Janet Guthrie

Janet was born on the 7th of March in 1938 in Iowa City, Iowa, her family moved to Miami, Florida when she was three where she attended Miss Harris’ Florida School for Girls before graduating from the University of Michigan with a B.SC. in Physics. She was formerly a flight instructor, an aerospace research and development engineer, working on programmes that were the predecessors to the Project Apollo and after passing the first round of eliminations for NASA's Scientist-Astronaut program, Janet Guthrie wanted more -- so she turned more seriously to motor car racing. Janet began racing successfully in 1963 on the Sports Car Club of America circuit where she had some great victories. She also made her mark in endurance races such as the Sebring 12-hour (in which she was twice first in class), the Watkins Glen 500 and the Daytona 24 hour.

She started racing full-time in 1972. In 1976 Janet tried unsuccessfully to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 but successfully qualified to compete in NASCAR’s highest level race, the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. Louise Smith was the first to compete in NASCAR’s highest level in 1948; this was in the then named Strictly Stock Series, the equivalent of the Winston Cup Superspeedway race. Driving a Chevrolet for First Union National Bank vice president, Lynda Ferreri Janet finished in 15th place at the Charlotte Motor Speedway and went on to compete in four more races that season. In 1977 she went on to make another first becoming the first woman to qualify in the Daytona 500, finishing in 12th position after her engine blew ten laps from the end and was named the top rookie of the race. This same year she attempted the Indianapolis 500 again, this time she successfully qualified and became the first woman to compete in the Indianapolis 500 but unfortunately after her car developed mechanical problems she had to retire aft twenty seven laps. She formed and managed her own team in 1978 and successfully finished in 9th position, driving a Wildcat 3-DGS. This remains the only Top 10 finish by a woman in that race.

All in all Janet competed in eleven Indy events and in her last Indy race she had her best finish in her open wheel career, an amazing fifth place. Janet competed in thirty three NASCAR events over a period of four years. She was an inductee into the 1980 International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame and inductee into the 2006 International Motorsports Hall of Fame.

Janet has written a book about her rise to the highest level of racing named Janet Guthrie: A life at Full Throttle that recalls the frustration and segregation she felt during those years as well as the elation and excitement that were part of her making...

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