NASCAR has had many great champions, heroes on the track and amongst their fans. However one question can simply stump any racing fan, name three women who have raced in NASCAR. Usually they will know at least one female that has been on the track, but even the most die hard of fans have trouble remembering some of the most courageous and strong women in history. Racing takes a lot of money to pay for expensive equipment and qualified employees. NASCAR is known for its big sponsors who shell out big bucks for big name drivers like Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon. Not many sponsors are willing to take a chance on a woman and the ones that do, often are unable to give the money necessary to have quality competitive cars. There are a few women that despite the obstacles of money, image, and sexism have had relative success in NASCAR.
Sara Christian was the first woman to compete in NASCAR back on June 19, 1949 at a dirt track in Charlotte, North Carolina. Her career best finish in a race was in Heidelburg, Pennsylvania where she finished fifth. That same year she finished thirteenth in the point standing, but more importantly she inspired other women who dreamed of driving fast cars.
One of the women Sara Christian inspired was Louise Smith. Louise was from a small town in Georgia where women were not treated as equals by men. She met the founder of NASCAR, Bill France Sr. before he had even created the racing division. Three years before the birth of NASCAR Bill France Sr. needed an exciting driver to promote a race in Greenville, South Carolina and he chose Louise even though she had yet to drive a race car. Louise got hooked on racing when she finished third in her first race. She raced modifieds for eleven years between 1946 1956 winning 38 races. During her career she raced hard and wrecked hard, one wreck nearly taking her life and leaving her with four pins along with 48 stitches in her left knee. In 1999 Louise Smith was inducted into the Motorsports Hall Of Fame. She is remembered for her love of the sport and aggressive driving skills.
Another unforgettable woman driver is Ethel Flock Mobley of Atlanta, Georgia. On July 9th, 1949 she qualified for her first NASCAR Grand National race. Ethel also competed against Sara Christian and Louise Smith at the infamous Daytona Beach road course and again in Langhorne, Pennsylvania.
Janet Guthrie was born in Iowa City, Iowa on March 7, 1938 and was not your ordinary child. Her pilot father gave Janet flying lessons and she flew her first plane at the age of 13. She had earned her pilot's license at seventeen and by the age of 21 could operate more than twenty different types of aircraft. Although she received a Bachelors Degree in physics, she lost out at NASA in 1965 for not having a doctorate degree. She was being considered along with three other women to become astronauts after passing the preliminary tests. Janet then turned her attention to the racing world as she began to attempt to qualify in the male dominated sport. She was the first woman to qualify for a major NASCAR race at the World 600 in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 1977 she had ten top 12 finishes out of 19 races. At the Talladega 500 in 1977 she qualified better than male superstars Neil Bonnet, Richard Petty, David Pearson, and Bobby Allison. NASCAR icon Dale Earnhardt Sr. ran against Janet in three races, in two out of the three she out performed the legend. Twice she finished in the top twelve at the Daytona 500, drove while she had a broken wrist, and was inducted into the Motorsports Hall Of Fame in 1980. Janet Guthrie had an outstanding career in NASCAR and has a resume that would rival any man in the sport.
Patty Moise was born into a road racing family and started racing the moment she got her license at the age of sixteen. At her first NASCAR Busch Series event in 1986 she became the first woman to lead a lap in that series. At Talladega Speedway in 1990 she set another record by posting the fastest time for a closed course lap and again in 1995 broke the record for a qualifying lap at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Patty Moise married fellow race car driver Elton Sayer in 1990 and ended her racing career in 1999 after she was unable to acquire sponsorship for her car. She was quoted saying, "Until there are more of us, I think sponsors still look at us as something different and you have to realize that it's just more than driving a car. With these companies, you better understand how to accomplish what their marketing needs are."
These historic women of NASCAR have paved the way for all women to have the courage to strive for their dreams. Robin McCall, Shawna Robinson, Deborah Renshaw, and Sarah Fisher are just a few of the women who are currently involved in NASCAR, which continually tries to encourage diversity in racing. Women have come so far on the track in the past sixty years and there's no limit to what can be accomplished in the next sixty.