Janet Guthrie

Flying obviously didn't provide enough of a thrill for a 17-year-old girl in 1955.

After earning a pilot's license, working as an aviation engineer and passing the first round of eliminations for NASA's Scientist-Astronaut program, Janet Guthrie wanted more -- so she turned more seriously to racing.

Guthrie began racing in 1963 after graduating in 1960 from the University of Michigan, where she studied physics.

Guthrie competed for 13 years in Sports Car Club of America races, as well as in international endurance races, such as the Sebring 12-Hour (where she was twice first in class), the Daytona 24-Hour and the Watkins Glen 500.

At both Sebring and Daytona, her teammates were women.

After plenty of SCCA wins, Guthrie tried -- but failed -- to qualify for the 1976 Indianapolis 500. In that same year, the Iowa City, Iowa, native became the first woman to compete in a NASCAR Winston Cup event. Louise Smith was the first to compete at NASCAR's highest level in 1949 when Winston Cup was known as Strictly Stock.

Guthrie took home a 15th-place finish in the Charlotte 600, driving a Chevy for First Union National Bank vice president Lynda Ferreri at what was then known as Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Guthrie made history in 1977 when she became the first woman to earn a starting spot in the Daytona 500. She was running eighth 10 laps from the end when her engine went sour -- she finished 12th and was the top rookie of the race.

She gave the Indy 500 another shot in 1977 and on May 29 became the first woman to compete in the Indy 500. Twenty-seven laps into the race, though, Guthrie's day was finished when the car had mechanical problems.

In 1978, however, she finished ninth at Indy with a team that she formed and managed herself. With 11 starts in Indy-car events, Guthrie earned more than $84,000. In her last Indy-car race, the 1979 Milwaukee 200, she would exit with the best finish -- fifth place -- of her open-wheel career.

Guthrie's greatest pleasure was her gradual acceptance by drivers on the NASCAR and Indy-car circuits. Hampered by lack of sponsorship, she continued racing, with a best Cup Series finish of sixth at Bristol in 1977.

To complement her accomplishments as a pilot, a flight instructor and an aerospace engineer, Guthrie's induction in 1980 into the Women's Sports Hall of Fame made it official: she was an accomplished, successful driver and is a credit to her sport.