This is the 18th installment in RACER’s ongoing 25th anniversary celebration during which we share the 25 most important issues from our first quarter century.

This might have been the most controversial cover of RACER, as much for who wasn’t on it as for who was. Issue No. 160 covered the events of the 89th Indianapolis 500 but the winner of that race, Dan Wheldon, was eclipsed on the cover by Danica Patrick, who finished fourth. But by demonstrating front-running pace all month – and leading the race until Wheldon claimed the lead for the final time with seven laps to go – Patrick had created a sensation at Indy like no other female racer since Janet Guthrie and caused a massive boost in mainstream media attention at the 500, which had suffered from a lack of it since the IRL/CART split of 1996. And the attention paid off in TV ratings which, at 6.5, were the highest seen since ’96.

In response to it all, Jeff Olson’s cover story chronicled Patrick’s Month of May in the context of asking whether “Danica Mania” was the long-term answer to open-wheel racing’s promotional prayers. While this choice of cover subject rankled some readers (not to mention Wheldon himself!), we noted that RACER articles aren’t intended to be “race reports” in the traditional sense but features aimed at providing insights into the key issues of the day.

Change was also in the wind in Formula 1 that season as someone, finally, had risen to the formidable challenge of beating Michael Schumacher and Ferrari. That someone was Renault sensation Fernando Alonso, who had battled the German ace – winner of the last five consecutive F1 world championships – hard through the opening races. Maurice Hamilton’s profile of the Spaniard gave American audiences one of their first in-depth looks at the man who would go on to displace Schumacher as F1’s grand master.

Elsewhere in the issue, David Phillips chronicled a similar story from the opposite viewpoint. Paul Tracy had been dethroned as champion of Champ Car by newcomer Sebastien Bourdais, and Phillips profiled Tracy’s efforts to get to grips with the Frenchman, with whom he was already developing a fierce rivalry. Bourdais, of course, was just beginning to establish a Schumacher-like stranglehold on the Champ Car side of the American open-wheel ledger, and would go on to win four straight crowns.

Along with the heroic aspects of the sport, RACER continued to shine a light on issues some would rather not contemplate. Like fear. Could a racer feel it and still excel? Andy Hallbery explored this taboo topic through discussions with drivers who had felt the pain of heavy accidents and yet battled back to success.

A different sort of fear was also beginning to percolate throughout the world of publishing at the time, as the opportunities presented by “new media” were rapidly changing perceptions and challenging traditional business practices. It was a challenge RACER would be forced to respond and adapt to in the years ahead.