Louise Smith
| Louise Smith | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||||
| Born | July 31, 1916 Barnesville, Georgia, United States | ||||||
| Died | April 15, 2006 (aged 89) | ||||||
| Cause of death | Cancer | ||||||
| Awards | International Motorsports Hall of Fame (1999) Member of the "Living Legends" Racing Club in Daytona Beach | ||||||
| NASCAR Cup Series career | |||||||
| 11 races run over 3 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 63rd (1949) | ||||||
| First race | 1949 (Daytona Beach) | ||||||
| Last race | 1952 (Morristown) | ||||||
| |||||||
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.
Motorsports career results
NASCAR
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Grand National Series
| NASCAR Grand National Series results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | NGNC | Pts | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1949 | Louise Smith | 94 | Ford | CLT | DAB 20 |
HBO 27 |
LAN 16 |
HAM | MAR | HEI | NWS | 63rd | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1950 | DAB 41 |
CLT | LAN 21 |
MAR | CAN | VER | DAY | MCF | CLT | HBO | 109th | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nash | DAY 19 |
HAM 22 |
DAR DNQ |
LAN | NWS | VER | MAR | WIN | HBO 19 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1952 | Louise Smith | Olds | PBS | DAB | JSP | NWS | MAR | CLB | ATL | CCS 26 |
LAN 24 |
DAR | DAY | CAN | HAY | FMS | HBO | CLT | MSF | NIF | OSW | MON | MOR 30 |
PPS | MCF | AWS | DAR | CCS | LAN | DAY | WIL | HBO | MAR | NWS | ATL | PBS | 173rd | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bibliography
- Fearless: The Story of Racing Legend Louise Smith (Dutton Books for Children) by Barb Rosenstock, 2010.
References
- ^ "Legendsofnascar.com". Archived from the original on 2019-03-22. Retrieved 2006-06-07.
- ^ Motorsportshalloffame.com Archived 2006-05-08 at the Wayback Machine
External links
- nascar.com Biography
- Louise Smith driver statistics at Racing-Reference
- Louise Smith owner statistics at Racing-Reference
- Biography at the International Motorsports Hall of Fame
- Biography
- Laidback Racing site
- Obituary Archived 2019-03-22 at the Wayback Machine
- Louise Smith Biography
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| National | |
