![]() I got a Ford Pinto to race so I could go get my license. He looked at me and said 'Do you want to do this?' and I said 'Yes!' So after he got his license, I got mine. My husband went first, and I had so much fun just being there, even though I was nothing but crew, but I loved the experience of the whole thing. I became a member of the SCCA and found out you had to go to driver school to get your competition license. Ultimately I found the Sports Car Club of America and went to West Palm Beach. "I remember doing research, you know this was way before the internet and all that, so I remember looking in the Yellow Pages. So then the whole bug was to find out how people do this. I remember seeing Steve McQueen race there. And then we went to the 12 Hours of Sebring. I sat outside turn 1, and I had my blanket and my cooler, and we stayed all night. We went to the 24 Hours of Daytona, and I was like 'Oh my God!' That was the first time I ever saw road racing. Her long and varied career makes one thing clear: few people have played a bigger role in advancing a marginalized group within the racing world."I moved to Florida, got married, and the guy I married was kind of a car and motorcycle guy. ![]() Additionally, she created the Women’s Sports Foundation Project Podium Scholarship Grant, has written two memoirs, and continues to give motivational speeches. In 1994, she founded the Women in the Winner’s Circle Foundation, which promotes women leaders in the automotive and motorsports industries, and she personally mentors young women in motorsports. She has made a mark as a motivational speaker, author, commentator and motor sports ambassador. James has continued to wield influence in the world of racing. In the years following her driving career, St. At Nurburgring in 1979, her AMC Spirit team achieved first and second in class. James has also participated in endurance racing in Europe: most notably, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 24 Hours of Nurburgring. She made seven starts in the Indy 500, eleven CART and five Indy Racing League starts, two class victories at the 24 Hours of Daytona, and a GTO class win at the 1990 12 Hours of Sebring. James became the first woman to win th e Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year award in 1992 and participate d in 17 Indy C ar races over the next eight years. James was the first woman to qualify since then. One decade earlier, Simon had helped make Janet Guthrie’s first Indy opportunity possible, and St. She reportedly asked more than 150 companies for funding before JCPenney agreed, giving her the chance to finally ride with Simon. It’s a beautiful thing.” When it came to securing sponsorship to drive, St. You just slide down into that baby, and you become one with it. “You literally wear the car like you’re putting on your clothes. “You become totally one with the car,” she said. James got the opportunity to test drive for well-known driver and owner Dick Simon i n 1988 in Memphis – and she was instantly hooked. “But the thought of actually racing it at the speedway was so over the top of my mind.”Īgainst all odds, St. James has said, reflecting on that period. “I would think, ‘w ouldn’t it be so cool to just drive an Indy car someplace, someday? ’ ” St. After g aining success as a factory driver for Ford, she hungered for the experience of driving in the Ind圜ar series, though at first it seemed like a far-off dream. James got her start in road racing at a time when women were largely excluded from the sport, making her debut in the 1973 Amateur Sports Car Club of America race. She also earned a piano teaching certificate from the St. James graduated from Andrew’s School for Girls where she majored in business. James’ illustrious career has distinguished her as one of the most successful female racecar drivers in history.īorn in Willoughby, Ohio in 1947, St.
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