With a female fan-base totally nearly 40%, motor racing has come to establish itself as one of the most popular mainstream sports with the female population in North America, thanks in part to the large number of female drivers and risen to prominence within the sport since the 1970s. But long before the likes of Danica Patrick and Simona De Silvestro ever set foot in a racing car there was one woman whose heroics in the 1977 500 saw her become a pioneering figure not only in the world of motor sport but also in the wider feminist movement encapsulating America at the time,

Born in Iowa City but raised in Florida, Janet Guthrie’s road to Indianapolis came not from the track but rather from the skies above it, earning a pilot’s licence by the time she was seventeen years old before graduating from the University of Michigan with a degree in Physics in 1960. Following her graduation, Guthrie spent the next six years working as a research and development engineer for Republic Aviation, working on programs that would later serves as the basis for the Apollo space missions during the late sixties. During that time, Guthrie even went as far as applying for the first Scientist-Astronaut program, making it through the first round of eliminations only to be disqualified when a doctorate for the progam was made a requirement.

Away from her aviation work, Guthrie was also a keen sports car enthusiast, and in 1963 began using a Jaguar XK120 to compete in club events on a regular basis. Over the next several years Guthrie enjoyed increasing success on the Sports Car Club of America circuit, picking up several major victories including class wins in the 12 Hours Of Sebring endurance event in 1967 and 1970. By the time Guthrie committed to motor racing full time in 1972, the face of women in motor sport had begun to change within America. Although the idea of women racing drivers was nothing new in mainland Europe (with Belgium’s Helle Nice proving to be a successful racer during the 1930s) over in America the practice was still seen as a somewhat taboo subject, with some racing series even going as far as to ban women from entering the paddock during racing events. Come the mid-seventies however, the rise of second wave feminism, in combination with the success of Shirley Muldoney and Lella Lombardi in drag racing and Formula One respectively, had seen attitudes surrounding female drivers soften over the years, and it was with this backdrop that Guthrie would take her racing career to the next pioneering step.

In 1976, Guthrie earned her big break at the top level of the sport, when long-time team owner and car builder Rolla Vollstedt invited her to test a car for the Indianapolis 500, a moment which marked the first time that a female had made an attempt to qualify for the race. Despite much interest surrounding her qualifying attempt, Guthrie was dogged with reliability issues with her machine throughout the month of May, and although AJ Foyt did offer the Iowa native the chance to test one of his backup cars in practice, Guthrie chose not to make a qualifying attempt in the machine, forcing her to miss out on would have been her first attempt at the 500. With the spotlight still on her, Guthrie quickly found herself an alternative to competing at the Brickyard, when promoter Humpy Wheeler consummated a deal for Guthrie to acquire a car from NASCAR owner Ralph Moody, and within 48 hours had managed to make the field for the 1976 World 600, in the process becoming the first female ever to compete in a NASCAR Grand National racing event.

Following a 12th placed finish at the 1977 Daytona 500, Guthrie returned to Indianapolis again for a second attempt at the 500, once again driving a Offy-powered Lightning prepared for the race by Rolla Vollstedt. With the reliability issues surrounding her failed 1976 effort a distant memory, Guthrie remained at a competitive pace throughout the entire Month of May, and on the first laps of that season’s bump day, recorded a four lap average of 188.403mph to put her safely into the 500 field, making her the first woman ever to qualify at the Brickyard during the race’s 61 year history, turning Guthrie into a national celebrity almost overnight and forcing track owner Tony Hulman to change his legendary call of ‘Gentleman, start your engines’ to incorporate Guthrie’s inclusion in the race. Unfortunately however, Guthrie’s day at Indianapolis would come to a premature end, as engine problems forced her out of the race after 29 laps and forcing her to be classified with a 29th placed finish, a result well below her expectations, but still enough to cement her place as a trail-blazing figure at the Brickyard.

Following her 1977 exploits, Guthrie would return to the Brickyard on another two occasions, claiming a best finish of ninth in 1978 despite competing in the race with a broken wrist, before a lack of funding forced her to retire from the sport following the 1983 season. Despite that however, Guthrie has been recognized for her contributions to her sport, being named to the Women’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1980 and to the International Motor Sports Hall of Fame in 2006. Guthrie’s achievements at both Indianapolis and in NASCAR may have been surpassed in recent years, but there is no denying that the impact that she has made on females drivers currently competing in auto racing, and for that reason she is worthy of claiming a status as a cult figure of both the Indianapolis 500 and motor racing in general.

For today’s video we feature an archive interview with Guthrie about her racing career: