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The Daring Woman Racer - Janet Guthrie

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The Daring Woman Racer - Janet Guthrie

She changed the history of car racing forever. She denied limitations, she defied the rules and set new trends in the field of auto racing - she is none other than the first woman race driver in Indy car racing, Janet Guthrie. Now she gleams with pride and excitement as she talks about the participation of four women in the upcoming Indianapolis 500.

Guthrie now recalls the time when she started racing. While remembering those tumultuous times, Janet heaves a sigh of relief and contentment for all she had triumphantly faced and achieved. It was a long and rough journey for Janet to make women acceptable in the male dominated world of auto racing. She remembers that once it was even impossible to think of what is happening today - fathers are bringing their daughters to the autograph lines to boost the morale of female drivers. These are the same men from Janet’s generation who thought that women would never be able to make it, especially Janet Guthrie herself.

The graceful seventy-eight years old Guthrie is a retired professional auto race driver, who would always be remembered as the first woman ever who qualified and drove in both the Indianapolis 500 as well as the Daytona 500.

By profession, Guthrie was an aerospace engineer. After she graduated from the University of Michigan, she started working with the Republic Aviation. In 1963, when she began racing, it was one of the most extraordinary things that could have happened in those times. Anyone who saw or heard about this woman on the SCCA circuit in a Jaguar XK 140 had to drop his jaw and widen his eyes as if Janet came as a rude shock. It did not take her a long time when the courageous sports woman in 1972 started racing on a full-time basis.

The year 1976 marked a purple patch in her career. In the World 600, Guthrie finished on the 15th position and became the first woman to compete in the Winston Cup Superspeedway in a NASCAR race. The season went pretty good as Guthrie competed in four more races before the end of the season. In the following season, she finished on the 12th position in her first Daytona 500. Her engine switched off when there were more than ten laps to go. However, Janet was still able to earn the honour of winning the “Top Rookie” award. Overall, in NASCAR racing, Guthrie was successful in completing thirty-three races over four seasons, winning a career high sixth place.

Guthrie qualified for the 1977 Indianapolis 500 but while she was competing, she had trouble with her engine. As a result, Janet had to finish on the 29th place. She also took part in two more Indy 500’s with a career best finish of ninth place in the 1978 race. Overall, she participated in eleven Indy Car races.

Guthrie had already rooted her name deep down in the history of auto racing. Her helmet and race suit graced the Smithsonian Institution as she was elected as the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame. On April 27, 2006, Janet was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame. In her autobiography, Janet Guthrie: a Life at Full Throttle was published in 2005, revealing the highs and lows, the rise and falls of this legendry car racer. The autobiography received immense critical acclaim in publications such as Sports Illustrated.

After the toil and sweat that Guthrie dedicated to the world of racing, race lovers of today are embracing and welcoming women drivers with open arms. Male drivers in auto sports claim that it’s only the competition that matters the most and nothing else. Guthrie, satisfied by the progress of females in the sport now proclaims that she had a firm belief on the day when women will be welcomed and celebrated in the racing circuits. It was only that Janet was not sure how long it would take. She exclaims that she is pleased and feels proud of having seen a whole new generation of female drivers driving successfully through their way, inside and outside the circuit.

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