Most little girls at the age of five or six would not remotely consider race cars a passionate pastime, but it was a passion for me from that young age. You see growing up I lived and breathed fast cars. My dad was addicted to Indy car racing and I grew up going with him to see the yearly event in the theater.

The Indianapolis 500 is held every Memorial Day and back before it was televised it was broadcast on the radio. At the ripe old age of three I was listening to this race in rapt silence. Then in the 60s the race was broadcast across the country in local theaters, live on closed circuit.

My dad would get me up very early, so that we could have breakfast and make it to the theater in time to get good seats for the race. Even though we were not actually there, it felt as if we were. The air was charged with excitement and I could hardly wait until the cars lined up in the field and we heard the announcer say "gentleman start your engines". Then the flag would drop and off they would go just behind the pace car anxiously waiting for the second flag to drop so they could go full speed. There is a certain fierce and powerful sound the engines in these cars make that is like no other sound on the planet. It assaults the senses and for me it was a heart pounding moment. I could feel my pulse rising. It was race day at last!

Back in 1953 the average speed of a race car was 122 mph, today the average speed is 218-225 mph with qualifying times being near 227 mph. To compare, the average speed of a small plane is 150 mph. If it wasn't for the streamlined bodies of these cars they would most likely become airborne at top speed. Now, what is more exciting than that, I put it to you and I leave it to you? (A bit of Welsh phrasing, if you will).

Those years spent going to races with my dad and experiencing the skills and sheer talent of the drivers really gave me a true respect for this sport. I graduated from IndyCar racing to Formula One (F1) Grand Prix racing when I was older.

In Southern California, where I was raised, the City of Long Beach was on the Grand Prix circuit. I used to attend those races annually. I especially liked going to the time trials, as that is where the drivers pushed their cars to the limit to qualify for the best positions in the field.

These cars are custom designed especially for F1 racing. They are sleek and aerodynamic masterpieces of ingenuity. The engine is in the rear just behind the driver's seat and they have a substantial front and rear wings. The cockpit itself is actually custom fitted to the driver, so it is as if he is wearing the car, because it fits him so perfectly. You may have heard the phrase " it corners like it's on rails", well that would be an understatement for these babies.

Out on the track a driver can do what is known as slipstreaming, that is he can travel inside the slipstream of another driver's car. At 183 mph one can literally back off the gas and still maintain the same speed. It is also possible to pick up speed in the slipstream (another term for this is drafting). At some point it is to the driver's advantage to use these conditions strategically to help propel him passed as many as three or four cars at a time, this is referred to as the "slingshot effect".

I eventually lost touch with F1 and Indy racing on a regular basis. I do keep track from time-to-time, but I am not as familiar with the current drivers. I do, however, know that Danica Patrick is a 30 year old woman driver. She drives open-wheel and NASCAR. She is the most recent of women to compete in this heretofore all male sport. Janet Guthrie also competed in both the Indy 500 and the Daytona 500. She and Danica are the only two women to ever compete in both these races. I'm proud to say that Danica recently qualified for pole position for the Daytona 500 ... you go girl!

"Women don't get the same opportunities that men get in racing, so they don't get to learn race craft." - Jenson Button

When it comes to this sport I was just born at the wrong time and to the wrong gender. I know if I had been a male I would have most definitely gone into F1 racing. However, this is the only time in my life I ever wished to change places with my male counterparts, just for that brief moment of being behind the wheel of one of those beautiful machines and to be in complete command of all that power and speed.