Louise Smith

News Obituary Article

Racing pioneer dies, leaves legacy of fun

By RICK MINTER

Before Danica Patrick, Erin Crocker, Shawna Robinson and Janet Guthrie, there was Louise Smith --- a woman race driver in a male-dominated sport.

Smith, who died Saturday at age 89 after a battle with cancer, raced in the division now known as NASCAR Nextel Cup from 1949-52. She competed in 11 races, with a best finish of 16th at Langhorne, Pa., in 1949. She also raced numerous times in the Modified division of that era.

In 1999, she became the first woman inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame at Talladega, Ala.

Atlanta's Frank Mundy, who raced against Smith remembered her as a friendly driver who respected her peers.

"I talked to her often before races," Mundy said. "She was an ultra-friendly person. She got along with everybody, and I never heard her say anything detrimental to anybody."

Mundy said that when Smith's car wasn't as fast as the leaders, she didn't hinder them on the track.

"She didn't give me any trouble when I was lapping her," Mundy said, adding that Smith's career likely was shortened by the demands of her family business.

"She ran as many races as she could, but she and her husband had a junkyard to run."

Smith, who was born in Barnesville but spent most of her life in Greenville, S.C., said in an interview with The Associated Press in 1998 that other drivers sometimes weren't open to her participation.

"It was hard on me," she said. "Them men were not liking it to start with, and they wouldn't give you an inch."

Some of her crashes, and the stories behind them, have become legendary tales in NASCAR. In 1947, she drove her husband's new Ford to Daytona Beach, presumably to watch the races. Instead, she entered the car in a race and wrecked it. When her husband inquired about the car, she said it broke down on the way to Florida.

Unknown to her, photos of her crash appeared in newspapers across the country, including the one her husband, Noah Smith, had read.

Once her car went airborne off a track in North Carolina, destroying the car. But after track workers dragged the crumpled heap out of the woods, she climbed inside the door, helmet and goggles on her head, a big smile on her face, and posed for pictures.

The smile was typical of Smith.

© 2006 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution