Born: March 7 1938, United States
Died: NA
Country most active: United States
Also known as: NA
The following is republished from the US National Archives. This piece falls under under public domain, as copyright does not apply to “any work of the U.S. Government” where “a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. Government as part of that person’s official duties” (See, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101, 105).
Originally an aerospace engineer, Janet Guthrie began racing part time in 1963 on the Sports Car Club of America circuit. By 1972, she was racing full time and in 1977 she became the first woman to qualify and compete in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500. In her four seasons of competition in NASCAR, Guthrie competed in 33 races with her top finish coming in 1977 when she placed 6th at Bristol Motor Speedway. Her finish is the best by a woman in a top-tier NASCAR race, currently tied with Danica Patrick. Guthrie was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2006 and the Sports Car Club of America Hall of Fame in 2018.