Janet Guthrie

Last updated
Janet Guthrie
JanetGuthrie1.jpg
Guthrie at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2011
BornJanet Guthrie
(1938-03-07) March 7, 1938 (age 86)
Iowa City, Iowa, U.S.
Champ Car career
11 races run over 5 years
Best finish15th (1979 (USAC))
First race 1976 Trenton 200 (Trenton)
Last race 1979 Tony Bettenhausen 200
(Milwaukee)
WinsPodiums Poles
000
NASCAR Cup Series career
33 races run over 4 years
Best finish23rd (1977)
First race 1976 World 600 (Charlotte)
Last race 1980 Coca-Cola 500 (Pocono)
WinsTop tens Poles
050

Janet Guthrie (born March 7, 1938) is an American former racing driver. She is the first female to qualify and race in either the Indianapolis 500, or the Daytona 500, both of which she competed in during 1977. She had first attempted to enter the Indianapolis 500 in 1976 but failed to qualify. She raced in three Indianapolis 500s: 1977 through 1979. She is also the first woman to lead a lap in NASCAR Cup Series competition.

Contents

Guthrie was originally an aerospace engineer, and after graduating from the University of Michigan with a physics degree in 1960, she worked with Republic Aviation. [1] She got the 2024 NASCAR Landmark award on January 19, 2024.

Racing career

Guthrie began racing in 1963 on the SCCA circuit in a Jaguar XK140 [2] and by 1972, she was racing on a full-time basis. Her sportscar racing career included two class wins in the famed 12 Hours of Sebring endurance race. [3]

In the 1976 World 600, Guthrie finished 15th, becoming the first woman to compete in a NASCAR Winston Cup superspeedway race. Guthrie would go on to compete in four more races that season. The following season, she competed in her first Daytona 500, finishing 12th when her car's engine blew two cylinders with ten laps to go. For her performance in the race, though, she still earned the honor of Top Rookie. Overall, Guthrie went on to compete in 33 races in NASCAR over four seasons. [4] Her highest finish, sixth place at Bristol in 1977, is the best finish by a woman in a top-tier NASCAR race in the modern era, now currently tied with Danica Patrick in 2014. [4]

Janet Guthrie's Wildcat 3-DGS, which she drove to ninth place in the 1978 Indianapolis 500 GuthrieWildcat.jpg
Janet Guthrie's Wildcat 3-DGS, which she drove to ninth place in the 1978 Indianapolis 500

Guthrie qualified for and competed in the 1977 Indianapolis 500, in a car entered by Rolla Vollstedt, but finished 29th with engine troubles. She would compete in two more Indianapolis 500s, finishing ninth in the 1978 race while driving with a fractured wrist (injured in a charity tennis event two days earlier) she hid from race officials. [3] Overall, she competed in 11 Indy car events with a best finish of fifth. During her unsuccessful bid to qualify for the 1976 race, many of the drivers in the male-dominated sport stated that the reason she did not qualify was mainly due to her sex. [3] These comments angered then three-time race winner A. J. Foyt to the point he lent Guthrie a back-up car to conduct a shake-down test. Her top practice lap in Foyt's car would have been adequate to qualify for the field. [5] She was unable to obtain funding through corporate sponsorship, and was forced into retirement. [6] [7]

Nevertheless, Guthrie's place in history was secure. In 1979, the Supersisters trading card set was produced and distributed; one of the cards featured Guthrie's name and picture. [8] Guthrie's helmet and race suit can be found in the Smithsonian Institution and she was one of the first elected to the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame. [3] [9] She was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame on April 27, 2006. Her 2005 autobiography, Janet Guthrie: A Life at Full Throttle, has received critical praise from such publications as Sports Illustrated . [10]

Battling sexism in motorsports

In a groundbreaking interview with Tracy Dodds for the Los Angeles Times in 1987, Guthrie lamented the lack of corporate sponsorships for female drivers: [7]

Men are getting sponsorship and women can’t. That sounds unfair. But who cares about unfair? What counts is the bottom line. Sponsors want the publicity that racing brings. But a successful woman driver will get ten times the attention that a man will get. So, now, what really is important? It keeps coming back to the good ol’ boy network. A lot of corporations are spending a lot of tax deductible dollars to sponsor male racing drivers.

The struggle for female drivers to secure corporate sponsorships continued. When Pippa Mann lacked the funding to enter the Indianapolis 500 in 2020 despite driving the previous year, the 2020 race was left with no women drivers. Guthrie said she was unlikely to watch the 2020 race due to her disappointment. [11] Guthrie herself initially said she was hesitant to address sexism in motorsports, but her mindset changed after she qualified for her first Indianapolis 500 in 1977 and was part of the downtown parade. As Guthrie described, “There were these guys who had little girls on their shoulders and were sort of waving these little girls as if I represented hope for the future." [11]

In 2011, Guthrie signed a petition in support of the right of women in Saudi Arabia to drive. [12] [13] The petition called on Saudi King Abdullah to sponsor a Saudi Women's Grand Prix. The project was the idea of human rights activist David Keyes. [12]

Qualified, an episode of ESPN 30 for 30 covering her racing career, aired on May 28, 2019 (Volume III, Episode 29). In it, she says, "You can go back to antiquity to find women doing extraordinary things, but their history is forgotten. Or denied to have ever existed. So women keep reinventing the wheel. Women have always done these things, and they always will." [3]

In 2019, Guthrie was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame. [14] for her achievements in motorsports. She is the 5th woman to be inducted.

Personal life

Guthrie was born in Iowa City, Iowa to Jean Ruth Guthrie (née Midkiff) and William Lain Guthrie, both pilots. [1] She is the oldest of five children. Her family moved to Miami, Florida when Janet was three years old after her father accepted a job with Eastern Air Lines. Janet herself earned her pilot's license at 17 years old. [15]

Guthrie married Warren Levine, a charter airline pilot, in 1989. [16] He died on December 30, 2006, of a sudden heart attack. [1]

A biopic about Guthrie, Speed Girl, is due out in 2025. [17]

Awards and honors

Guthrie has been inducted into the following halls of fame:

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series

NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
YearTeamNo.Make12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031NWCCPts
1976 Lynda Ferreri68 Chevy RSD DAY CAR RCH BRI ATL NWS DAR MAR TAL NSV DOV CLT
15		 RSD MCH DAY
15		 NSV POC TAL MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV
33		 MAR NWS CLT
22		 CAR ATL ONT
20		N/A-
1977 RSD DAY
12		 RCH
12		 CAR ATL
30		 NWS DAR BRI
11		 MAR TAL
32		 NSV DOV CLT RSD MCH
26		 DAY
40		 NSV
32		 POC
11		 TAL
34		 MCH
10		 BRI
6		 DAR
16		 RCH
12		 DOV
11		 MAR NWS CLT
9		 CAR
9		 ATL
16		 ONT
24		23rd2037
1978 RSD DAY
DNQ		 RCH CAR ATL
10		 BRI DAR NWS MAR TAL DOV CLT NSV RSD MCH DAY
11		 NSV 41st592
Buick POC
31		 TAL
29		 MCH
27		 BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT
35		 CAR ATL ONT
13
1980 Osterlund Racing 82 Chevy RSD DAY
11		 RCH CAR ATL BRI DAR NWS MAR TAL NSV DOV CLT TWS RSD MCH DAY NSV 69th209
McClure Motors57 Buick POC
28		 TAL MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV NWS MAR CLT CAR ATL ONT

American open–wheel racing results

Indianapolis 500

YearChassisEngineStartFinish
1976 Coyote Foyt No qualifying attempt
1977 Lightning Offy 26th29th
1978 WildcatDGS15th9th
1979 Lola Cosworth 14th34th
1980 Lightning Cosworth Did not qualify

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rick Mears</span> American racing driver (born 1951)

Rick Ravon Mears is a retired American race car driver. He is one of four men to win the Indianapolis 500 four times and is the current record-holder for pole positions in the race with six. Mears is also a three-time Indycar series/World Series champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al Unser</span> American racing driver (1939–2021)

Alfred Unser was an American automobile racing driver, the younger brother of fellow racing drivers Jerry and Bobby Unser, and father of Al Unser Jr. He was the second of four men to have won the Indianapolis 500 four times, the fourth of six to have won the race in consecutive years, and the winner of the National Championship in 1970, 1983, and 1985. The Unser family has won the Indy 500 a record nine times. He was the only person to have both a sibling (Bobby) and child as fellow Indy 500 winners. Al's nephews Johnny and Robby Unser have also competed in that race. In 1971, he became the only driver to date to win the race on his birthday.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnny Rutherford</span> American racing driver (born 1938)

John Sherman "Johnny" Rutherford III, also known as "Lone Star JR", is an American former automobile racing driver. During an Indy Car career that spanned more than three decades, he scored 27 wins and 23 pole positions in 314 starts. He became one of six drivers to win the Indianapolis 500 at least three times, winning in 1974, 1976, and 1980. He also won the CART championship in 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danny Sullivan</span> American racing driver (born 1950)

Daniel John Sullivan III, better known as Danny Sullivan, is an American former racing driver. He earned 17 wins in the CART Indy Car World Series, including the 1985 Indianapolis 500. Sullivan won the 1988 CART Championship, and placed third in points in 1986. Sullivan also scored a victory in IROC. He competed in the 1983 Formula One season with Tyrrell, scoring 2 championship points.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Vukovich</span> American racing driver (1918–1955)

William John "Bill" Vukovich was an American racing driver. He won the 1953 and 1954 Indianapolis 500, plus two more American Automobile Association National Championship races, and died while leading the 1955 Indianapolis 500.

Gordon Walter Johncock is an American former racing driver. He won the Indianapolis 500 twice, and was the 1976 USAC Marlboro Championship Trail champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Fisher</span> American racecar driver

Sarah Marie Fisher is an American retired professional race car driver who competed in the Indy Racing League and the Indianapolis 500 intermittently from 1999 to 2010. She also raced in the NASCAR West Series in 2004 and 2005. Fisher took part in 81 IndyCar Series events, achieving a career-best finish of second at the 2001 Infiniti Grand Prix of Miami—the highest placing for a woman in the IRL until Danica Patrick's victory in the 2008 Indy Japan 300. In 2002, Fisher was the first female driver to win a pole position in a major American open-wheel race and competed in the Indianapolis 500 nine times, more than any other woman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parnelli Jones</span> American racing driver (1933–2024)

Rufus Parnell "Parnelli" Jones was an American professional racing driver and racing team owner. He is notable for his accomplishments while competing in the Indianapolis 500 and the Baja 1000 desert race, and the Trans-Am Championship series. In 1962, he became the first driver to qualify over 150 mph (240 km/h). He won the race in 1963, then famously broke down while leading the 1967 race with three laps to go in a turbine car. During his career as an owner, he won the Indy 500 in 1970–1971 with driver Al Unser.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tommy Kendall</span> American racing driver

Tommy Kendall is an American race car driver and television broadcaster. He is best known for his IMSA GT Championship and SCCA Trans-Am Series career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katherine Legge</span> British racing driver (born 1980)

Katherine Anne Legge is a British professional auto racing driver who competes part-time in the IMSA SportsCar Championship and part-time in the IndyCar Series, driving the No. 51 Honda for Dale Coyne Racing with backing from e.l.f. She holds the record for the fastest qualifying effort for a woman in Indianapolis 500 history, set in 2023, and was the first woman to win a major open-wheel race in North America in 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Goodyear</span> Canadian racing driver (born 1959)

Donald Scott Goodyear is a Canadian retired racing driver. He competed in CART Championship cars and the Indy Racing League. Along with Michael Andretti, Goodyear is the only driver to have won the Michigan 500 more than once, in 1992 and 1994. Goodyear also twice finished second in the Indianapolis 500, both times under contentious circumstances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lyn St. James</span> American race car driver (born 1947)

Lyn St. James is an American former race car driver. She competed in the IndyCar series, with eleven CART and five Indy Racing League starts to her name. St. James is one of nine women who have qualified for the Indianapolis 500, and became the first woman to win the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year award. She also has two class victories at the 24 Hours of Daytona, and won the GTO class, partnering with Calvin Fish and Robby Gordon, at the 1990 12 Hours of Sebring. Additionally she has competed in endurance racing in Europe, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 24 Hours of Nürburgring, at which her AMC Spirit AMX team placed first and second in class in 1979.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rich Vogler</span> American racing driver (1950–1990)

Richard Frank Vogler was an American champion sprint car and midget car driver. He was nicknamed "Rapid Rich". He competed in the Indianapolis 500 five times, and his best finish was eighth in 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1976 Indianapolis 500</span> 60th running of the Indianapolis 500

The 60th 500 Mile International Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 30, 1976. Polesitter Johnny Rutherford took the lead on lap 80, and was leading when rain halted the race on lap 103. Two hours later, the race was about to be resumed, but rain fell again. USAC officials called the race at that point, reverted the scoring back to the completion of lap 102, and Johnny Rutherford was declared the winner. Rutherford famously walked to Victory Lane, his second career Indy 500 triumph, having completed only 255 miles (410 km), the shortest official race on record. Janet Guthrie became the first female driver to enter the Indianapolis 500. However, her team was underfunded, and she experienced numerous mechanical and engine problems during the month. While she managed to pass her rookie test, and ran numerous practice laps in multiple cars, she was unable to make an attempt to qualify. She would return with a successful effort a year later in 1977.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milka Duno</span> Venezuelan racing driver and model

Milka Duno is a former Venezuelan race car driver who competed in the IndyCar Series and ARCA Racing Series. She is best known for holding the record of highest finish for a female driver in the 24 Hours of Daytona. She entered the NASCAR Nationwide Series in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Double Duty</span> Auto racing endurance challenge

Double Duty is an American auto racing term used to describe one of the most difficult feats in motorsport: in a single day, competing in both the Indianapolis 500 IndyCar Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simona de Silvestro</span> Swiss-Italian racing driver

Simona de Silvestro is a Swiss-Italian racing driver, who is currently employed by Porsche as a factory driver. She has previously driven for Amlin Andretti in the 2015/16 season of the FIA Formula E Championship as well as several years competing in the IndyCar Series. Her nicknames are the "Iron Maiden" and "Swiss Miss".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pippa Mann</span> British racecar driver

Pippa Mann is a British racing car driver who currently competes in the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie. She has also competed in the IndyCar Series. She was born in London, United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conor Daly</span> American racing driver (born 1991)

Conor James Daly is an American professional racing driver. He is best known for competing in the IndyCar Series, where he drives the No. 78 Chevrolet for Juncos Hollinger Racing. He also competes occasionally in NASCAR and has also raced in the GP2 Series, ARCA Menards Series, and Road to Indy.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Litman, Laken (May 26, 2017). "From sleeping in her car to the Indy 500: How Janet Guthrie changed racing for women". The Indianapolis Star . Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  2. ↑ "Once a physicist: Janet Guthrie". Institute of Physics. n.d. Archived from the original on May 25, 2019. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Fabrizio, Tony (May 27, 2019). "Janet Guthrie: Racing's reluctant trailblazer is 'Qualified'". espnW . ESPN . Retrieved June 1, 2019.
  4. 1 2 McGee, Ryan (February 20, 2013). "Janet Guthrie outraced insults to make history". espnW . ESPN. Archived from the original on February 24, 2013. Retrieved February 24, 2013.
  5. ↑ Martin, Bruce (May 26, 2011). "From Guthrie to Patrick, women have made progress at Indy 500". Sports Illustrated . Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  6. ↑ Guthrie, Janet (March 9, 2005). Janet Guthrie: A Life at Full Throttle. Sport Media Pub. p. 382. ISBN   978-1894963312.
  7. 1 2 Dodds, Tracy (May 24, 1987). "THE INDIANAPOLIS 500 : Why Aren't Women Racing at Indy? Ask Guthrie". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  8. ↑ Wulf, Steve (March 23, 2015). "Supersisters: Original Roster". ESPN . Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  9. ↑ Zoski, Steve (Winter 2019–20). "Firmly in the Driver's Seat". University of Michigan Alumni Association. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
  10. ↑ "Janet Guthrie Bio". International Motorsports Hall of Fame. 2017. Archived from the original on February 14, 2019. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  11. 1 2 Andrejev, Alex (August 22, 2020). "There are no women in this year's Indy 500. The troubling reasons why center on sexism". The Charlotte Observer . Retrieved August 23, 2020.
  12. 1 2 Keyes, David (June 17, 2011). "Saudi Arabian Women Plan Day of Protest by Driving on June 17". The Daily Beast . Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  13. ↑ Werman, Marco (January 17, 2011). "Women drivers and the king". Public Radio International . Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  14. ↑ "Janet Guthrie". Automotive Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on July 24, 2019. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  15. ↑ "Janet Guthrie". Encyclopedia.com . Retrieved August 23, 2020.
  16. ↑ "Warren Levine". The Aspen Times . January 5, 2007.
  17. ↑ "Hilary Swank To Play Racing Pioneer Janet Guthrie In 'Speed Girl' Feature Adaptation, Will Produce With Balcony 9 Productions". 5 May 2021. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.