Dorothy Brush "Random Thoughts" Published June 1, 2005

The story of Janet Guthrie

Last week's column gave a brief history of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I became interested during the annual conference of the National Federation of Press Women in June 1979 which was held in Indianapolis. We were hosted for lunch at the track, and after a bus ride around the track, we were taken to the Motor Speedway Hall of Fame for a special presentation planned especially to take place during our conference.

The short ceremony saluted the historic accomplishment of Janet Guthrie, only woman driver ever to qualify for the famed Indy 500. Gold ropes surrounded Guthrie's red- and pink-striped Texaco Star Wildcat racer that had carried her to a ninth place finish in 1978 500-Mile Race. Texaco, Inc. had been her sponsor and they felt the museum was the proper place for the car to perpetuate the historic occasion.

Guthrie was not present but she sent word that she was delighted the Texas Star was in the museum and she added, "I look forward to coming to see the car when I'm 90!"

Janet Guthrie followed a different drummer all her life. At 17 she had her pilot's license and became a flight instructor. She studied aerospace engineering and when the space program began she was one of the first women candidates to become an astronaut. When she didn't make it, she turned to auto racing.

It was in 1977, only six years after the speedway began allowing women in the pits and garage area, that she became the first woman to compete in the Indy 500. That year she also raced in the Daytona 500 and won top rookie honors. At that time, Mario Andretti said of her, "I think she has done a hell of a job. Anyone who says she doesn't belong, just feels threatened." Now at 67 she has written a book about her life titled Janet Guthrie: A Life at Full Throttle.

In 1993, she was interviewed and said, "I would have thought that in 20 years the records I set would have been broken by other women. That just hasn't happened." She was right but it was not because there were not women trying to be accepted into that sport. There was Lyn St. James who had seven starts in Indy racing, but in 2001 she retired and created a driver development program to help women (and men) enter the top racing circuits. By 2004, Guthrie and Shawna Robinson were the only women to start in the Daytona 500. This year, England's Katherine Legge was the first woman to win a top open-wheel race. Sarah Fisher at age 19 became the third woman to race in the Indy 500. She was named the most popular driver in the IRL but this year she has switched to stock cars and is racing in NASCAR's Grand National Series.

Tennesseans saw the ugly side of racing when several male drivers plotted against Deborah Renshaw in 2002, but their actions were exposed and she continues to race.

Last weekend race fans watched as Danica Patrick, age 23, became the first woman to lead the Indy 500 for a number of laps and she came very close to holding on to win. She finished fourth but a great future certainly lies ahead.

For today's world, "may the best person win" is preferable to "may the best man win."

· · ·
Dorothy Copus Brush is a Fairfield Glade resident and Crossville Chronicle staffwriter whose column is published each Wednesday.