Let's Give Credit Where It's Due

Much is being made of the fact that one member of the two-driver team that won the GrandAm Daytona Prototype class at Homestead this weekend is a woman, Venezuelan Milka Duno. Stories are hailing her as "became the first woman to win a major North American sports car race." Aside from the obvious shitty retort that no GrandAm pseudo-prototype race is a "major sports car race," I think someone has been overlooked by the press: Lyn St. James.

St. James, so I remembered, had a lot of success in IMSA sports cars back in the 80s. A little quick research in Martin and Wells's Prototypes: The History of the IMSA GTP Series shows that St. James won three races in a row in 1985 in the GTO class, including a solo win at Watkins Glen. Now, GTO was not the top class in the series at that time, but these were, without question, major sports car races. A winner in any class at LeMans or Sebring, for instance, is still a LeMans or Sebring winner.

So, not to take anything away from Ms. Duno (and her co-driver, James Weaver), but let's give credit to the true pioneer here.