She helped make the Indianapolis 500 sexy two years ago and this time she's back for more.  Danica Patrick comes in as a long shot to win the Indy 500 with 25 to 1 odds.

But she's not the only woman looking to make history in Sunday's big race.

Sarah Fisher and Milka Duno both come in under the unspecific "field" category odds of 15 to 1 to win, technically better odds than Patrick but that is only because the oddsmakers are banking on a "new star driver" to win the Indy 500 over Danica Patrick. 

All Odds Courtesy of Betmaker.com (see website here)

Fisher became the first woman to win the pole in a major auto racing series in the Belterra Casino Indy 300 at Kentucky Speedway in 2002. She also holds the records for the best two finishes by a women in Indy-style racing of second and third at Homestead-Miami Speedway and Kentucky Speedway, respectively. Further, she is the fastest female driver to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 with a four-lap average of 229.439 mph.

Sarah Fisher (left) and Milka Duno are two more female racers who qualified for
this year's Indy 500

Milka Duno is a Venezuelan race car driver born in Caracas. She began racing sports cars in Venezuela at the late age of 26.

Never before have three women started in the Indianapolis 500, which has featured female drivers off and on since 1977, when Janet Guthrie became the first woman to qualify for the race. In fact, women have competed in 13 of the previous 15 Indy 500s, including every one since 2000. The increasing number of female competitors is reason for attention, but the three women don't see it as a significant landmark.

"Just because there are other women out there doesn't make me want to go any harder or faster," Fisher says. "Everybody is the same in my mind. I think it's great what this has done for the league and the sport. We've drawn a lot of attention to it. It's made the league more popular. People are tuning in. That's awesome. As an open-wheel fan, I couldn't want any more for the series, so that's great. But to me on track, they're just two more cars."

Danica Patrick rumors were swirling last summer as to whether she would remain in open-wheel racing or switch to stock cars in 2007. 

In 2002, Patrick (pictured top and right) signed a multi-year deal to race for the team of Bobby Rahal. After making several starts in the Barber Dodge Pro Series, she moved to the Toyota Atlantic Championship for 2003. Driving for the highly regarded Rahal Letterman team with sponsorship from Argent, Patrick achieved moderate success in the Toyota Atlantic series. She won one pole and was a consistent finisher on the podium (top three); however, she never won a race. In 2004, Patrick finished third in the Championship.

It has been reported that Danica Patrick might defect from the IRL to NASCAR starting in 2007. Her father, T.J. Patrick, has managed her career since childhood and is currently talking to some NASCAR teams, as well as other IRL teams. Her current contract expires at the end of the 2006 season with Rahal Letterman Racing and it appears highly unlikely that there will be a contract renewal. NASCAR is significantly more popular than IRL in the United States.

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Also See:

Odds to Win 2007 Indianapolis 500 Favor Both Wheldon and Castroneves

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Dan Shapiro, Sports911.com

Originally published May 25, 2007 11:19 pm ET