GOLDEN GIRL; The sports climate was right for Danica Patrick's historic IndyCar win.(Competition)

Byline: CURT CAVIN

Janet Guthrie may have summed it up best. The pioneering woman of U.S. open-wheel racing said that those who were surprised by Danica Patrick's history-making IndyCar Series win "haven't been paying attention.''

Indeed, Patrick's triumph in Japan on April 20 was years in the making. Until 1971, women were not even allowed inside Indianapolis Motor Speedway's Gasoline Alley. Five years later, Guthrie tried to earn a spot in the Indy 500 field, which she accomplished for the first time in 1977. She finished ninth the next year, and the stage was set for the likes of Desire Wilson, Lyn St. James, Sarah Fisher, Patrick and Milka Duno.

Three decades have passed since Guthrie's debut, but sports have begun stabilizing gender inequalities. In 1997, the NBA hired its first two female game officials (although only one, Violet Palmer, officiates now). Since 2004, another woman, Doris Burke, has provided color commentary and sideline reporting for the big games on television.

Look around. At age 14, Michelle Wie played against men in the first of her PGA events. Bowler Kelly Kulick became the first woman to earn a tour card for the men's PBA, throwing a perfect game on the final day of the trials to finish sixth in a field of 140.

Racing is progressing, too. Years after AutoWeek's own Denise McCluggage raced sports cars successfully and Shirley Muldowney won three NHRA Top Fuel championships (1977, '80, '82), female drivers aren't as much of a story anymore. Fisher grew up battling Sam Hornish Jr. in go-karts and won an IndyCar Series pole in 2002. In 2005, Katherine Legge won three Atlantic Championship races.

Indy Lights (formerly the Indy Pro Series) boasts a steady stream of such participants, in part because of initiatives by St. James and Guthrie. NASCAR has three women in its truck series (Jennifer Cobb, Michelle Theriault and Chrissy Wallace). This year's 500 will have three ...