Quotes From Women In Racing
or About them
"Racing is all I've wanted to do ever since I was a little girl. I realize it won't be easy to get to the top level, but I'm very determined." --- Deborah Renshaw"I won a lot, crashed a lot, and broke just about every bone in my body, but I gave it everything I had"
---Louise Smith"She can. She's definitely got the ability. It's in her blood. She's a driver."
---Jeff Clark about Shawna Robinson<"There has been a big change in reaction to me, The hostility has cooled down quite a bit. I think the worst is over. The initial reaction to me was one of a lack of respect. What you really need is endurance. And some tests show that women have more endurance then men. But that's not the point. I'm not trying to establish the superiority of one sex over another. I'm a good driver, but no superwoman. What I'm trying to emphasize is that a driver is primarily a person, not a man or a woman, and that a great deal of driving is mental. You cannot afford to get angry behind the wheel. A good driver needs emotional detachment, concentration, good judgment, and desire."
--- Janet Guthrie for Sporting News (Jully 1, 1978)"Racing is a passion...at this level, a source of immense gratification. So the rest is no problem."
--- Janet Guthrie for New York Times (Maarch 4, 1978)"There is very little in civilized life that demands everything you got intellectually, physically, and emotionally. Driving is living. It's aggressive instead of passive living."
--- Janet Guthrie"She particularly loved racing with and beating her brothers."
--- Tim Flock about Ethel Mobley Flock"Sometimes it seemed like the more you drove the less money you had. I remember one time Buck Baker and Lee Petty and I had to put our money together just to split a hot dog and a Coke."
--- Lousie Smith"I never was a cheerleader. I'm an athlete. I'm probably not coordinated enough to be a cheerleader but that doesn't matter. I've always wanted to compete. And if I compete, I want to win. I was born competitive and that's in my blood. Whatever car I'm in, whatever series I'm running, whatever track I'm racing -- I want to be a factor. I want people to know that Shawna Robinson was there."
--- Shawna Robinson"Well, I never really looked at it from that point of view since I always she myself as a race car driver, not as a woman driving a car. This series is so highly competitive that my concerns are more about how my car is working as opposed to if I am the only woman competing."
--- Patty Moise when asked,
"So with all these accomplishments, you might wonder how Moise feels about being a woman driver?""Now we can just concentrate on racing. We don't consider that we're working with a woman. We're working with a racer."
--- Joe Dan Bailey, Crew Chief for Shawna RRobinson"I think Shawna got into me a little bit. She's a good race car driver. They need to get her in a better race car."
--- Dale Earnhardt Jr. about Shawna Robinsoon after a race at Texas Motor Speedway"Finding a sponsor is the toughest part of racing, tougher than driving."
--- Shawna Robinson"It was a passion and obsession for years. I loved it more than I could possibly tell you.
It was what I really was born to do."
--- Janet Guthrie"I'm trying to set out the passion and complexity of this sport. Many people think it's a dumb activity: stand on the gas and turn left. In fact, it's probably one of the most complex sports in existence."
--- Janet Guthrie about her book and racingg"Let me ask you. If someone called you and offered you a ride in the Indianapolis 500 and you were a male race car driver, would you turn the ride down?"
--- Janet Guthrie when accused of using herr gender to get a shot at the Indianapolis 500"I am a race car driver first."
--- Sarah Fisher"Be born rich."
--- Janet Guthrie's advice on succeeding inn racing"I enjoyed every minute of it, I traveled all over North America, racing everywhere I could, and I had fun with it. I didn't make a whole lot of money, but if I could do it again today, I'd do it, and I think I'd make it."
--Louise Smith"They told me if I saw a red flag to stop, They didn't say anything about the checkered flag. I wondered where all the cars were and then as I was all along on the track, I noticed them all in the pits. They finally threw the red flag and I pulled in. I had finished third. "
---Louise Smith"Well, I never really looked at it from the point of view since I always see myself as a race car driver, not as a woman driving a car."
--Patty Moise"If I cry, it means I'm too weak to compete in this sport. That's bull."
--Shawna Robinson"But I'm a racer, that's what I've always been. I just want someone to put me in a car and leave me there."
--Shawna Robinson
"Deborah is so star-struck that she can't focus on racing, She's been getting so much media attention here lately that I guess she Feels like she has to live up to it."
-Mark Day about Deborah Renshaw
"I don't feel safe around her on a racetrack. I won't race beside her anymore. I'll slow down and let her go by before I'll race with her."
-Mark Day about Deborah Renshaw
"I think there is a mystique about woman drivers. I've got a 17-year-old daughter and I'd never let her race. But I'm not upset at Deborah because she's a woman; I'm upset at her becasue she's a bad driver. She's trying to overachieve and that gets her in trouble."
-Mark Day about Deborah Renshaw