Janet Guthrie- American race-car driver, the first woman to compete in the Indianapolis 500.

Guthrie earned a pilot’s license at the age of 17. After graduating from the University of Michigan in 1960, she worked for six years as a research and development engineer for an aviation company. During that time she was one of four women to qualify for the scientist-astronaut program.

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.

In 1976, Guthrie got her first big break in racing, being invited to drive at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for team owner Rolla Vollstedt, but failed to qualify. The same year, she was invited to compete in NASCAR as well. She competed in the 1976 World 600, finishing 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 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, finishing as high as sixth place.

Indy 500 results

Technorati Tags: racing, entertainment

Technorati : entertainment, guthrie, indy, racing
Del.icio.us : entertainment, guthrie, indy, racing
Ice Rocket : entertainment, guthrie, indy, racing
Flickr : entertainment, guthrie, indy, racing

Something to say?