auto racing
Guthrie makes it and likes what she finds
■“* ■<*
Frustration ends
with Indy Berth
By NEIL GRUENFELDER
Of the Emerald
"Drive a race car, and get paid
for it — it's fantastic.”
The author of this quote, Janet
Guthrie, might have added, “It’s
fortunate too." Racing in a sport
dominated by men, Guthrie was
the first woman to compete in
oval-course racing and to qualify
for the Mecca of auto racing, the
Indianapolis 500.
Guthrie was greeted with a bar
rage of insults and false accusa
tions when she announced her in
tentions of racing at Indy Some
called it a publicity stunt, while
others said she didn't have the
physical strength to finish.
"The big fracas last year was in
oval-track racing," she said.
"There never has been any
women there before, and drivers
said that women would endanger
their lives.
“I have been driving for one and
a half years now and I have not
killed anyone yet. There has been
a reevaluation."
Guthrie, appearing at Rex Voll
stedt Volkswagon, Monday, might
still be an unknown road-course
driver had good fortune not come
her way. Car designer and builder
Rolla Vollstedt, known as an inno
vator for designing the first rear
engined Offenhauser and for
using a wing to control wind force,
wanted a woman driver at Indy.
Heeding the advice of one of his
directors, Vollstedt picked Guthrie
and telephoned her.
"At first she thought I was pul
ling her leg,” Vollstedt said. "We
had her practice in Ontario (Cal.)
and we liked what we saw. She
wanted to give it a try and I gave
her a try.”
Guthrie s first test in oval
course racing came in Trenton,
N.J. in the Championship Car
Race May 2. 1976. She finished
14th in a car she described as
"non-conformitive" and estab
lished herself as a bona fide racer.
After falling short in a berth for the Indianapolis field in 1976, Janet
Guthrie in 1977 became the first woman ever to race at the famed
Brickyard. Although she was forced out of the race early with mechan
9
Photo by Andy Taylor
ical trouble, Guthrie proved to be one of the top success stories in Indy
history.
At Indianapolis, she drove the
#2 car, # 1 being used by team
mate Dick Simon, passing the
20-lap rookie test admirably.
Transmission problems pre
vented her from qualifying for the
Memorial Day classic even
though she recorded a qualifying
mark in a borrowed A.J. Foyt car.
Foyt refused to let her drive his #2
car but consoled her by telling the
press, "She did prove that ladies
can drive race cars.”
In 1977 she received a new rac
ing car. Capable of 900 horse
power and 200 miles per hour, her
Drake-Offy Lightning racer qual
ified #26 at Indy despite claiming
the fastest mark for the second
week of trials. Her car did not hold
up in the main test, and she retired
with engine problems after 17
laps.
Guthrie, 39, was bom in Iowa
City, Iowa, and moved to Miami,
Fla., in her childhood. The 5-ft.
9-in.t 135 lb. racer whose figure
and face look ten years younger,
obtained a B.A. degree in physics
at the University of Michigan.
After graduating from Michigan,
she traveled to Long Island, N.Y.,
where she obtained work in
aerodynamics. She also became
interested in race car driving and
purchased a 1963 Jaguar XK140
Roadster.
“By the time I went back tor my
Masters, racing had a bite on me,"
she said. “I tried going to graduate
school at night because of the rac
ing during the day. Eventually, it
was either racing or finals. Racing
won.”
Guthrie became so obsessed
with racing cars that in 1967 she
gave up her job as research and
public engineer. Since then, she
has competed in over 120 auto
races. Her most notable wins
were at Sebring, Fla., in 1970, in
the Under Two Liter Prototype
class, and in the B Sedan class in
the 1973 North Atlantic Road Rac
ing Championship. A good indica
tion of her skills is in her first race
ever. She finished second despite
racing in an upper division class.
A veteran of 14 oval-course
races, Guthrie said the action is
there rather than road-course rac
ing. In road racing, such as Le
Mans, the track is on a circuit with
hills and turns. Oval-course racing
has four left turns, with Indy being
a prime example.
Most of the money is made in
oval-course racing although she
said, “prize money never covers
the cost of running.'’ That explains
why few women are racing.
“It's very expensive to get
started. Very few women have the
money. It also depends on the
sponsor. That’s the major problem
for women."
Guthrie describes pre-race ten
sion as “perfectly ghastly.’’ “I get a
terrible attack of the butterfles but
once that green flag comes down,
thinking takes over. You’re think
ing, did I take that turn right?
Who’s ahead of me? It takes in
tense concentration.’’
She is also thinking constantly
about the tires which guide her.
Each untreaded tire has small
holes which are a quarter-inch
deep. When spinning, the tires
produce a line visible to the driver.
Mtiwiy Mm*
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If Guthrie notices one line is dis
appearing, she radios to her pit
crew to have another tire ready.
After the race, some drivers say
they lose 14) to 15 lb. Guthrie does
not notice. “All I know is that the
next Wednesday I'm still the same
weight — dam it.”
Guthrie plans to keep racing as
long as her desire holds out. She
said she doesn’t think she'll try the
ABC Superstars Competition
again. “I got my doors blown off
twice,” she said. She is also look
ing forward to the 1978 In
dianapolis 500.
“I believe, no, I will race a hel
luva good race at Indy,” she pre
dicted.
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