Lella Lombardi, the only woman to ever score points in Formula 1, made her NASCAR debut in 1977. But the full story is laden with drama.
Formula 1 fans know Lella Lombardi’s name for countless reasons: She’s the only woman to score points in F1, the only F1 driver to score a career total of 0.5 points, and the only out gay driver F1 has ever seen. But nowwe’re digging into her short-lived NASCAR Cup Series career.
But the backlash got worse after Guthrie made history by becoming the first woman to ever qualify for the Indianapolis 500 in May of 1977. Agitated racing fans flooded enthusiast magazines with letters alleging that IndyCar had become a “pantywaist” sport, and that if a woman could race there, then it was too easy a discipline.“They don’t want the status of their sport to be downgraded, as professions often are when women enter them.
“I can’t see Lella being impressed by the other drivers in the race,” Elford told the press, “but Christine may be intimidated by the grandeur of the occasion. Lella is very aggressive. She will not be impressed by a Richard Petty or a Cale Yarborough breathing down her neck. Christine might be.” If Elford had a high opinion of the European women racing in the Firecracker 400, many of the NASCAR sect didn’t.
While Janet Guthrie wrote extensively about her impressions of the uncomfortable media coverage in her autobiography, we don’t know much about how Lombardi felt — though perhaps the language barrier prevented her from seeing the worst of it.
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