Grace Autosport announced today that they will compete at the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500. From the team owner on through to the engineers, driver and crew, Grace will be comprised of women. This is a first in IndyCar.
As a girl who grew up mere blocks from the Speedway, I am pretty excited to see this happening. I always wondered what it would be like to race around this oval and now more girls will have the opportunity to make it there.
Katherine Legge has been announced as the inaugural driver. She is currently the STEM (science/technology/engineering/math) Ambassador for the Girl Scouts and is looking forward to what is in store. “I’m extremely proud of it… It’s going to be a new initiative from the point of view there’s been female drivers before, there’s been female engineers. I actually worked with Catherine (Crawford) in 2012 at Indy, but there’s never been a team of all women. What we’re trying to do is make it a positive thing, get rid of the stigma of being a woman in motorsport and make it something that everybody is proud of. I’s going to be very successful. So I’m very much looking forward to the challenge to seeing it from the beginning, from and idea, kind of turn out and bloom into something very special.” Legge went on to say “I think it’s important to say, also, in no way is this us being feminists. We know we’re aware we need the support of men and we’re not being exclusive. We’re just trying to be equal opportunity and in a positive way.”
Former driver Lyn St. James will be helping Grace Autosport to find and cultivate talented women drivers. Katherine said of Lyn “I think it’s important that we identify the talent, with Lyn’s help, obviously, early on and push that because Lyn has really been the only one that’s helped any of us throughout the years.”
Grace also plans to be involved in community outreach and visiting schools to speak with young girls about opportunities in motorports and STEM careers.
According to Beth Paretta, Team Principal, “Since the Indianapolis 500 began there have only been eleven different women who have competed, women like Janet Guthrie and Lyn St. James. For their hard work, for their challenging days, we say thank you. Without them, there would be no today… The Brickyard has been the site of lots of firsts, and now we are adding to that list. But we ultimately know that racing is about being competitive and winning. We will put the team together to get there. We will work hard to compete at the highest level, and our goal is that by the end of the decade a woman’s face will grace the Borg-Warner Trophy.”
I look forward to that day.