Review of "Speed Girl"

Racing fans who are old enough to remember Janet Guthrie's historic career in which she became the first woman to race in the Indianapolis 500 will enjoy this book on the struggles she endured to reach that pinnacle.  Here is my review of the audio version of "Speed Girl."

Title/Author:

“Speed Girl” by Stephan Talty, narrated by Christina Traister

Tags:

Auto Racing, biography, history, women, audio book

Publish date:

May 16, 2017

Length:

129 pages

Rating: 

3 ½ of 5 stars (good)

Review:

Women were gaining more acceptance in sports during the decade of the 1970’s. Tennis had the most notable accomplishments for women’s rights, including equal prize money for men and women and Billie Jean King’s victory over Bobby Riggs.  In auto racing, Janet Guthrie became the first female driver to race in the Indianapolis 500, qualifying in 1977 and again in 1978 with a top ten finish.  Guthrie’s passion for racing and her career are chronicled in this biography by Stephan Talty.

The story of Guthrie’s desire to become a driver is interesting as she was on a track to become an accomplished scientist.  But from the time she was a little girl, she was fascinated with speed and adventure.  The struggles she endured with not only sexism from drivers in both the Indy Car circuit and NASCAR but also from fans and potential sponsors wore on her.  Never giving up, she eventually found a team who would hire her as a driver. The lack of sponsorship also made her struggle financially but eventually she not only drove in the most prestigious race in the sport, but had a major sponsor (Texaco) back her in 1978 when she placed ninth. Then, inexplicably, she could never get another team or sponsor for future racing, effectively ending her racing career.

The narration by Traister is sound during not only the racing sections, but also when talking about Guthrie’s life and the scenes in the garage.  Guthrie was not above grabbing a wrench and helping the mechanics in the shop with repairing her car, which was happening too frequently.  The writing is okay with some portions that seem to be unnecessarily repeated, such as her infrequent dating or the frustrations in overcoming the sexism. While there were plenty of examples of the latter, the addition of how that made her feel wasn’t really needed. It was clear that she was a victim of the sexism that existed in the sport during that era.

Readers who want to know more about Guthrie’s racing career will learn that from this book and it is a good source for information on the culture of the sport in the 1970’s. There isn’t a lot about her after she left racing not on her terms, so it falls short there but is certainly a good look at a female sports pioneer.

Book Format Read:

Audio book

Buying Links:

https://www.amazon.com/Speed-Girl/dp/B071RS1QQY/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=