Whether in the executive offices or driving in races themselves, women have trail-blazed their way into the sport of NASCAR. In a male-dominated industry, women have stood up for themselves and made their mark. Along with most industries, women have a lot of trials and tribulations that they have to face in order to stake their claim and make their mark in the sport.
On June 19th, 1949 at the Charlotte Speedway, Sara Christian became the first female NASCAR racer in history. Sara competed in the first-ever NASCAR Cup Series race, placing 14th in her new No. 71 Ford. She had seven career starts during the NASCAR Cup Series, her most memorable race being in 1949 at the Heidelburg Raceway in Pittsburgh where she placed fifth overall.
Another name that comes to mind when speaking of the trailblazers of NASCAR is Janet Guthrie. Before Janet began racing in 1963, Guthrie was originally an aerospace engineer. She became the first woman to both qualify AND compete in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500. Guthrie’s most memorable finish came in 1977 at the Bristol Motor Speedway, in which she placed sixth place. This remains the best finish by a woman in what is now known as today’s NASCAR’s premier series, a mark only matched by Danica Patrick in 2014. Guthrie was also one of the first women elected into the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1980. In 2006, Guthrie was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.
When thinking about modern-day NASCAR and the women who race today, names like Danica Patrick, Natalie Decker, Amber Balcaen, and many more come to mind. Amber Balcaen became the first Canadian-born woman to win a NASCAR-sanctioned race in the United States in 2016. Balcaen, 30, was born in Winnipeg, and she considers herself to be a “one-woman show”. A lot of struggle, trials, and tribulations came to Balcaen because she does everything on her own, such as learning business skills to sign million-dollar sponsorship contracts alongside racing amongst her peer’s men and women.
In 2004, NASCAR developed a program that empowered women and ethnically diverse drivers called the “Drive for Diversity” program. The program aims for diversity across the sport, including the pit crew. Though NASCAR was founded in 1948, the organization didn’t have its first female pit crew member, Christmas Abbott, until 2012. Brehanna Daniels became the first Black female over-the-wall tire changer in NASCAR history after becoming an alumni of the “Drive for Diversity” program.
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