One Thing IndyCar Can Be Happy With: Equal Opportunity For All

She is a World Champion, Olympic Gold Medalist and looking to take on the boys. If she was a racing driver, American skier Lindsey Vonn would be openly welcomed to IndyCar. Vonn has stated to the International Ski Federation that she would like to compete against the men at Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada in November and why shouldn't she be allowed the opportunity? 

I know, I know. Unlike IndyCar and racing as a whole, sports such as skiing, golf, tennis, basketball and soccer all have separate leagues/associations for women. You will never hear Rafael Nadal say he would like to compete in the WTA or Kobe Bryant want to spend a season in the WNBA. But in my opinion, and let me emphasis my opinion, in certain sports (racing, golf and maybe even skiing), men and women should have an opportunity to compete against one another. 

Babe Zaharias and Annika Sörenstam, while not lighting the would on fire, both played respectable against the men in the small sample of PGA events they participated in. We all know women's history in racing. From Shirley Muldowney to the Ashley Force Hood and her sister Courtney in drag racing, and from Danica Patrick to Lella Lombardi in circuit racing, women have been competitive.

Just a couple years ago, IndyCar could brag about having five women in one race and four regular competitors. Two of the past three Indianapolis 500s have seen four women qualify. While other forms of racing search for women drivers, IndyCar and let's not forget about the NHRA, have had women step in and perform well. There wasn't a push to keep these drivers out of the seat due to their gender. Through years of karting, lower formula racing and working their way through the ladder, these women have earned their spot just as the men have. 

While reading the Reuters' article on Vonn's request to take on the men, it was stated and I quote, "Experts believe the 2010 Olympic champion may lose as much as five seconds to the fastest men."
That very well could be the case but the belief of experts should not be good enough of a reason to keep Vonn from competing. Besides, if experts' beliefs kept Danica Patrick from competing in 2005, how foolish would they have looked?