It’s no secret that the motorsports scene is incredibly male-dominated, both on the track and behind the scenes. Despite these barriers, women throughout history have pushed back against limited resources and widespread prejudices to compete and achieve their goals in racing. Although we can’t showcase all the groundbreaking women in motorsports, we’d like to highlight a few who paved the way for those who followed.
Achievements and Milestones
of Women in Motorsports
Eva Mudge (1880 – 1964)
Geneva Delphine Mudge, better known by the stage name Eva Mudge, was a famous vaudeville performer born in Michigan in 1880. Her father, R.C. Mudge, was a businessman who also acted as Eva’s manager. But what does this have to do with motorsports? Well, R.C. Mudge held an interest in the automobile industry and obtained a patent for a flue construction with the Locomotive Company of America. He passed his interest in automobiles down to his daughter, who later became the first woman in the United States to obtain a driver’s license in 1898 in New York. Eva was also potentially one of the first female racecar drivers and rode a gas-powered Locomobile during a race on December 31, 1899, when she skidded off the road and knocked down five spectators.
She was later named “A Skilled Chauffeuse” in the December 1900 edition of The Automobile magazine. An excerpt reads, “Miss Eva Mudge, whose portrait is given as she appears in her electric runabout, is a chauffeuse both expert and assured, who knows how to drive an automobile anywhere that it will go, and is not baffled by a short-circuit or a faulty contact.”
Maude Yagle (1883 – 1968)
While it’s important to highlight female drivers, those who worked behind the scenes to build the events are equally important. Maude Yagle was the first woman to own a vehicle entered into the Indianapolis 500. She was the second entrant in the 1929 Indianapolis 500 and entered the race under the name M.A. Yagle, in hopes of concealing her identity as a woman, but her gender was quickly discovered before the race.
She faced public backlash, with a male journalist writing, “Horrors! Women are trying to break down the last male stronghold in the sports and automobile world!”
Although she was a car owner, she was denied access to the pits along with female timekeeper Alice Hoofman-Trobeck, and instead had to communicate with her crew by passing notes through the fence. It wasn’t until 50 years later, in 1970, that women were allowed in the pits. Despite these challenges, she and her driver, Ray Keech, secured a victory in 1929. Maude Yagle is the only woman owner to win the Indy 500 to date.
Shirley Muldowney (1940 – Present)
The “First Lady of Drag Racing” is none other than Vermont-born Shirley Muldowney (1940 – Present), also known as “Cha-Cha.” Her love for racing began in her teens, when she joined local street races in Schenectady, New York.
“School had no appeal to me,” Muldowney said. “All I wanted was to race up and down the streets in a hot rod.”
Later, Muldowney built her motorsport career in the high-risk world of drag racing, making her professional debut at the Fonda Speedway in 1958. In 1965, she became the first woman to receive a drag racing license from the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA), breaking a long-standing barrier in the sport.
“NHRA fought me every inch of the way, but when they saw how a girl could fill the stands, they saw I was good for the sport,” said Muldowney. “The fans were wonderful. They made me.”
In 1973, she became the first woman licensed to drive a Top Fuel dragster. She won the NHRA Top Fuel championship in 1977, 1980, and 1982, making her the first person to claim the title three times. She found great success in the sport despite resistance from competitors and racing officials who believed women did not belong in Top Fuel competition. She retired from racing in 2004 and has been inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame, the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, and the International Motorsports Hall of Fame. In 1983, Bonnie Bedelia played Shirley Muldowney in the movie “Heart Like A Wheel,” based on Muldowney’s career.
Janet Guthrie (1938 – Present)
Iowa-born racecar driver Janet Guthrie was the first woman to compete in not just one, but multiple notable racing series. Before starting her career as a professional racer in 1972, she bought a Jaguar XK120, which inspired her to compete in gymkhana, field trials, and hill climbs hosted by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). These races eventually led to her winning two class victories in the 12 Hours of Sebring.
In 1976, Guthrie became the first woman to compete in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, finishing fifteenth in the World 600. She competed in 33 Winston Cup races over the course of her career. In 1977, she became the first woman to compete in the Daytona 500. She secured the title of Top Rookie in the 1977 Daytona 500 and finished in fifth place in the 1979 Milwaukee Indy 500.
She achieved all these milestones while racing in relatively underfunded vehicles. In 1978, she finished ninth in the Indy 500 in her $120,000 vehicle while competing against teams like Penske, which had budgets of about $2.3 million. The financial realities forced her into retirement. “I didn’t decide to quit racing, believe me, I was forced out by a lack of sponsorship,” Guthrie said in a 2005 interview with Automotive News.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Guthrie said, “Males are getting sponsorships and women can’t. That sounds unfair. But who cares about fair? … Sponsors want the publicity that racing brings. But a successful woman driver will get 10 times the attention that a man will get. So, now, what really is important?”
Over the course of her career, she proved the argument that women couldn’t handle top-tier racing wrong, paving the way for women to compete professionally. Guthrie’s helmet and racing suit are now located in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. She is currently in the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame, the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, and the Sports Car Club of America Hall of Fame.
Lyn St. James (1947 – Present)
Lyn St. James was the first woman to be named Rookie of the Year at the Indianapolis 500 after her 1992 race. She was 53 during the 2000 Indianapolis 500, one of her last races. During this race, she was the oldest driver in the field, challenging attitudes against not just women in motorsports but also older race car drivers.
Her racing career began in 1973 in an Amateur Sports Car Club of America race. This spurred her determination to compete in the IndyCar series, a dream she accomplished in 1988, with the help of driver Dick Simon. Simon provided the car, while St. James worked hard to secure a sponsorship. After being rejected by more than 150 companies, she finally secured sponsorship from JCPenney.
Later on, St. James pursued a partnership with Ford after seeing an article titled “Ford and Feminism” in Car and Driver magazine. She finally achieved a meeting with the company in 1980, where she met Ford public relations executive Walter Hayes at a Ford dealer show.
Credit: Lyn St James, Ford
In 1992, St. James became the first woman to gain the title of the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year. Throughout her career, she achieved numerous victories, including two class wins at the 24 Hours of Daytona, 17 IndyCar starts, and a class win at the 1990 12 Hours of Sebring.
Although she no longer races today, she remains in the public eye and advocates for women’s continued participation in motorsports. St. James is a co-founder of Women in Motorsports North America and encourages women to participate in motorsports as drivers, engineers, representatives, media, and in other roles.
“There’s still work to be done. And I’m going to keep pushing until I know the next generation doesn’t have to fight the same battles I did.”
