Guthrie, Janet (1938–)

American auto racer. Born Janet Guthrie, Mar 7, 1938, in Iowa City, Iowa; dau. of Jean Ruth (Midkiff) Guthrie and William Lain Guthrie; University of Michigan, BSc in physics, 1960.

The 1st woman to qualify for, and race in, the Indianapolis 500, moved from Iowa City to NY, Atlanta, and then Miami (1941); started flying at 13, soloed at 16, and had commercial pilot's license by 19; worked at Republic Aviation in the aerospace division, Long Island, NY; granted competition license from Long Island Sports Car Club (1962); granted license from Sports Car Club of America (1963); applied to be one of the 1st scientist-astronauts (1965); worked as a physicist and nonprofessional auto racer; participated in 24-hour International Manufacturer's Championship at Daytona (1966); successfully finished in 9 consecutive runnings of Daytona 24-hour, Sebring 12-hour, and Watkins Glen 500 endurance races (1964–70); was 2nd in class at Watkins Glen race (1965); was 2nd in class at Sebring race (1967); won Governor of Florida's Award at Sebring (1968); took a job as technical editor for Sperry Rand (1968); was 1st in class at Sebring 12-hour race (1970); participated in North Atlantic Road Racing championship (1973); did public relations work for Toyota (1975); became 1st woman to enter and pass rookie test at Indianapolis 500 trials (1976); was 1st woman to compete in a NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) superspeedway race (1976); competed in 4 Indy-car races at other tracks; was 1st woman to qualify for, and race in, the Indianapolis 500 (May 1977); finished 9th in Indianapolis 500 (1978).

See also Ross R. Olney, Janet Guthrie, 1st Woman to Race at Indy (Harvey House, 1978); and Women in World History.