Elizabeth Kleinschmidt

Elizabeth can be seen briefly in her Oldsmobile Cutlass, at the back of the grid, at the start

Elizabeth Kleinschmidt raced sportscars in the USA in the 1970s and '80s, almost always alongside her husband, Charles, also known as Chuck. It isn't clear when she began competing, but it was probably after her marriage.

She entered a few big races between 1979 and 1981. In 1979, the Kleinschmidts plus Leroy Dickson drove an AMC Spirit to 22nd in the Daytona 6 Hour race. Elizabeth was slated to drive in the 1980 event, but did not start. In 1981, she entered the Sebring 12 Hours with Charles and Al Levenson, driving a Chevrolet Corvette. They started, and were classified finishers in 70th place, despite being withdrawn before the end. This was due to a freak accident in the pitlane, when Charles was hit by another car and injured. Elizabeth never raced again, and Charles only entered one more race in 1984.

In between, Elizabeth entered the 1980 Kelly Girl Challenge, driving solo in an Oldsmobile Cutlass. This championship ran alongside IMSA and offered prize money for female drivers finishing in the top ten. That year, she was up against Kathy Rude and Judy Stropus, as well as eventual champion Gene Felton. She scored at least one top-ten finish. 

Janis Taylor

Janis and Del Russo Taylor in 1983

Janis Taylor raced sportscars in the 1980s, in the USA.

She was from Denver, but settled in Florida. Her father had been an automotive enthusiast and she had grown up around fast cars, dabbling in the drag racing scene in her youth. In a 1983 interview with the Poughkeepsie Journal, she described buying her own first car at "15 or 16". It was a Triumph Spitfire and she worked on it herself.

Her first year of major competition was 1980, when she drove an Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV in the Sebring 12 Hours. She and her two team-mates, including her husband, Del Russo Taylor, did not finish. Del Russo married Janis in 1974 and was an experienced racer.

Her second attempt, in 1981, was as part of an all-female team in the Alfetta, with local drivers Carol Cone and Pat Godard. The team only had one male member, a chief mechanic who was allergic to oil. Two of the crew were air stewardesses. They had serious problems in the qualifying race, but managed to get onto the grid for the 12 Hours. Sadly, the car expired on the first lap, with Janis at the wheel.

For the next two seasons, she mostly drove a Buick-engined Chevron GTP prototype in IMSA events, often sharing with Del Russo. She was named as the car owner in 1981. Their best result together was a 29th place in the Mid-Ohio 500km, from a 15th-place start.

Her activities included the Sebring 12 Hours, which she entered twice more in 1982 and 1983, once in the Chevron and once in a Ford Pinto, driving for different team owners and finishing once in 1982, in the Pinto.

As well as some outings with Del Russo, she drove different cars in the IMSA-supporting Kelly American Challenge, including a Chevrolet Camaro in 1983.

In 1984, she switched to a Pontiac Firebird owned by Walter Johnston as her main car. Her best result was 21st, in the 1984 Riverside 6 Hours. A 1985 Daytona entry in the Firebird went ahead without her in the driving line-up, which consisted of Del Russo, Bob Lee and John Hayes-Harlow. After this, she disappears from the entry lists.

(Image copyright Poughkeepsie Journal)

Vicki Smith

Vicki Smith raced sportscars up to international level in the early 1980s. 

She credited her interest in motorsport to her stepfather's Porsche, which she described herself as "crazy about" as a child. Her parents refused to support her racing endeavours until she had finished her education, probably hoping that she would forget about the whole thing. After dropping out of a journalism degree, she got herself a racing license in 1979 and set about finding a car. During her short career, she did not own any of the cars she raced in major events, depending on team owners to offer her drives. Fortunately, she was a Florida native and the Daytona and Sebring circuits were within easy reach.

Her first big race was the 1980 Sebring 12 Hours. She shared a Porsche 911 with car owner Klaus Bitterauf and James Moxley, and they finished 24th, seventh in the GTU class.

In a completely different car, an all-American AMC AMX, she tried the Sebring classic again in 1981. Again, she was sharing the car with its owner, Bob Lee, plus Tom Alan Marx. They just about got to the finish in 42nd place. This was the second time she had competed alongside Lee, having shared a Ford Maverick with him at the Daytona 6 Hours the previous year.

Her partnership with Bitterauf and his "Klaus Haus" team continued, on and off. In 1982, she was 25th at Daytona, driving a Porsche 911 and 22nd at Sebring. The Klaus Haus team, consisting of Vicki, Bitterauf and Scott Flanders, contested four more IMSA events that year, with a best finish of 17th, at Charlotte.

Driving an Audi 80 for a different team in the Mosport 6 Hours, Vicki was 16th with Edgar Doren and Peter Aschenbrenner. 

During the 1983 season, she switched between the Klaus Haus Porsche and a Pontiac Firebird. Her best finish was another 16th, at Miami, in the Firebird. This was a solo drive. With the Klaus Haus team, she competed at the big Daytona and Sebring races, plus the 500km of Road Atlanta. She did not finish at Daytona or Sebring, but was just about classified at Road Atlanta, in 35th place.

She continued in 1984, driving different cars. One of these drives was her first-ever outing in a Group C prototype. She drove an Aston Martin-engined Nimrod NRA/C2 at the Daytona 24 Hours, sharing with Jack Miller (the team owner) and Carlos Ramirez. They were classified 49th, although they did not finish. The Nimrod project was not hugely successful and the NRA/C2 had a poor finishing record. Vicki never drove it again, although she did join Bitterauf in his 911 once more for that year's Sebring 12 Hours. They did not finish.

This was Vicki's last major race appearance. She was linked to a Lola T616 drive in the 1987 Sebring 12 Hours, but did not compete. From 1985, she was a member of the PPG Pace Car team which followed Champ Car.

One rather alarming footnote in her career was a short relationship with driver and later, convicted serial killer, Christopher Wilder. After he was shot by police in 1984, she claimed that she "never had a clue"about his proclivities.

She became more and more interested in motorcycles after 1985, working as a racetrack photographer and becoming a respected expert on Ducati machines.

Hanna Zellers

 

Hanna Zellers is a versatile American driver who has competed in single-seaters, stock cars and sportscars.

She began her career in cars in 2013 at the Skip Barber Racing School, after racing karts from 2007 until then.

After a part-season spent campaigning a Mazda Miata (MX-5) in SCCA races, she moved on to open-wheel competition in 2015. She raced in the SCCA Formula Enterprise series in 2015 and 2016, winning two events. She was eleventh in the 2015 championship after an accident in the end-of-season runoffs, but bounced back the following year with a second place overall. Her car was the Mazda-engined Van Diemen DP06 sanctioned by the championship. 

Her single-seater career stalled temporarily In 2017. She attempted to branch out into stock cars, taking part in the NASCAR K&N Series race at Millville. She did not finish. 

It was back to single-seaters in 2018 and she did the second half of the US Formula 4 championship, supported by Jay Howard Driver Development. She recorded a best finish of 20th at the Circuit of the Americas. She also guested in the F1600 championship at Bowmanville, finishing twelfth once. Bowmanville was also the scene of her IMSA Prototype Challenge debut a month later, earning a ninth place. She did the next two rounds at Virginia and Road America, driving a Norma run by Five Miles Out Racing. 

After failing to get through the initial driver assessments for the all-female W Series, she raced several cars in 2019. She did some rounds of the US touring car (TC America) championship in a BMW, scoring best finishes of seventh and eighth at Las Vegas towards the end of the season. Sometimes doubling up over a race weekend, she also competed in the one-make Saleen Cup, winning the Young Driver class at Road America once. 

A break from top-level racing followed, although she still did some events with the World Racing League. In 2022, she raced in the IMSA Prototype Challenge, driving a Ligier LMP3. She was tenth in the championship with George Staikos, with a best finish of seventh at Mosport. Despite a dramatic accident where she rolled the car at Virginia, she came back to finish the season. The accident looked nasty but she was unhurt.

At the beginning of the year, she was third in class in the Dubai 24 Hours, driving a BMW M2 for the Yeeti team.

The IMSA MX5 Challenge was her destination for 2023, although the season did not start as well as she hoped. Her car had problems with its differential in its first race at Daytona, then an engine mount broke. Hanna was also suffering from a severe sinus infection which required surgery. She did not plan on missing much of the championship, but in the end only did six races.

(Image copyright Hanna Zellers)

Sheena Monk

 

Sheena Monk races sportscars in the USA. 

At first she raced in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo. She picked up her first podium at the end of 2017 at Imola, in her second-ever race in the Huracan. The Trofeo was her first experience of motorsport, having undergone a fast-track racing license course with Lamborghini when she was 28. She had never raced anything before that.

Her first full racing season was the 2018 Lamborghini Super Trofeo, competing in the LB Cup. She scored her first class win at Virginia International Raceway. 

Sheena made the headlines for the wrong reasons in September 2018 when she crashed her Huracan heavily at Laguna Seca. This was the last meeting of the season and she missed the final race, although this was the last of her worries at the time. Her car may have suffered a brake failure going into the Corkscrew and she hit a tyre wall, leaving her with nine separate fractures.

In 2019, still in pain and healing from her injuries, she returned to the Super Trofeo in the States. Despite her setbacks, she ended the season fourth in the championship with five thirds and one second place. She travelled to Europe for the World Final and was fifth at Jerez. This came after she had tried out for the all-female W Series in Austria. She did not progress beyond the first selection event, but it did not harm her career.

2020 was a great year for her; she raced a McLaren 570S in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge and won the Grand Sport class at Road America. She and Corey Lewis were ninth in the championship. 

A second season in the car gave her sixth in the championship, with one podium position at Watkins Glen, a third. She and Spencer Pigot were more consistent this year and only out of the top ten twice, which included the Lime Rock round which they did not finish.

Pairing up with Kyle Marcelli, she tackled the Pilot Challenge again in 2022, initially driving a Toyota Supra GT4. They were twelfth in the Grand Sport class at Daytona, but Kyle had a big accident at Sebring, necessitating a change of car for the rest of the season. It took them some time to get to grips with the Ford Mustang, but by the end of the year they were up to speed, finishing third at Lime Rock and second at Virginia. They were eighth overall.

An all-female partnership with Katherine Legge followed in 2023, driving an Acura for Gradient Racing in the IMSA GTD class. They were eighth in a hotly-contested class, including a class fourth at the Daytona 24 Hours with two other co-drivers. This was their best result; their highest finish in a shorter race was fifth, at Watkins Glen.

The GTD campaign for Gradient continued in 2024. Sheena was the principal driver this time, doing all eleven rounds. Her usual team-mate was Stevan McAleer, with Tatiana Calderon joining them for five races, and Katherine Legge for two, Daytona and Sebring. They were 19th and 17th in these two races, despite not finishing at Daytona. Sheena's personal best finish was a class third at Elkhart Lake and she was twelfth in the championship.

(Image copyright Sheena Monk)

Lisa Caceres

 

Lisa Caceres raced sportscars and saloons in the USA in the 1980s. She is probably most famous for winning races in the SCCA Endurance Series in 1987, with Desiré Wilson. 

They won the Sears Point race, in a Saleen Mustang. Lyn St. James and Donna Sue Landon were also members of their team, and they raced together throughout 1987 in endurance events, with Molly Elliott filling in with Desire was unavailable.  

She had driven a Saleen before, in 1986, sharing with Steve Saleen himself and Alice Ridpath in the SCCA Endurance championship. She was 21st in the Longest Day of Nelson 24-hour race and 15th in the 6 Hours of Road Atlanta. A slightly different team, including Skeeter McKitterick, was twelfth in the 24 Hours of Mosport, with a class win. The final race of the year, at Mid-Ohio, resulted in a 17th place. 

In June 1985, she entered the IMSA Firestone Firehawk race at St Louis, double-driving in two different Camaros with Les Linley. This was her first appearance in a pro-level race after a few seasons of production car competition.

That year, Lisa drove a Chevrolet Camaro in at least one IMSA race, at Riverside, running in the GTO class. She did not finish, but was classified 41st despite crashing out after a tyre blowout. Her car was struck by two other cars, leaving her with a broken jaw, three cracked ribs and a broken bone in her foot.

In a 1986 interview, she described how she had first started racing in 1982. She had been watching action at Sears Point and was asked by one of the Bob Bondurant racing school instructors whether she wanted a ride in a racing car. The experience inspired her so much that she signed up with the racing school as soon as she could.

Later, in 1996, after some time racing jet skis and karts, she drove a Chevrolet Lumina in the Pro GT-America series. 

As well as competitive motorsport, she works as a driving instructor, particularly in karts, and has done some screen driving stunts. 

(Image copyright The San Francisco Examiner)

Robin MccCall

Robin McCall is the youngest female driver to have raced in NASCAR, aged eighteen in 1982. 

She had a brief Winston Cup career in 1982, entering four races and starting two, both at Michigan. She did not qualify for two races at Charlotte, the first of which she entered a couple of days after graduating from high school. Her car was a Buick, owned by Jim Stacy. She did not finish either Michigan race, due to an engine failure at about half-distance in the first race and a crash early on the second. This was the end of her time in NASCAR; she had signed a five-year deal with Jim Stacy Racing but was unable to find the necessary funds to keep her seat. 

Robin had been racing full-sized stock cars for less than two years when she made her Cup debut, although she had been a successful midget racer from the age of eight. Throughout the 1970s she won multiple titles in her home state of Texas and beyond, including a Grand National championship in 1979. She spent 1981 racing in the All Pro Super Series in a Pontiac Firebird. 

Away from the Winston Cup, she raced on short tracks and in Late Models, before switching to sportscars in 1984. She returned to the All Pro Super Series in 1983, driving a Chevrolet Camaro. Her schedule took in tracks as far apart as Pensacola, Florida and Cayuga, Ontario, where she was 21st in the Molson 300. 

That year, her first foray into sportscars was the Lime Rock round of the Kelly American Challenge. She shared a Pontiac Le Mans with Bill Johnson.

She was linked with a 1984 NASCAR drive for TG Sheppard’s team, which was considering offering her a backup driver role, but this did not happen. Robin became something of an irregular racer and made one-off appearances in various championships. In 1985, she competed in SCCA Sports Renault as well as the Kelly American Challenge, where she shared a Camaro with Scott Flatt and finished ninth at East Rutherford.

She raced in the IMSA championship and in the 1985 Daytona 24 Hours. Her car was a Corvette run by Southern Racing, but she and her two co-drivers, Gary Baker and Joe Ruttman, did not finish. They made it to the 21st hour but were well down, having needed a lengthy pitstop for a new rear end.

In November that year, she married racer and crew chief Wally Dallenbach Jr. She was 21 and he was 22. 

She did make another appearance in IMSA in 1987, driving an Oldsmobile Toronado for Irv Hoerr’s team. She was fourteenth, from 28th on the grid. 

Later, she was a member of the PPG Pace Car team that provided safety cars and precision driving displays at CART and Indycar events. 

Her daughter Kate was born in 1996. She raced Late Models between 2014 and 2016.

Alice Graves

Alice Graves raced in IMSA in 1983 and 1984. She was regarded as America’s oldest female professional racing driver at the time, being in her fifties and a grandmother.

Her car was a Porsche 914/6, which she shared with her husband Richard Graves. They bought their first Porsche in 1976 and initially used it for road rallies with the Porsche Club of America.

In 1983, they entered the Road America, Pocono and Daytona Finale rounds, with a best finish of 17th at Pocono. 

In 1984, she raced at Mid-Ohio, Road America and Pocono. Their best finish was 25th at Mid-Ohio. The Porsche was not overly competitive, compared to newer 962s and Aston Martins. At this point, it was eight years old.

With its 2000cc, six-cylinder engine, the 914 was always rather underpowered compared to the giants of IMSA, but it normally held its own in its class. 

Alice owned and raced other cars, including a Datsun in which she won her class at the 1984 SCCA June Sprints at Elkhart Lake.

The Porsche was road-legal and according to Alice in an interview with the Chicago Tribune, she occasionally used it to go shopping, much to the dismay of her daughter. 

Both Alice and Richard retired from major competition at the end of the 1984 season.

(Image copyright Chicago Tribune/Jose More)

Linda Ludemann

Linda Ludemann raced in IMSA between 1987 and 1990, alongside Scott Schubot. She is the first recorded female winner of an IMSA title, having won the Lights class in 1989, but she is more widely known due to the 1989 “Linda Ludemann rule” which allowed a second driver in IMSA races to take a very limited role in order to get round the compulsory pitstops.

She and Scott Schubot, who was her boyfriend as well as her team-mate, competed in the Lights class in 1987, under the “S&L Racing” banner.  Both had earned their racing licenses a couple of years previously and this was their first major championship together. Initially, they drove a Tiga GT285, with a best finish of eighth at Watkins Glen. They were also 16th at Daytona, with Jim Brown. For the shorter races, normally three-hour events, they usually drove together, but Schubot sometimes drove alone.

The car was changed for a Spice SE88P in 1988, which was less reliable, and gave them a highest position of 15th, at the San Antonio street circuit and Lime Rock. 

The rule changes that brought in the “Linda Ludemann Rule” happened in time for the 1989 season. Prior to then, most IMSA races could be completed safely by a solo driver, although many teams depended on a paying amateur co-driver to cover their costs. In order to appease the teams and remove the single-driver advantage, a driver change became compulsory.

The rules stated that the second driver only had to cover a minimum of two laps and did not specify that these laps had to be during a green-flag period. 

Linda was never regarded as a slow or unskilled driver, but she was not as fast as Schubot. In newspaper interviews of the time, she admits to being a couple of seconds per lap slower around the track and often claims that she is not quite aggressive enough when passing. 

In a 1987 interview with the Fort Lauderdale News, she describes her role in the team as “to bring the car back safe and sound. Scott’s job is to drive as hard as he can. He’s just more aggressive. I’ve had to work awfully hard to learn to be aggressive.”

Even so, in the same interview, she talks of having to show her partner how to downshift correctly with a manual gearbox, something she had learned working as pit crew for her father.

Her peers were often more complimentary. Writing in 2015, Marshall Pruett said he was “semi-confident” that she and Schubot could have won without “playing games”. The same article quotes IMSA’s chief steward at the time, Marty Kaufman, calling Linda “a good shoe.”

In order to maximise his time in the car, their driver changes would generally happen during a caution period, during which Linda would jump in, complete a few token laps and then hand the car back to her boyfriend when the flag went green.

Reliability improved in 1989, and Linda became the first woman to win the Lights class, after victories at West Palm Beach, San Antonio, Topeka and Sears Point. The team were also top-ten finishers three times, with a high point of sixth. 

Linda only did a part-season in 1990, still in the Spice, but proved she was still competitive with an eighth at Miami and a class win at Topeka. Her season was affected by a fire during qualifying at Sebring, which destroyed their car. Linda initially found a seat in another SE88 run by Essex Racing, but did not start the race.

As well as sportscars, she occasionally raced single-seaters, becoming the first woman to race a Barber Saab in 1989. Early in her career, both she and Schubot raced Formula Fords and Linda did at least one season in Sports 2000. 

She did not compete in 1991. Schubot switched his attention to single-seater racing for several seasons after that and they may have split up.

Away from the track, Linda worked as a florist and owned her own flower shop.

(Image copyright racer.com)

Margie Smith-Haas

Margie (Mary Margaret) Smith-Haas is an American sportscar driver who raced at Le Mans in 1984 and 1985. She usually drove Porsches.

In 1984, she drove a Porsche 930 run by Charles Ivey Racing, sharing with Paul Smith and David Ovey. The car made it to just under half-distance before an oil leak triggered its retirement. The following year, she drove a J. Winther Denmark URD C83 prototype, which also did not finish. Its BMW engine expired after 141 laps, despite the best efforts of Margie, Jens Winther and David Mercer.

Le Mans was only a small part of Margie’s career. She was active in motorsport between 1978 1995, beginning when she was 28 years old and recently married to Paul Haas. The couple met competing in a time trial.

Her first major race was the Road Atlanta 500 Miles in 1979. She drove a Porsche 914 run by Personalized Porsche with Paul Haas and Wayne Baker. They were 27th overall and eleventh in class.

The Personalized Porsche car came out again for a second IMSA race, the Riverside 5 Hours in 1980. Margie was 26th, as part of a three-driver team with Paul and Jeff Scott.

A break from racing followed, but when Margie returned to competition in 1983 she was no less ambitious. She raced in Europe for the first time, beginning with the Monza 1000km in April. This was the first of four European Endurance Championship races she entered. Her car was a Group C Porsche CK5, shared with Tony Dron and team owner Richard Cleare. They retired early on with an oil leak.

She was scheduled to contest the Silverstone 1000km for Edgar Dören’s team but did not make the start, despite qualifying in 28th place. Her next event was the Brands Hatch 1000km, the first of two in a Charles Ivey Racing Porsche 930. Margie, Paul Smith and David Ovey took the Group B car to 15th place against the Group C leviathans, and then finished thirteenth at Mugello.

Having shared a track with motorsport royalty like Jacky Ickx and Bob Wollek for much of the season, Margie found herself among Hollywood royalty in April when she partnered actor Gene Hackman for the Riverside 6 Hours. She was driving a Toyota Celica run by Dan Gurney’s All-American Racers team. The event, which was overshadowed by the death of Rolf Stommelen, led to a 16th place for Margie.

She did some more European Endurance rounds in 1984, again in the Charles Ivey 930, but could not finish any of them, including Le Mans as mentioned above. Le Mans was not the only 24-hour she entered, however: she was part of a three-driver team for the Daytona 24 Hours, driving a Porsche 911 RSR for Team Dallas with Paul Gilgan and John Zouzelka. They were 27th, sixth in class.  

Later in the year she did her first race in the southern hemisphere. She was invited by Gebhardt Motorsport to drive its BMW-engined prototype at the Sandown 1000km in Australia, as part of an all-female team. Margie, Cathy Muller and Australian Sue Ransom managed 95 laps, somewhat under half-distance, before the car’s suspension gave way.

Margie’s 1985 Le Mans outing became her only big race of the year. She attempted to qualify for the Daytona 24 Hours in a Porsche 924 run by El Salvador Racing, but did not even make the official qualifying sessions. Her career was now in one of its leaner periods. In 1986, she tried to enter the Trans Am series in a Porsche 924, but the car was unreliable and never made the start of either race for which she officially registered.

She and Paul managed to get the 924 to two IMSA races in 1987, at Portland and Del Mar. They did enter more, but did not start. Margie was 27th in the Portland 300km and twelfth in the 45-minute Del Mar race, driving solo this time.

In 1988, she joined the American City Racing League, representing San Diego. This was the first year that the championship ran. Margie ran the three-car San Diego team that raced against similar teams from Hollywood, Sacramento and other US cities. Her own racing season was shortened as she spent the first part of it recovering from neck surgery after a road traffic accident.

She competed in the Sports 2000 class using a 2000cc one-make Sports 2000 car.. After a couple of seasons she became one of its leading drivers, finishing third in 1991 and winning the title in 1994 after leading for most of the season. This was the first win in a pro racing series for a female driver, in the USA at least.

Her last major sportscar race was the 1995 Daytona 24 Hours. Margie was back in a Group C car, driving a Spice SE90 for Screaming Eagles Racing. Her co-drivers included another Hollywood actor, Craig T Nelson. They did not finish following an accident.

Her last professional race looks to have been one of the ACRL rounds in 1996. She did four races in the series that year and was eleventh in the final standings.

She did return to the tracks briefly in 2002 for some races in the ACRL and was thirteenth overall.

After her retirement, she was a member of the all-female PPG Pace Car team attached to CART. At present, she runs a small company producing car-themed gifts, chiefly novelty cushions in the shape of famous racing cars.

(Image from bilmagasinet.dk)

Bonnie Henn

Bonnie, centre, with Janet Guthrie and Lyn St James

Bonnie Henn raced Ferraris and Porsches in IMSA between 1979 and 1985, usually as part of her father, Preston Henn's, team. She and Preston were IMSA’s first father-daughter racing team. Her other team-mates included Kathy Rude, Janet Guthrie and Desiré Wilson.

Bonnie’s career developed in tandem with her father’s. He only began racing two years before she did, having made his money buying disused drive-in cinemas, which he turned into flea markets.

Her first major finish was a seventeenth place at the 1979 Sebring 12 Hours, driving a Ferrari 365 GTB/4 with Lyn St James and Janet Guthrie. They were sponsored by Thunderbird Swap Shop, the Henn family business. Bonnie also entered the IMSA Daytona Finale, driving the Ferrari with Hal Sahlman. They were 28th overall, fifteenth in the GTO class. In between, Preston Henn ran an AMC Pacer for Bonnie in the Daytona 6 Hours. She did not finish. The underpowered Pacer must have been a stark contrast to the Ferrari she was more used to.

In contrast to her first season, 1980 was very quiet, as Bonnie concentrated on developing her driving skills. She was linked to a drive in an Alfa Romeo Alfetta in the Daytona 6 Hours, but did not start. The car belonged to Janis Taylor, who drove instead, with Del Russo Taylor.

1981 could have been her first attempt at the Daytona 24 Hours. Preston put together a Swap Shop team of himself, Bonnie, Desiré Wilson and Marty Hinze. Although she had practised in the team’s Porsche 935, she decided that she did not have enough experience to tackle the race itself, and stepped down. She did race the 935 at the Daytona Finale in November. Preston was her team-mate. They did not finish.

Desiré Wilson became something of a mentor to Bonnie at this time. She gave her advanced driving tuition and supported her through a part-season in IMSA in 1982. Desiré’s race seat with the Swap Shop team was largely down to her work with Bonnie.

Bonnie and Desiré aimed to start 1982 by teaming up again for the Daytona 24 Hours, but Bonnie, along with Janet Guthrie, dropped out. The three worked together again at the Sebring 12 Hours, where they drove a Ferrari 512BB/LM in “Miss Budweiser” colours for North American Racing. For her next race, the Charlotte IMSA round, she shared a Swap Shop Porsche 935 with Preston, and was rewarded with an eleventh place. Her best result of the year was a fourth place in the Daytona 250 Miles. She had jumped into the 935 of Preston and Randy Lanier after her own Swap Shop 935 expired after eight laps.

She raced with Desiré again at Mosport and Road America. At Mosport, she was 24th. Later in the season, she and Preston travelled to Japan to race in the Fuji 6 Hours, in the Ferrari. They crashed out on the tenth lap. At the end of the year, she decided that she no longer wanted to race. Sadly, this meant that Desiré Wilson’s place in the team became redundant.

Having announced her retirement once, Bonnie was persuaded back into action in 1983 with an all-female team, led by Deborah Gregg and carrying her Brumos colours. The third driver in the team was Kathy Rude. They drove a Porsche 924 Carrera in the Daytona 24 Hours and gave Bonnie her best finish of her career: thirteenth. They were sixth in class. Bonnie’s last event with the team was the Sebring 12 Hours. Driving the same car, she was 35th with her two team-mates. After Sebring, she retired for good, aged just 27.

She died suddenly in 2006. She was 49.

(Image from www.lynstjames.com)

Deborah Gregg

Deborah Gregg raced sportscars in the States in the 1980s, and ran Brumos Motorsport after the premature death of her husband, Peter Gregg, in 1980.

The Greggs first met at a party, and initially bonded over a late-night road race they held with friends. Deborah had never actually raced. Peter competed internationally, as well as owning four car dealerships.

Their relationship progressed quickly, and they married within a few months. However, just five months after they met, Peter drove out into the desert and shot himself. He had changed his will in favour of Deborah, and left her a note telling her not to blame herself for what he had done.

She was now a widow, and went through the normal grieving processes, but she was also, now, a very wealthy woman, with the resources at hand to go racing, an ambition she had always harboured. According to her mother, she had been interested in cars since the age of five.

Her first IMSA event, in 1982, was the Daytona Finale. She drove a Porsche 924 with Elliot Forbes-Robinson. They were 22nd overall, and eleventh in the GTO class.

In 1983, she started racing for the Brumos team, which now technically belonged to her, as it had been owned by Peter since 1965. Hurley Haywood, a former team-mate of Peter’s, was on hand to help. Deborah ran a Porsche 924 for an all-female team of herself, Bonnie Henn and Kathy Rude. Their first event together was the Daytona 24 Hours, and they were thirteenth overall. The trio reunited for the Sebring 12 Hours, in which they were 35th. Deborah and Kathy then did the next three rounds of the IMSA series together, with a best finish of 17th, at Charlotte.

Mid-season, Deborah travelled to Germany for the Nürburgring Grand Prix. She shared a car with Lili Reisenbichler and Jürgen Hamelmann, but they did not finish. Back at home, she did the last two rounds of IMSA in two different Porsches 924s, driving alongside Elliot Forbes-Robinson and George Drolsom.

1984 was a much quieter season. She raced with the El Salvador team, in another 924. Her team-mates were Jim Trueman and Alfredo Mena. They were meant to do the Daytona 24 Hours and Sebring 12 Hours together, but Deborah never got to race at Sebring. The team did not finish either race anyway.

1985 saw her back in a Brumos car for the Road America Trans Am round. This time, it was a Buick Regal. She was 23rd. She also drove an Alba AR4 for Malibu in the Watkins Glen 500km, and was fifteenth.

She returned to IMSA in 1986, driving a Tiga GT286. For Daytona, she was part of a four-driver Rinzler Motoracing team with Mike Brockman, Steve Durst and Jim Trueman. They qualified in 28th place, but the car’s engine failed. Sharing with Jeff Kline, Deborah was eleventh at Laguna Seca, then ninth at Charlotte, with Jim Trueman. This was her best finish of the year. Later in the season, the car was taken over by Brumos. This particular team’s best result was a twelfth place at Palm Beach, before another Tiga was brought in, which did not run as well.

Her fourth Daytona 24 Hours was the best of her career. She got a ride in a Roush Racing Ford Mustang, with Scott Pruett, Scott Goodyear and Bobby Akin. They were ninth overall, third in class. This was more remarkable considering that they were unable to set a qualifying time, and started from the back of the grid.

Deborah remained a Roush driver for the rest of the season, and tackled the Trans-Am series in a Mercury Capri. This car seemed to suit her. She was eighth in her first race at Long Beach. By the third round at Portland, she was into the top five. Her first podium happened at Road America, and was quickly followed by another third place at Memphis. She was fifth in the championship, and won the Rookie of the Year award.

In 1988, she joined up with another Roush driver, Lyn St. James. They drove a Mercury Capri at Daytona with Mark Martin and Pete Halsmer, but crashed out quite late on. Deborah and Lynn had more success as a duo, finishing eighth at the Sebring 12 Hours in a Mercury Merkur XR4Ti. They were second in the GTO class.

Deborah had not always had such good relationships with other female drivers. Shortly before her 1988 Daytona run, she had appeared on a speaking panel with Janet Guthrie, who said, in front of her, “as for Deborah Gregg, I don't know how much money Peter Gregg left her, but it was evidently enough for her to buy herself a ride.'' It is unclear what her grudge was, or what the context of her remarks was. Others were more complementary. Including former team-mate Elliot Forbes-Robinson, who praised her progress that year.

Deborah’s Trans-Am season was not quite as strong as her 1987 run, although she remained a solid competitor. Her best result was at Detroit, where she was fifth in the Merkur. This was one of four top-tens she earned that year.

During her time at Roush, Deborah also did some truck racing in a Mitsubishi and a Jeep Comanche, although results are proving hard to track down. Lyn St. James used a Ford Ranger.

After the 1988 season, Deborah took a break from racing, although she came back to Trans-Am in a Chevrolet Camaro, in 1991. She was 18th in the 1991 championship, and tenth in 1992. A part-season in 1993 gave her a 21st place.

Her last IMSA race also occurred in 1993. She was twelfth at Miami, in her self-entered Camaro.

Shortly afterwards, she sold her interest in Brumos, and concentrated on other things, including family.

(Image copyright Mark Windecker)

Kat Teasdale

Kat with the Bakeracing Corvette

Kathryn Teasdale, known as Kat, was a Canadian driver, born in 1964.

She started out in Formula 2000 in 1988, after having to give up competitive skiing due to a knee  injury. Twenty-four was quite late to begin a racing career, but she quickly made up for lost time. Between her ski injury in 1984 and her Formula Ford debut in 1988, she competed in slalom and autosolo events, sometimes in a Corvette.

Her original aim was to move into the “A” Class of F2000, but instead, she got herself a seat in the televised Player’s GM Motorsport Series, driving a Chevrolet Camaro. She raced in the championship’s East division in 1988 and 1989. She was able to use the Camaro in the IROC-2 series and Trans-Am. Her skill with the Camaro led to her being picked up by the Bakeracing team, for their Corvette programme.

She raced the car in 1991, and one of her best results was in the Escort World Challenge 24 Hour race at Mosport Park. As part of a five-driver team including Boris Said, she was second. Other highlights included a fourth place at Saltillo in Mexico. She was sixth in the Escort World Challenge.

1992 saw her combine sportscar racing with a return to single-seaters. Brian Stewart, an old friend of Kat’s, offered her a test at Vancouver in his Toyota Atlantic car, followed by one race. This never led to a full-time race seat, but she did compete in two Indy Lights races in 1992, driving for the Leading Edge team. At Toronto, her race was halted on the first lap by an electrical problem. She got to the end at Vancouver, in fourteenth place, six laps down. At the time, she knew she was unable to go for wins, but she gave it a shot anyway.

Ever-keen to try new forms of racing and put herself out there, Kat entered the CASCAR stock car series in Canada in 1993. Her car was a Chevrolet. She won the Rookie of the Year prize.

She has raced in Toyota Atlantics, the NASCAR Busch Series, Grand-Am and other championships, in the US and Canada.

1994 was probably her best year for sportscars. She was part of the O’Brien team for the IMSA GT championship, driving a Camaro. Her first race was the Daytona 24 Hours; this was her first attempt at a major US classic. Leigh O’Brien had assembled an all-female team of herself, Kat, Tami Rai Busby, Linda Pobst and Margy Eatwell. They finished the race in 47th. Kat was also a member of Leigh Miller’s team, driving a Porsche 968 with Miller and John Graham. They were seventeenth.

Kat, Leigh O’Brien and Linda Pobst made up the O’Brien team for the Sebring 12 Hours. They were 42nd in their Camaro. Driving solo, Kat was twelfth at Road Atlanta, in the O’Brien Camaro.

Her performance in 1994 led to an offer from the Pontiac factory team for 1995. Kat drove a Firebird with Doug Goad, and they were third and fourth in the IMSA Endurance championship, behind their team-mates, Andy Pilgrim and Joe Varde. This helped Pontiac to the manufacturer’s title. Kat and Andy Pilgrim teamed up for the 1996 season. Results for the IMSA Endurance series are proving hard to find, and they may not have raced together all year, as Andy Pilgrim was on duty in the IMSA GT championship as well.

1997 saw a new challenge for Kat: another try at stock cars. This time, she was driving for her own team, Katco Racing. The car was a Chevrolet. She entered two NASCAR K&N Busch Series East races, and began well, qualifying sixth at Watkins Glen. Unfortunately, she did not finish due to problems with the car’s transmission. She did manage to finish the race at Lime Rock, and was awarded 29th place, although she was several laps down.

During her last season in 1998, she drove a limited programme in the NASCAR Busch Series. She was the first woman to do so, although others had raced in other NASCAR sanctioned events. She did not qualify for the Watkins Glen race, but she just made it on to the Milwaukee grid, in 40th place. She finished in 31st place. This particular Busch Series race was no schedule-filler; Dale Earnhardt Jr won, and Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth were among the other finishers.

Kat intended to pursue NASCAR further after her first Busch event, but it was not to be. She retired from motorsport after the 1998 season, due to ill-health. For some years, she carried on working in investment and event planning, as she had done to help fund her racing. She bred Wirehaired Pointing Griffon dogs and was involved in charity fundraising.

She died in June 2016, aged 51, after a “long struggle with physical and mental health issues”, caused by Lyme Disease.

(Image copyright Sports Illustrated)