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11 16 economist suntribune wheels thursday july u 2002 your emergency medical information on call 247 medic alert always on call wwwmedicalertca for more information 1 8 d d 6 68 is d7 all prices plus pst gst admin lic gas acura in markham 5201 highway 7 east markham ontario 9059488866 wwwacurainmarkhamcom q 111 z i hwy7 acura in markham steeles 401 markv11xe shopping centre o groundbreaking women in a sport of men catrina coghill by catrina coghill wheelbase communications i watched elaine mellencamps recent appearance on the today show with great interest and an unhealthy dose of envy shes a model married to a rock star and gets paid to promote the indy 500 as its official spokesperson and she can change a tire in less than 30 seconds where do i sign up as the saying goes weve come a long way baby or have we there are only a handful of women who have been able to crack the testosteronecharged world of auto racing it was only 31 years ago that indy officials first allowed women into the pits it would take six more years for janet guthrie a brazen driver with an insatiable appetite for adventure to take it one step further at a time when hollywood por trayed women as sex kittens in a movie sharing the same title guthrie was a fast girl of another kind who wasnt content to merely watch the event she wanted to be smack dab in the middle of it but her journey to become the first woman to earn a starting spot in the indianapolis 500 the first since the races inception in 1911 didnt come without a struggle in her autobiography guthrie who had 13 years of experience on roadracing circuits building and main taining her own cars before being invit ed to test a car for indianapolis recalls that the other drivers thought women didnt have the guts to drive profes sionally a woman on the track itself was unthinkable she wrote she showed them what they could do with their opinions on may 22 1 977 when she set the fastest qual ifying time of the second weekend the leadup to the indy is a monthlong fes tival of speed and made history as the first woman to take on the famed race the mans race up until that point it would be 1 5 years longer before another woman joined the elite crew in 1 992 lyn st james who made her racing debut in 1973 became the sec ond woman to compete in the indy 500 at age 45 theres hope for me yet st james an intelligent wellkept wife and mother who also works as an advisor for ford started indy 15 times according to her biography she set 3 1 international speed records and is the first woman to have won a profession al road race as a solo driver her career highlights are too numerous to mention in detail but eight years after her indy debut in 2000 st james would become one of two women qualifying for the starting lineup the other was racing legend-in- themaking and a teenager at the time sarah fisher when most of her highschool graduating class were settling in as freshmen in college fisher was the fresh face of the indy racing league as the youngest driver ever to compete in that series she actually started in 1999 but had been racing just about everything with wheels since child hood just last year fisher then just 21 placed second at the irl race in miami the best result ever by a woman in indystyle racing im very competitive she told a sports magazine the biggest thing is to win races thats the only thing that drives me its that drive that sepa rates the girls from the women guthrie st james and fisher didnt just fantasize about driv ing professionally they made it happen they were determined not to let a bunch of boys with complexes stand in the way of their dreams as fisher who was only three years old when guthrie opened the door for women to be allowed if not welcomed onto the track has always maintained she wants to be known for her driving not her gender not much has changed since guthrie took those first laps at least not in terms of acceptance from what remains of an old boys club so have we come a long way i think well know only when we when journalists and historians stop recording firsts for women of course if were still asking questions about our achievements as women i suspect we still have a long way to go baby women pioneers as fascinating as the stories of guthrie st james and fisher are they barely scratch the surface of the impact women have made on the automotive world arlene hiss who was the first woman to drive in an indycar race was granted a license by the us auto club on march 14 1976 in 1982 desire wilson made an unsuccessful attempt to qualify for the indy 500 but set a thenrecord for a woman driver at indy at 191042 mph shirley muldowney was the first woman to reach a national hot rod association dragracing pro final 1975 and win one 1976 patty moise was the first woman to lead a nascar busch series race 1987 diane holl aka the first lady of cart is the only woman lead engineer in cart formula one irl or nascar mary anderson invented the windshield wiper in november 1903 charlotte bridgwood patented the first electric windshield wiper in 1917 bridgwoods daughter florence lawrence invented a signaling arm and braking indicator neither of which took off at the time some would argue still havent and helen blair bartlett developed new insulators for spark plugs in the 1 930s catrina coghill is a journalist with wheelbase communications a world wide supplier of automotive news fea tures and reviews you can email her at catwheelbasecomcom i i j t j- tt1j tt kr pjjrarirsife4aw i 1 i qi t i