Yesterday marked a historic day for open wheeled racing, as Danica Patrick became the first woman ever to claim victory in a top tier open wheeled event, taking first place at the IndyCar – Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)

The race, postponed one day due to unsafe racing conditions on Saturday, was Patrick’s 50th start of her Indy Car career. She completed 200 laps of the 1.5 mile circuit at an average speed of 164.258 mph, beating Indy 500 winner Helio Castronevas by six seconds using a calculated racing strategy on the part of her Michael of conserving fuel to allow for a strong finish.

Patrick, starting on the third row, made her final pit stop on lap 148, staying close to the race leaders throughout.

Asked about the significance of her victory, the NY Times quoted her as saying “This reaches outside racing. This is about finding something you love to do, and following through with it.”

She follows other notable woman in racing in helping to crack the glass ceiling that exists in motorsports. Janet Guthrie was the first to make a notable impact in open wheeled racing, proving that she could run competitively with men, qualifying for the Indy 500 in 3rd position and finishing 9th overall in 1978.

Lyn St. James has the most Indy 500 starts for a woman, with seven and her best finish was 11th in 1992 when she won rookie of the year honors. Current racer Sarah Fisher was the first woman to complete a full IndyCar series, the first to win a pole, and was the youngest woman to ever qualify for the Indy 500 (@ age 19 in 2000). The great NHRA champion, Shirley Muldowney won three Top Fuel season titles in 1977,’80 and ’82. Eight other women have won NHRA events.

Yesterday saw another notable achievement for a woman racer, as the Atlantic Championship season opener at Long Beach won by Simone De Silvestro.