A person could drive for miles and miles before the name of a woman driver would come up in the male-dominated world of race car racing.
But if one waited long enough, the name of Danica Patrick would likely come up first. Patrick is probably the most well-known female race car driver today after she became the first woman to win an Indy Car race in 2008 at the Japan 300. Others are not so well known.
The last woman to compete in Formula 1 was a driver named Giovanna Amati more than 18 years ago.
Shirley Muldowney is one of the greatest stories in female auto racing, winning 18 National Hot Rod Association events in a 20-plus year career, before being inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1990 and 14 years later joining the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.
Canadian-born Kay Petre was an early motor racing star in the 1930s in England, while Maryeve Dufault will become the first Canadian woman to compete in NASCAR when she takes to the track in Montreal on Aug. 20.
Another name to bookmark for the future is Sara Brinkac.
The 12-year-old aspiring race car driver from Burnaby recently won the Western Canadian minimax karting championships in Calgary after just five years of competitive racing.
She will be competing in Las Vegas at the Supernationals in November.
"I want to be in Formula 1. I'd like to do that," said Brinkac. "Even settling for the Indy 500 would be an honour to race professionally."
Her coach George Fellner of Checkered Flag Racing says she has the racing pedigree.
"Her thing is, she can't stand it when the boys beat her," said Fellner.
But that does not happen too often. Brinkac is the only girl racing in the eight-to-12 division in the Pacific Northwest Gold Cup, where she currently sits a point behind second place in the eight-race series.
She competed against just one other girl in the Western Canadian series.
Brinkac put a decal that reads '100 per cent girl power' across her helmet visor after hearing one too many persons tell her parents that "your son had a good race today."
"I'm at the Gold Cup and at first when I took off my helmet, (the boys) would say, 'What? No.'
"Sometimes I think, that's right, I'm a girl. But sometimes I'm kind of proud to be showing that off. I don't think about it a lot, but it puts a smile on my face when I do - that I'm a girl."
But mother Robyn has mixed emotions about her youngest daughter racing around a track at speeds in excess of 100 km/h.
"It's exciting and it's scary all at once. I'm proud of her achievements. It's tough to be a girl to be doing that," said Robyn. "But you have to love that strength. She's a strong kid."
