Sarah McCune and Indy Ladies

okeefe · 5 Feb 2006, 18:07 (Ref:1516038)

I've been researching the aspect of women in racing for a series of columns I've been approached by two sites about writing. As such, I've come across the attached article from Lyn St. James' site - which clearly is a few years old. I've not watched even one Indy race, nor followed the series much but I intend to this season. Could anyone give me a heads up on how any of these ladies mentioned here in the Indy aspect of things made out, or send me some links about something current on them in Indy? Thanks.

Here's the article - I hope it's not too big:
<removed for copyright reasons - please visit link to read article - EP>
http://www.lynstjames.com/women_fast_track.htm

drdisque · 6 Feb 2006, 08:21 (Ref:1516401)

interestingly, Legge has made the most of her career since then. she was series runner up in Toyota Atlantics last year and is a strong possibility to earn a spot in the Champ Car World Series next year.

Sarah McCune ran one race in the Infiniti Pro Series in 2005 and qualified first, but crashed out. She may be back for more races this year, but I haven't specifically seen her name mentioned in anything.

Sondi Eden has gone to winged sprint cars and is at a nationally competetive level there. She may be hoping to go to NASCAR.

www.racerchicks.com has bios on most of these people but some of them are a little outdated.

Rob29 · 6 Feb 2006, 09:11 (Ref:1516424)

Unfortunately Sarah McCune 's site has been 'under construction' for some time!
Mishael Abbott also did a couple of IPS rounds and is hoping to resume this year.

okeefe · 6 Feb 2006, 15:07 (Ref:1516601)

Hey thanks guys! Yes, K.Legge is sure on the rise in Champ Car! And just becoming interested in Indy, I think Danica is a racer through and through! I encountered the construction site too for McCune. I've since ascertained that Juliana is a Canadian and that Rossella has an engineering degree and has been busy in that regard within the sport. I like stories like that too - women engineers. Sometimes those important behind the scenes jobs go unnoticed whether performed by men or women! I really enjoyed learning some about Janet Guthrie as I love history. Thanks for the info and please keep me posted of any "untold" stories of ladies who have furthered the "cause" of ladies in racing - that's what I'd like to focus on. The media takes care of the limelight racers - I'd like to learn more about some of the pioneers who helped along the way too. Thanks again.

okeefe · 6 Feb 2006, 15:39 (Ref:1516617)

WOW - i'm not crazy about the term "chick" - but that is a terrific link - thanks again. Outdated suits me fine - those are the things I don't know from the "now" focused media.

Rob29 · 6 Feb 2006, 16:10 (Ref:1516630)

Quote:

Originally Posted by okeefe

WOW - i'm not crazy about the term "chick" -

Nor me-I did query it with them-seems this site is run by women and they are happy with it-its a US site-would be regarded as offensive here in UK!
I can provide links for drivers from UK and other parts of the world if these are of interest. Canada seems to have a higher percentage of females than most countries.

Rob29 · 6 Feb 2006, 18:17 (Ref:1516700)

Doing a little research,looks like of the 6 ladies tested by Lyn St.James only Sarah McCune has done anything since! The italian lady is also resident in Georgia.(USA)

okeefe · 6 Feb 2006, 18:17 (Ref:1516701)

Yes yes yes please Rob26 - and thanks!

Rob29 · 6 Feb 2006, 18:26 (Ref:1516706)

http://www.sarahkavanagh.com/
http://www.gokatherine.com/ Katherine Legge
http://www.amandawhitaker.com/news_f2_pre_season.shtm
http://www.bwrdc.co.uk/ Lots of links for UK club racers here
http://www.fionaleggate.co.uk/
http://www.raceladies.de/ Mainly germans!

okeefe · 6 Feb 2006, 18:50 (Ref:1516738)

Wow - some I've not even heard of yet - thank you so much Rob26!

okeefe · 6 Feb 2006, 20:50 (Ref:1516846)

wow. Sarah Kavanagh sure worked hard for her time in the F1 car in 2001; then was considered seriously in 2004, but sponsorship trouble so it didn't work out for her! I'm impressed. Hope she gets to where she wants to be in her own good time!

JohnSSC · 7 Feb 2006, 04:48 (Ref:1517004)

Sort of off topic, but you may want to look up Denise McCluggage (hope I spelled that right) and Donna Mae Mims - she is a local girl here in Pittsburgh who was a pretty hot shoe in SCCA Production cars years ago. Known for having pink cars, I believe. She still works as a marshall.

Denise is a good writer who has driven rally, sports cars and all manner of other things and quite competitively.

Not all the good women drivers made it to Indy...

CARacer · 7 Feb 2006, 11:57 (Ref:1517202)

ChampCar has a group of ex-racer girls that drive pace cars with VIP's and sponsors around the track at speed in-between sessions during ChampCar events. Check out their bios for their respective racing experience. They may also still have their own individual websites with more info on their careers.

They were all pretty quick during their time, but due to lack of sponsorship and/or opportunity to be in the best teams decided to end their racing careers and settled for being hired by ChampCar for the Pace Car Team. Not such a bad job, at least they get paid to drive and travel to all ChampCar races. Some are married to race car drivers or persons working in the Industry.

http://www.champcarworldseries.com/PaceTeam/Drivers.asp

Here's an active race girl that races in Grand Am, but is trying to get into ChampCar. She recently did a test in Sebring with HVM in November or December. She is quite successful in the Grand Am DP, but it is really her co-drivers that are very quick. She is ok, but not as good as Katherine Legge. One thing she has is the backing of the CITGO Oil Company.

http://www.milkaduno.com/index.html

There are others. Will try to post more in the future.

indycool · 7 Feb 2006, 12:07 (Ref:1517210)

John, you spelled it right. Denise was a pioneer on both the driving AND writing end of women in motorsports.

I believe Louise Smith was the first woman to drive in NASCAR, back in the '50s.

O'Keefe, for your piece, Janet Guthrie was the first woman to make the field at Indy, but NOT the first to drive an Indy car in a race. That was Arlene Hiss, ex-wife of driver Mike Hiss, who raced at Phoenix previous to that and was running at the finish of a 150-miler, although something like 25 laps down.

okeefe · 7 Feb 2006, 12:54 (Ref:1517238)

You guys ROCK! Merci bien! I can't wait to look them all up! I hope I'm not pushing my luck here asking for more and more.... but does anyone know about the Powder Puffs (the website was down). Thanks again so very much (keeps me out of trouble in the silly season....)

macdaddy · 7 Feb 2006, 18:05 (Ref:1517408)

I'm not lending much to the conversation here, but my daughters are big fans of Ashley Taws. Not so much because of her, but because of the bright pink "Barbie" car that she campaigns.

Rob29 · 7 Feb 2006, 18:10 (Ref:1517413)

I think Ashley has retired.

okeefe · 7 Feb 2006, 18:44 (Ref:1517425)

MacDaddy - you've added MUCH by that post - I've often wondered who it was in that pink barbie car! About 2 years ago I caught only bits and pieces of a program where some young female racers were being interviewed. It showed Danica signing an autograph and talking to a little girl about Jim Russell school (where the little girl said she wanted to go like Danica) - and it also showed the pink Barbie car lady - but I did not catch the name! Thanks!

Allan Craighead · 7 Feb 2006, 19:53 (Ref:1517457)

Hey guys,

Couple quick notes. Ashley "retired" after the Barbie sponsorship money went elsewhere, as she does not have the financial resources. Last i heard she was studying engineer in school.

Rossella Manfrinato, who tested as part of Lynn St. James program, races in amateur racing in the US and is an race engineer with lead Star Mazda team Andersen Racing.

Cheers,

Al Craighead

rustyfan · 9 Feb 2006, 09:22 (Ref:1518608)

While not open-wheel, the ARCA opener at Daytona this month will see no less than four women - Erin Crocker, Christi Passmore, Amanda Gogel and Jayme Beck - try to qualify (out of the record 71(!) entries). Crocker, the only woman to ever win a World of Outlaws race, should have a good shot at a top finish.

okeefe · 9 Feb 2006, 12:48 (Ref:1518796)

I'll be sure and watch for that - thanks!

rustyfan · 9 Feb 2006, 14:41 (Ref:1518883)

I should have added that ARCA qualifying is scheduled for 11:05am tomorrow Friday, with the race set to get underway 4:10pm on Saturday.

EDIT - Speaking of Janet Guthrie, she made 33 NASCAR Cup starts between 1976 and 1980, with a best finish of sixth in 1977 at Bristol Motor Speedway (of all places).

Rob29 · 9 Feb 2006, 15:16 (Ref:1518904)

Quote:

Originally Posted by rustyfan

I should have added that ARCA qualifying is scheduled for 11:05am tomorrow Friday, with the race set to get underway 4:10pm on Saturday.

.

May have to wait some time to see this here on TV,as Motors TV are curently showing a round from last July in which Erin Crocker finished a brilliant 2nd.

rustyfan · 9 Feb 2006, 15:30 (Ref:1518908)

She's had her ups and downs, but Erin Crocker is definitely a very talented lady, and with the Ray Evernham-team behind her I think she could go quite far.

Crocker will actually pull double-duty during this years' Daytona Speedweeks since she will be back for the truck race later this month as well, and she is scheduled to do the full NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season for Evernham this year.

Come to think of it, stock car racing has seen quite a few female drivers over the last couple of years, such as Shawna Robinson, Tina Gordon, Deborah Renshaw, Kelly Sutton and more recently the ones I mentioned above as well (Crocker and Passmore in particular).

Robinson made eight NASCAR Cup starts between 2001 and 2002, but unfortunately with rather limited results (and an average finish of 36.8), and that was also the last time a female driver had a shot at the Cup series.

macdaddy · 20 Feb 2006, 19:45 (Ref:1527279)

Okeefe, you may find this article interesting.

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