Incredible women have long been making their mark in Circle Track Auto Racing!

Emma Livingston, formerly of Buffalo Township, was the first lady to race “Jalopys” at Lernerville Speedway in the late 1930's and early 1940's and went on to win celebrity status.

Current competitors race on gooey, mucky red clay, but back in the day, Lernerville Amusement Park provided a grassy-dirt oval that was cut out beyond the existing pavilions where the present-day parking lot approaches Rt. 356. The independent Livingston may have been the first woman to race in the country!

National history was made in 1977 when Janet Guthrie became the first woman to qualify and compete in both the Indy 500 and the Daytona 500, earning Top Rookie honors in the latter. The year before, she made history as the earliest woman to compete in a NASCAR Cup superspeedway race.

Unfortunately, due to gender, she was unable to secure corporate sponsorship and was forced to retire prematurely.

Lyn St. James became the first woman to take Indy 500 Rookie of the Year honors in 1992 when she finished 11th, and competed in the legendary race seven times.

Arguably the most popular lady in recent motorsport history, Danica Patrick is the only woman to win an Indy Car race, and to take the pole in NASCAR's Daytona 500. She also has the most starts, laps led, and top-ten finishes of any woman in NASCAR Cup history. She left race driving for good after the 2018 Indy 500, though she can still be found at the track as a network TV racing analyst.

Sarah Fisher ran at Lernerville with the All-Star Sprints before switching to the IndyCar Series. Fischer had nine Indy 500 starts (most of any woman) and was the youngest female (age 19, 2000) to compete in that event. She is the first woman to win an IndyCar race as an owner and the only female to own a team in the series history. That is a big deal!

Three weeks ago, Swiss driver Simona de Silvestro made a last-minute cut at the 2021 Indianapolis 500. Team owner Beth Paretta had the first “almost” all female pit crew.

Paretta just said, “I feel that we climbed a mountain.”

Incidentally, the car that de Silvestro drove was one of Roger Penske's. People may not know that Penske did not renew 47-year-old Helio Castrevenes contract for 2021, thus vacating that car.

You know the rest: Castroneves won the Indy 500 and unfortunately, De Silvestro crashed on pit road.

A jubilant Castroneves said, “Us old guys are doing pretty good; Tom Brady won the Super Bowl, Phil Mickelson the PGA Championship, and I won Indy!”

Legions of young women have been inspired to follow in the footsteps of these icons. There are currently several local female drivers: Jessica and Chelsea Kriegich are Rush Modified drivers. Jaymie Beck pilots a Super Late Model and Cassidy Kaminger is behind the wheel of a Rush Crate Late Model.

Pennsylvania Motor Speedway highlights three-woman drivers in the Hobby Stocks: Tanya Charlier, Karlee Kovacs and Kayla McManus. Angie Kimberly is in a Street Stock and Cindy Rhoads competes in the E-Mod class.

Kyle Larson is riding a hot streak! He beat the best of both NASCAR Late Models and World of Outlaws Sprints within 24 hours.Two weeks ago, the talented driver won the NASCAR race in Charlotte on asphalt, then went 500 miles to Lawrenceburg Speedway, Indiana, the following day to capture WoO Sprint car $10,000 prize money on dirt.Last Sunday, he was victorious again, but on a NASCAR road course in Sonoma, CA. This is a historical first in Motorsports that a driver has topped both series on consecutive nights. I would expect to see him at the Don Martin Memorial Sprint race on July 20.

The Canadian border remains closed, so how is three- time Lernerville Modified Champion Mat Williamson, from St. Catherines, Ontario able to compete on the US side of the border?“Fortunately, over the years we've paid taxes on our winnings, which makes this my job and gives me the ability to cross the border,” smiled Williamson!

Lance Dewease won the Weikert Memorial Sprint feature worth $29,000 at Port Royal last week. He was even happier for his crew chief Dave Brown on his 87th birthday, who is “still winning” Sprint car races!

Recently, Marion Center Speedway opened under new management after the Potts family let the track sit idle for several years.Randy Reitz of Valier, Pa., is now the new owner.“I am excited to bring the track back that has been known to so many people over the years on Saturdays,” he said.Their first Super Late Model race was won by the newly formed #1 Cochran team of Alex Ferree and Lynn Geisler and the second by Matt Lux.<i>Carol Gamble is a racing columnist for the Butler Eagle</i>