"Too often, women's history has been lost."
By: Ivy Armstrong
    "Too often, women's history has been lost.", said Janet Guthrie and unfortunately it is
true. If you catch yourself looking into women’s history, many a time you will not find what you
are looking for.  This is true in the case of women’s history in NASCAR’s main series.
     When looking for information on pioneers in the sport such as Sara Christian and Ethel
Mobley Flock it is a challenge to find information. These pioneers paved the way for other
women to compete such as Shawna Robinson. The lone female that there is plenty information
on is Janet Guthrie. Janet was a pioneer in not only NASCAR but also in Indy Racing. Her story
is one that should be told and Janet has spent the last year’s writing a book on her experiences; it
has yet to be published.
    The other women, 15 in total, have faded into history without much written about them.
Women have been a significant part of NASCAR but seem insignificant in its history. If you
read many different books about NASCAR’s history, you can piece together parts of the history
of these women.
    As my interest in the history of these women I have spent hours of frustrating time
searching books and the Internet to put the pieces of this puzzle together.  For some of the racers
I have managed to find information and for others it was only about the number of races they ran
and in what years.  I have complied a webpage with my findings and hope that others with vast
knowledge will help me expand the website to be a comprehensive source for information on
women in this prime series.


BACK