Janet Guthrie Bio Snippets Three Women at Indy. Pioneering Guthrie says Winning would Help Acceptance. 5/20/07 To write Janet or send something to be autographed, send mail to: Guthrie Racing LLC, P.O. Box 505, Aspen, CO 81612 or GRLLCwebsite@cs.com or www.janetguthrie.com Related Issue: Women Racers Directory, Women in Racing, Women Racers, More Women in Racing, Race Schedules, Notable Women Direct access to this web page: http://bit.ly/goUQO5 Bio Janet, whose 1977 Indy 500 was the first for a woman, says Patrick is the race's first woman "with top-notch equipment and the full backing of a good racing team." Before becoming the first woman ever to compete in the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500, Janet Guthrie had a diversified background. She was a pilot and flight instructor, an aerospace engineer, a technical editor, and a public representative for some of the country's major corporations. She had 13 years of experience on sports car road-racing circuits, building and maintaining her own race cars, before being invited to test a car for Indianapolis. She was born in Iowa City, Iowa, on March 7, 1938. Her family moved to Miami, Florida when she was three. She attended Miss Harris' Florida School for Girls for all but one of her elementary through high-school years, then graduated from the University of Michigan in 1960 with a B.Sc. in physics. She joined Republic Aviation in Farmingdale, New York, as a research and development engineer, working on programs that were precursors to Project Apollo. In 1964, she applied for the first Scientist-Astronaut program, and got through the first round of eliminations. She treasures a letter from astronaut Deke Slayton, a memento of that attempt. Meanwhile, she had purchased a Jaguar XK 120 coupe, and began competing in gymkhanas, field trials and hill climbs. This led to the purchase of a Jaguar XK 140 for competition in Sports Car Club of America races. Her career in physics slowly yielded to the allure of sports car racing, and by 1972 she was involved in racing on a full-time basis. Along the way, she posted two class victories in the 12 Hours of Sebring. Her big break at the top level of the sport came in 1976, when long-time team owner and car builder Rolla Vollstedt invited her to test a car for the Indianapolis 500. That year, she also became the first woman to compete in a NASCAR Winston Cup superspeedway stock car race. In 1977, she became the first woman to qualify for and compete in the Indianapolis 500; she was also first woman and Top Rookie at the Daytona 500 in the same year. She finished ninth in the Indianapolis 500 in 1978. Janet Guthrie's helmet and driver's suit are in the Smithsonian Institution, and she was one of the first athletes named to the Women's Sports Hall of Fame. She is listed in "Who's Who." She does extensive platform and keynote speaking. Among her television credits are "James Michener's Sports in America" and over a dozen appearances on "Good Morning America." She married in 1989, and her husband has long supported her recently completed book about her racing experiences. Ninth, Indianapolis 500, 1978, out of 92 entrants, 33 starters Snippets born on March 7, 1938 in Iowa City, Iowa as the eldest of five children her father, William Lain Guthrie was a pilot she attended Miss Harris' Florida School for girls in Miami she first flew a plane when she was 13 first flew solo at age 16 earned her pilot's license at age 17 by the age of 21 she was capable of flying more than 20 types of aircrafts she received a bachelor's degree in physics in 1960 at the University of Michigan for the next seven years she worked in aerospace research and engineer for Republic Aviation Corporation in Farmingdale, Long Island in 1965 NASA considering making her an astronaut. She was one of four women who passed NASA's first tests but was eliminated because she didn't have a Ph. D. degree. she began racing in 1961 and high speed racing in 1963 in 1967 she quit her job at RAC and until 1971 she worked as one of the Macmillan Ring-Free Motor Maids with her co-drivers they finished 31st in the 24 hour endurance race at Daytona in 1966 in 1975 she started work for Toyota as a consumer information specialist first women to qualify for a major American automobile race, the World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway she raced a 1975 Chevrolet Laguna provided by Lynda Ferrari and finished 15th in the World 600 in May 1976 competed regularly on the Winston Cup circuit posted 10 top-12 finishes in 1977 Finished 9th in the Indy 500 in 1978. She was at the disadvantage because she raced with a broken wrist and had to reach across the cockpit to shift gears first time since 1949 that three women competed in a race together: Janet Guthrie, Lella Lombardi, and Christine Beckers had 33 career starts including 19 in her rookie season (1977) driving the Kelly Girl sponsored Chevrolet Laguna owned by Lynda Ferrari she outqualified Bill Elliot, Ricky Rudd, Richard Petty, David Pearson, Bobby Allison, Neil Bonnett and Johnny Rutherford for the Talladega 500 in August of 1977 she qualifed and/or finished ahead of Bill Elliott in 7 out of 10 races they ran together she qualifed and/or finished ahead of Dale Earnhard in 2 out of 3 races they ran together she qualifed and/or finished ahead of Johnny Rutherford in 3 out of 3 races they ran together she was the first woman to qualify for the Daytona 500 finishing 11 and 12 (1980, 1977 respectively) she also lead the Times 500 in Ontario California in November 1977 in 1977 she qualified as the first woman in the Indianapolis 500 inducted into the Women's Sports Hall of Fame in 1980 currently lives in Aspen Colorado Source: ca.geocities.com/womeninnascar/janetguthrie.html WomenInRacing.org | Contact Us ©1996-2012 by Gordon Clay