40th Anniversary of Janet Guthrie's Indy 500 Race-- Part 3

Continued from June 7.

At the time, Janet Guthrie had spent 13 years racing and had no money.

She and Rolla Vollstedt did not qualify for the Indy 500 in 1976, but made it in 1977.

She was not welcomed by the male racers  She recalls them saying, "Our blood is going to be on your hands if you don't keep her out of this."  People would yell from the grandstands "Get the (breasts) out of the pits!"  She was amazed at how much hostility there was toward her.

Racing legend Mario Andretti was one of the few who stuck up for her at the time.  he once said she had proved herself and had become "just another car in front of you that you wanted to pass."

Sadly, Janet Guthrie had to drop out of her first race as her engine failed after 10 laps.  She finished 29th.  The following year she finished in ninth place.

The Daytona 500 in 1980 was her last major race.  For the next three years, she tried to find sponsors, but ran out of money.

Pippa Mann was the only female driver in this year's 500.

Quite the Pioneer.  --Cooter

40th Anniversary of Janet Guthrie's Race at Indy 500-- Part 2

Janet Guthrie, 79, wanted to be an astronaut.  Both her parents were pilots and she learned to fly at age 16.  When she tried to become an astronaut, she was rejected in 1963 and then turned her attention to racing cars.

Unlike her male counterparts, she could get no sponsorships (and it is very expensive to race those cars)  She couldn't even get any funding.  She built her own engines, did her own body work.  She'd tow her Jaguar XK 140 behind an old station wagon (which she bought for $45) around the country.  At night, she'd sleep in the station wagon.

Racing has come a long way for women since then

Her career changed in 1976 when Rolla Volstedt called.  He was an innovative, low-budget team owner from Portland, Oregon, who wanted to take the first female driver to the Indy 500.  No woman had ever raced it before.

--Cooter

40th Anniversary of Janet Guthrie's Race at the Indy 500-- Part 1

From the May 27, 2017, Indianapolis Star "40 years ago, Janet Guthrie changed auto racing for women" by Laken Litman.

"Janet Guthrie used to sleep in her car.

"Long before Danica Patrick, Katherine Legge, Sarah Fisher or Pippa Mann were offered sponsorships in competitive racing, Guthrie funded herself and drove -- and slept in -- her own cars."

Forty years ago, Guthrie became a pioneer in motor sports as the first woman to race in the Indianapolis 500 and Daytona 500.

"It seems I was born adventurous and grew up insufficiently socialized," she says with a smile.  She wanted to be an astronaut.

--Cooter