HOMESTEAD — Lyn St. James nailed it. “I have 23 young female drivers coming to Indianapolis for driver development, from the ages of about 11 to 20, and I know they are going be asking me about Sports Illustrated or about Danica (Patrick) and they’re asking me, ‘Do I have to do this (pose for SI’s Swimsuit Issue) to get (noticed)?’ ” she said Wednesday.”I said, ‘No. What you have to find out at a very early age is who you are and be authentic.’ “St. James, as accomplished as any woman who ever raced, earning creed in open-wheel and sports cars, was in Homestead lending support to IndyCar Series driver Sarah Fisher, who launched Sarah Fisher Racing. And no gathering of racers these days, male or female, can exist for very long without the subject of Patrick’s Swimsuit Issue exposure and her overall approach to marketing herself that included edgy photos in FHM magazine in 2003 being broached.

That’s life. Any driver, male or female, who chooses to use his or her body as a marketing tool, is going to experience their motives being subjected to public cross-examination. And that Patrick, who is undoubtedly attractive but also winless in her three IndyCar seasons, is beginning to draw comparisons to Anna Kournikova, who never won a tennis singles title but graced many pages in magazines in various stages of undress.

But just because Patrick wants to market herself as a woman and a racer doesn’t mean everyone has to, St. James said.

She then drew a parallel with Janet Guthrie, a pioneering racer who competed in open-wheel, NASCAR and sports cars, and was the first woman to race in the Daytona and Indianapolis 500s, both in 1977.

“Janet and I are as different as night and day,” St. James said. “She’s smart, very analytical, and I’m very spontaneous. … We’ve got to allow that same difference to exist with all the women coming up.”

And that difference was obvious around Fisher’s announcement, even though Patrick, suffering from the flu, did not make a public appearance.

Fisher debuted in IndyCar in 1999 after a successful career in go-karts, the bare-knuckle environment of sprints and the World of Outlaws. And despite becoming the first woman in North America to start on the pole in a major-league Indy car race (Kentucky, 2002) and placing second at Homestead (2001), she never landed a ride in top-flight equipment and struggled. She made only three series starts from 2004-06 before running full time in 2007 for second-tier Dreyer&Reinbold Racing.

Patrick also came up through karts and paid her dues in the European Formula circuits before running in the Toyota Atlantic Series. That stint led to her first IndyCar Series ride, with Rahal Letterman Racing, in 2005. Patrick got her current ride with Andretti Green last season.

While Patrick’s path was smoothed by her parents being able to support her financially early in her career, there’s no doubt she belongs where she is. But then again, Fisher can also drive. It’s just that she has decided to go out on her own, figuring it was the best way for her to get herself back behind the wheel and in a position to excel.

Guthrie put it all into perspective. “Sarah didn’t have that kind of background,” she said of Patrick’s formative racing years. “But she’s got her feet on the ground, she’s got that passion and I’m really, really hopeful that this will work out well for her.”

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