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There are not many barriers left in sports.

Sports (and the armed services) have often led the way on providing equal opportunity involving race and gender in our country. However, it is not very often when men and women compete directly against each other.

For as talented and accomplished as Serena Williams, Annika Sorenstam, Lisa Leslie, Mia Hamm, Laila Ali and Jennie Finch have been, very few suggest they can play with, nevermind beat, their male counterparts.

Racing is different. It is the one area of sports where women have competed and won against men. Julie Krone is a Hall of Fame jockey who won more than 3,700 races. She is still the only woman to win a Triple Crown race, the 1993 Belmont Stakes aboard Colonial Affair. Drag racing champion Shirley Muldowney was a trailblazer a generation ago. Ashley Force and Danica Patrick are following in her racing footsteps in the 21st century.

So in sports, if we even the playing field, women can beat men. OK, makes sense.

Therefore, what would it mean if Patrick won the Indianapolis 500?

In theory, it shouldn’t be that big of a deal, right?

In reality, it would be huge. It would have to be the greatest achievement by a female athlete, ever.

Think about that for a second.

Nothing Billie Jean King, Babe Didrikson, Florence Griffith Joyner or Martina Navratilova accomplished would equal Danica Patrick drinking milk in Victory Lane at Indy.

That’s just on the field. Off the field, when has a woman been the dominant figure in a man’s league? Danica would become the Dale Earnhardt Jr. of IndyCar racing. Corporate sponsors would likely flock to the circuit. Think Anna Kournikova and Michelle Wie with a résumé on top of it.

Cha-ching.

I could argue that Patrick would gain more respect in the eyes of men by winning her race than if Hillary Clinton won hers.

I know it sounds ridiculous and probably even offensive, but hear me out.

If Hillary wins, almost half the country would dislike her. Many would credit her political success to her husband’s popularity.

Danica winning would bring universal praise and respect (minus A.J. Foyt and Dan Wheldon). Her husband is a physical therapist of modest income with no ties to racing.

Danica can look men and women in the eye and talk about leaving her friends, family and country by going to England as a teenager to chase her dream. She raced for three years abroad as the only woman in their minor leagues. She was given mostly inferior equipment and told to earn her stripes. She never won — she had one second- and one third-place finish — but she earned respect in a man’s world.

Back in the States, she was given a chance to compete by Rahal/Letterman Racing (yes, that Letterman). OK, she resorted to using her sex appeal to create attention and attract much needed sponsorship money (good thing the men have never done that in NASCAR, Kasey Kahne). That money bought her time to learn her craft in the IRL and within five years potentially climb to the pinnacle of auto racing.

Mario Andretti is considered by many to be the greatest racer ever. If Patrick were to win the Indianapolis 500, her name would be on the same trophy as Andretti. In fact, it would be on the Borg-Warner Trophy the same number of times as Andretti.

Richard Petty once told me it takes the hand-eye coordination of a brain surgeon, the guts of a Navy pilot and the toughness of Jim Brown to drive a race car.

Think about what it takes at 230 mph to win in a race car.

Imagine being all of that, while still looking good in a bikini. Cha-ching.

If Patrick wins the Indy 500, that noise you hear will not be the glass ceiling shattering.

It will be exploding.

David Moulton is co-host of the radio show “Miller and Moulton in the Afternoon.” It airs weekdays, 3-7 p.m. on SportsRadio 770/ESPN. His column appears every Sunday. David can be reached at: millerandmoulton@sportsradio770.com.