but to the average person, Danica is one of the few they know.
The series will take a big hit and have to come up with something to counteract her move. The good news is she will return each year for the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, the Indy 500.