Roles in media, engineering, and management that help the sanctioning body, teams, and stakeholders run smoothly are being filled by more and more women. There’s no better time to celebrate the women in IndyCar than this month.
March 8th marks International Women’s Day, and in honor of this occasion, The Girls Who – Motorsport are highlighting just a few of the many women who have graced the IndyCar paddock. We asked them about their journey into motorsport, their advice for those who wish to work in racing, and what this day means to them.
Lyn St. James
When Lyn St. James first joined a racing school to get her competition license, she didn’t have any dreams about where racing was going to take her. All she knew was she loved it, and she wanted to be good.
She knew about the response that female drivers face, even today.
“If it’s a guy that caused the crash, or it’s a guy that got out of control, he’s just dumb. If it’s a female driver, yeah, they don’t belong there. It’s that woman driver.”
She worked hard not to fall into that narrative. St. James kept racing, kept winning, and kept learning. Almost twenty years after starting her racing career in 1974, at the age of 45, she qualified for the 1992 Indianapolis 500, becoming the second woman to do so.
That year, St. James earned Rookie of the Year after qualifying 27th and finishing 11th. St. James participated in the race every year from 1992 to 2000.
Since then, seven women have qualified for and raced in the Indy 500. Although St. James isn’t currently racing, she remains a strong advocate for women in motorsport. She has noticed huge changes in the sport since she started.
“As far as the welcoming of women, I think the industry’s finally got it. They finally figured it out that we belong here,” she said.
“We want to grow the sport, and I really believe, and statistics are showing that the increase of women participating and watching racing is already helping grow the sport.”
It’s part of the reason she co-founded Women in Motorsports North America. It aims to create opportunities for women in all areas of motorsport.
Lauren Sullivan
Lauren Sullivan had always been around racing, but never saw it as a career. Her love of science and engineering led her to work for Boeing in wind tunnel testing. At some point, Sullivan found airplanes boring and decided to apply her wind tunnel expertise to race cars.
She applied and was hired by Penske’s NASCAR program as a test engineer. While there, an opportunity arose for her to work with the predominantly female Paretta Autosport entry in the 2021 Indianapolis 500. It was there and afterwards that she realized that this project was more than just about racing.
“It not only spoke against the gender barriers, but it also spoke against the experience barriers too.”
From there, she stayed in IndyCar, working with Team Penske for a few years before going to Arrow McLaren. In her time with those teams, she witnessed the growing number of females in engineering roles. Now she believes the next step is to see greater female representation in leadership positions.
Sullivan is currently between jobs, but she remains involved in motorsport. She advises women to put themselves out there despite how unsure they are about working in sports.
“There’s a seat at the table for you. You just need to take it.” she said
“Don’t change who you are just to fit the mold, because your learning curve will be longer. You don’t ever want to compromise yourself for what you’re going for.”
For International Women’s Day, Sullivan wants to remind people that this is a moment for intentional celebration and reflection on progress. She also wants people to identify areas for improvement.
“It’s the trigger for conversations that need to be had, and it’s a good way to just again, look back and look forward at the same time.“
Natalie Sturgeon
While in university, Natalie Sturgeon discovered she wanted to work in sports and communications, and it didn’t matter which sport.
After graduating and interning with the Detroit Lions in their communications department, she started job hunting. She saw and applied for a job posting by IndyCar looking for a communications coordinator.
Despite her previous lack of familiarity with motorsports, Sturgeon has successfully taken on that role.
She advises anyone who is looking to get into sports to make connections. Take opportunities to work, intern, or volunteer at different sporting events.
“Since starting in September, I’ve discovered that the world of motorsports is very, very tight, and everybody knows everybody, so shoot over those LinkedIn messages and make those connections and volunteer at different tracks and chat with people.”
It’s part of the reason she’s a part of IndyCar’s communication team; a team made up of a majority woman. Which is something you might see more often than in engineering or management.
When asked about what International Women’s Day means to she says it goes beyond women in IndyCar and beyond women in sports.
“I think it’s really great to be able to celebrate women who are pioneering different opportunities for the next generation of women.”
Throughout the month, we will dive deeper to get to know these women and their journeys and experiences working in motorsports.
Remember, these are just three of the hundreds of women making their mark in motorsports and IndyCar. For this International Women’s Day, take time to reflect and highlight more women in motorsports and IndyCar so it can continue to be a welcoming environment for future generations.