In the case of Duno, there’s still a large learning curve to overcome.

The 36-year-old Venezuelan has four master’s degrees but limited experience in the powerful IndyCars. She made just seven IRL starts last year, her rookie season, with a best finish of 11th at Texas. At last year’s 500, she was even warned in the warmup, two days before the race, that she would be black flagged if she went too slow on race day. Instead, Duno climbed to 22nd before crashing.

Duno believes last season’s difficulties can be blamed at least partly on an old chassis, learning how to race on ovals and because she couldn’t always explain to mechanics what adjustments were needed to make the car better. This year, she’s driving for Dreyer & Reinbold, Fisher’s old team, and is being coached by former IRL regular Robbie Buhl, one of the team’s co-owners.

The combination has made Duno more comfortable and confident.

“Robbie is an experienced driver that knows how to teach,” she said. “He knows how to transmit information and make you understand. It is a big help for me, and the car is better and better and better.”

For Fisher and Duno, May is just beginning.

The rain has made a mess of their schedules and wiped out the second day of qualifying last Sunday when both thought they could make it into the starting field. Now they must try to qualify this weekend with speeds that are fast enough to keep them from getting bumped from the field. They’ll have to do it against a stronger lineup than last year because of the former Champ Car drivers that have returned to Indy as part of open-wheel racing’s unification.

Perhaps the most lasting impact of these women drivers will show up in future years as more women move up through the developmental series.

In addition to De Silvestro and Legge, two other women — 23-year-old Brazilian Ana Beatriz and 22-year-old Swiss Cyndie Allemann — have full-time rides on the IRL’s Firestone Indy Lights circuit. Both are expected to drive in next week’s Freedom 100, meaning a record five women will be on the historic Indy oval this month.

Beatriz grew up racing go-karts as the only woman in the Brazilian series and worked with the same coach as former IRL points champion Tony Kanaan. She envisions improving on what the current women drivers have accomplished.

Special feature Best female athletes Take a look at some of the top female competitors in sports. NBCSports.com

“I want to do better,” Beatriz said. “I admire them and their work and what they are doing, but I want to do better. I want to win races and win a championship.”

For Patrick, more wins and a series title remain goals.

Fisher, however, is beginning to look toward the future. She envisions being a full-time owner in the next decade, which could allow her to start breaking barriers on that side of the sport, too.

“Three or five or 10 years from now, I’d like to be able to walk away from being a driver and be an owner,” she said. “I’d probably have to go race go-karts or something to get the frustrations out, so it’s hard to say if owning would replace the joy of driving. But that’s what I’d like to do.”

As for Duno, like the rest of the boys, she just wants to join Patrick in Victory Lane.

“To me it’s interesting that (Patrick) won,” Duno said. “But when I win my race, it will be more interesting for me.”

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