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INDIANAPOLIS - At a place where the history is rich, deep, and storied, a new chapter will be unveiled tomorrow when three women will start in the 91st running of the Indianapolis 500. The Greatest Spectacle in Racing, which ran for the first time in 1911, will include American drivers Danica Patrick and Sarah Fisher, and Venezuelan rookie Milka Duno.

"I think it's a good story and I certainly understand all of the interest in it," Patrick said, "but everyone needs to remember that once the race starts, none of that matters. Racing here is about going fast, for a long time. We all want to win - the women, the men - it doesn't matter who you are. That is why we are all here - to win the Indy 500."

Patrick is the only woman to lead the race, which she did as a rookie in 2005 when she finished fourth, and the only woman to place in the top 10 at Indy, which she has done both times, coming in eighth last year. Now with Andretti Green Racing after leaving the Rahal Letterman team, Patrick qualified eighth this year, and starts from the middle of the third row.

Fisher has the most Indy experience of the trio, racing in the 500 for five straight years, from 2000-04. After a foray into stock car racing, she is back with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, and will start in the 21st position tomorrow.

"It's great to be back here, because Indianapolis means so much to you, especially when you're not here and have a normal job," Fisher said. "To carry my helmet again - that was an incredible feeling. I wouldn't let anyone else do it."

INDY EXTRA

• What: 91st Indianapolis 500
• When: Tomorrow, 1 p.m.
• Where: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indianapolis
• TV: ABC

See the starting lineup

Visit the Indy 500 official Web site

Duno, a former naval engineer who moved into racing about eight years ago, will start the 500 from the 29th position. The 35-year-old made it clear that she was not here just to take part in all of the pageantry.

"I'm here - I know we're all here - to do good in the race," Duno said. "I think women show that they can do anything that they want. You see women presidents, ministers, economists, engineers, doctors, and race car drivers."

Janet Guthrie was the first woman to race in the Indy 500, in 1977. She took part in three races here, while Lynn St. James followed and has the most Indy 500 races by a woman - seven. Patrick, Fisher and Duno say they are grateful for the ground-breaking efforts here by Guthrie and St. James, but also are aware that the novelty of women in the Indy 500 is no longer as big a deal.

"They made history, and now it's up to one of us to go out and make more history," Fisher said. "We're all anxious for the next story to be about the first woman to win the Indy 500."

NO GRILLING: Former heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman is in Indianapolis for the 500, but he won't be hawking his namesake cooking implements, or stepping back in the ring. Foreman and his sons have bought a partial ownership in the Indy Racing League's Panther Racing team.

Foreman, who retired from boxing in 1997, has his sons George Foreman Jr. and George III working as officers in George Foreman Enterprises, a marketing entity founded by their dad. Foreman also has his own investment company, with holdings in real estate, sporting goods companies, financial services, and the entertainment business.

"I've been blessed throughout my life to partner with winning organizations," Foreman said. "Now that I am part of Panther Racing, I am looking forward to being part of a winning team."

Panther Racing, which has won the IndyCar Series championship twice, has three cars in tomorrow's race, driven by Vitor Meira, Kosuke Matsuura and John Andretti.

TRADITION ENDS: The Indianapolis 500 will see one of its many traditions end tomorrow when the race will go on without native Hoosier Jim Nabors singing "Back Home Again in Indiana" prior to the start. Nabors, the popular actor and former star of the TV series Gomer Pyle, is ill and unable to attend the event.

Nabors is expected to speak to the crowd from the video board via a satellite link from his home in Hawaii, and then ask the fans to sing the song in his absence.

Nabors first sang the song here in the pre-race ceremonies in 1972, and has performed it before 29 of the Indy 500 races, including every year since 1987.

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