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Guthrie takes anniversary laps
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
DAVID GRIFFIN / NASCAR SCENE
Janet Guthrie took a spin around Lowe's Motor Speedway Tuesday to mark the 30th anniversary of her debut at the track.
Guthrie, the first woman to ever compete in the Indianapolis 500 (1977), also competed in the Daytona 500 that season and other NASCAR events, earning a top finish of sixth at Bristol. Her top qualifying positions that season of ninth at Talladega and Bristol remain the best posted by a female driver in NASCAR's elite series.
Bruton Smith, CEO of Speedway Motorsports Inc., worked it out to get Guthrie to Charlotte to compete in the World 600, now known as the Coca-Cola 600, after she failed to qualify for the 1976 Indy 500 in an underfinanced car.
Smith sent marketing expert Max Muhleman to Indianapolis to court Guthrie for his NASCAR race once it became clear she wouldn't make the 500.
"They went up there, [and] they started promoting the idea of her coming here," Smith said Tuesday.
After one day, Muhleman called back and asked Smith if he wanted him to come home. He just didn't think Guthrie was coming to Charlotte.
"I said, 'You're not selling hard enough. Just don't come unless you've got her with you," Smith said. "The next day he called and said, 'She's packing.'"
Smith scurried to get a car with Lynda Ferreri as an owner and Kelly Girl as a sponsor as well as to put together a crew.
Guthrie qualified and finished 15th.
She heard the talk that she couldn't make the race, then the talk that she couldn't finish it. Legendary driver and owner Junior Johnson helped her with the car's setup, and Guthrie ignored the speculation. Still, at the end of the race, she felt the impact of that 600-mile distance.
"At the end of the 600 miles, I was about as wiped out as I'd ever been in my life," she said. "I was running faster at the end of the race than I had been at the beginning because I had gotten used to the traffic, I started to figure out who was who in my mirrors and next to me and all that. ...
"A header had broken. I was getting carbon monoxide poisoning. It was definitely a difficult thing, but it worked out all right."
2009 Sprint Cup Race for the Chase Standings
Driver Standings after the Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500
| 1 | Jimmie Johnson | 6492 |
| 2 | Mark Martin | -108 |
| 3 | Jeff Gordon | -169 |
| 4 | Kurt Busch | -211 |
| 5 | Tony Stewart | -285 |
| 6 | Juan Pablo Montoya | -289 |
| 7 | Greg Biffle | -321 |
| 8 | Denny Hamlin | -352 |
| 9 | Ryan Newman | -411 |
| 10 | Kasey Kahne | -476 |
| 11 | Carl Edwards | -520 |
| 12 | Brian Vickers | -666 |
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