Louise Smith
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| Louise Smith | |||||||
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| Born | July 31, 1916 Barnesville, Georgia, United States |
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| Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. | ||||||
| Cause of death | Cancer | ||||||
| Awards | International Motorsports Hall of Fame (1999) Member of the "Living Legends" Racing Club in Daytona Beach |
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| NASCAR Cup Series career | |||||||
| 11 races run over 3 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 63rd (1949) | ||||||
| First race | 1949 (Daytona Beach) | ||||||
| Last race | 1952 (Morristown) | ||||||
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| Statistics current as of February 20, 2013. | |||||||
Louise Smith (July 31, 1916 in Barnesville, Georgia – April 15, 2006) was tied for the second woman to race in NASCAR at the top level. She was known as "the first lady of racing."[1]
She went as a spectator to her first NASCAR race at the Daytona Beach Road Course in 1949. She could not stand watching the races, so she entered her family's shiny new Ford coupe in the race and rolled it. Her hometown Greenville, South Carolina paper featured photos of the wreck, and the town knew about it before she got home.[2] The race was the first race to feature three female drivers (Ethel Mobley and Sara Christian). The trio also competed later that season at the Langley Speedway.
She raced from 1949 to 1956. She won 38 races in her career in numerous formats: late models, modifieds (28 victories), midgets, and sportsman.
Car owner
She returned in 1971 as a car owner for numerous drivers. She sponsored Ronnie Thomas' Rookie of the Year attempt in 1978.
Award
She became the first woman inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1999.
Bibliography
Fearless: The Story of Racing Legend Louise Smith (Dutton Books for Children) by Barb Rosenstock, 2010.
References
External links
- nascar.com Biography
- NASCAR driver's statistics at racing-reference.info
- NASCAR owner's statistics at racing-reference.info
- Biography at the International Motorsports Hall of Fame
- Biography
- Laidback Racing site
- Obituary
- Louise Smith Biography
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- 1916 births
- 2006 deaths
- 20th-century American racing drivers
- Deaths from cancer
- Female racing drivers
- NASCAR drivers
- International Motorsports Hall of Fame inductees
- Sportspeople from Greenville, South Carolina
- Racing drivers from South Carolina
- People from Barnesville, Georgia
- American sportswomen
- NASCAR people stubs
