INTERVIEW: New ’30 for 30′ focuses on Janet Guthrie, first woman to qualify for Indy 500, Daytona 500
Photo: ESPN’s 30 for 30 is set to premiere Qualified, the story of Janet Guthrie, the first woman to qualify for the Indy 500 and Daytona 500. Photo courtesy of Estate of Bettye Lane / Provided by Sunshine Sachs with permission.
Janet Guthrie has lived an extraordinary life as a trailblazer and athlete who broke down many barriers for female race car drivers. She is the first woman to ever qualify for the Indianapolis 500 and Daytona 500, and her remarkable story is the subject of the latest 30 for 30 documentary on ESPN.
The new film, directed by Jenna Ricker, premieres on the network Tuesday, May 28 at 8 p.m.
Guthrie, who originally was an aerospace engineer and flight instructor, made history in 1977 when she qualified for that year’s the Indy 500, the world-renowned motorsport contest. Later on that same year, she became the first woman to compete in the Daytona 500, a NASCAR race.
However, in the 1970s, she faced a tremendous amount of sexism, and her quest to attain sponsorship greatly impacted her career moving forward.
Qualified, the 30 for 30 documentary, delves into all of these issues and more. Viewers can expect both archival footage from 40 years ago and modern-day interviews with Guthrie and other racers.
“I had some second thoughts,” Guthrie said in a recent phone interview about her participation in the documentary. “Jenna was very persuasive. Mostly I thought — and she brought it up — that I hoped this would get my book back into print. The publisher went out of business, and I think of my book as my legacy. And she said she thought the documentary would be of help in that.”
Guthrie’s motorsports career included races in both Indy cars and NASCAR cup racing. She recognized at the time that she was a trailblazer, and this historical importance stayed with her as she trained and raced.
“I was more cautious than a racing driver normally would be because I knew that if anything happened it would be very difficult not only for me but for women in the future, but then after they got used to the idea that I knew what I was doing and could give them some good competition, I was able to loosen that up a little,” she said. “My family definitely questioned it. It’s not in the family value system. My brother is a retired, as they say, emeritus professor of anthropology at Fordham [University]. He was Phi Beta Kappa. That’s the family values system, and I believe my father never got over feeling that racing was a frivolous activity. And none of them could understand my passion for the sport.”
When Guthrie qualified for the Indy 500, she was surprised by the discrimination she encountered, mostly because she had spent 13 years in sports car racing and had few incidents of being shut out.
“I could count the incidents in 13 years on the fingers of one hand, but the hullabaloo, the commotion, the notion that women couldn’t do these things was a very big surprise to me,” Guthrie said. “But whatever it took to get my hands on race cars at that level, I figured I could deal with.”
In 1977, the first year she made the field, she had a lot of thoughts in her mind during the Indy 500. What took center stage was wondering who was behind her, what kind of driver that person was and every single detail of the tracks. She was in her element and focused.
That experience, recreated in the film with palpable energy, will be on display for a whole new generation to appreciate. Guthrie, even though she was hesitant at the beginning, now believes Qualified is a solid document of her efforts.
“Yes, I think they did a very good job,” she said. “They came up with footage from so long ago that I had even forgotten about myself, and my brothers and sisters think that they did a good job also. … I hope [the message] is that you go where your talent and your desire lead you, and nothing about being a woman should hold you back.”
She added: “I think that had I been a man with the same record I would have the funding to continue, which is what forced me out. I couldn’t find the sponsorship, and racing is of course a very expensive sport. And to the end of my life I’ll regret that I didn’t find the funding to continue, particularly in NASCAR cup racing, where I ran enough races, a grand total of 33. … And I really loved racing. It was a passion. Indy cars I cannot make that claim because I only ran 11 Indy car races. I mean, I think I could have won Indy car races, but I’m not as certain of it as I am of NASCAR cup races.”
Today Guthrie doesn’t watch too many races, but she does try to stay up to date with what the female competitors are doing. Pippa Mann, for example, is someone she has been watching. She is also hopeful when watching Katherine Legge and Simona de Silvestro.
“What’s lacking is the funding,” Guthrie said about women in the sport. “I always said that what we need in this game is a woman with the talent and the desire and the commitment and her own fortune as well.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Qualified, a new 30 for 30 documentary, will air Tuesday, May 28 at 8 p.m. on ESPN. Click here for more information.
