The First Lady of Dirt: The Triumphs and Tragedy of Racing Pioneer Cheryl Glass by Bill Poehler

Author:Bill Poehler [Poehler, Bill]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biography & Autobiography, Sports, Sports & Recreation, General, Motor Sports, Automobile Racing, Women in Sports
ISBN: 9781538184059
Google: 2F8Q0AEACAAJ
Amazon: 1538184052
Goodreads: 190129674
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Published: 2024-02-06T08:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

Racing in the Big Time Isn’t as Easy as It Looks

1984 to 1985

DRIVING RACE CARS FOR OTHER CAR OWNERS SOUNDED INITIALLY enticing to Cheryl Glass. But the thought of being a driver sounded better than it frequently turned out to be. After trying out the race cars of different owners, Cheryl realized she was being exploited for their gain, not for the advancement of her career. Each time she competed for a race car owner, he never asked her to drive for him again.

Cheryl was an assertive race car driver, which might have rubbed others the wrong way. She would say things like: “I’m a front-runner, not a back marker,”1 “I am confident of my ability,”2 and “I had to earn their respect by beating them.”3

Cheryl did manage to secure a test in another hydroplane. She did reasonably well on the water of the Puget Sound that day. Skipping inches over the water, Cheryl had the bravery few others possessed. Some thought Cheryl had the necessary skill to compete in a hydro-plane. Ultimately, however, the ride in the Squire Shop hydroplane went to Mickey Remund.4

“She didn’t want to get her hair wet,” said Skip Young, a friend and hydroplane enthusiast.5

Cheryl tried drag racing. On the invitation of a car owner, she was going to test a funny car on a drag strip. She strapped in the car, but as soon as the fiberglass body of the car was lowered over her, she felt claustrophobic. She scrambled to get out. It was a long shot that she could transition to drag racing, and she never made a pass.6 After years of racing in open cockpit cars, a roof over her head was too much for her psyche.

If Cheryl wasn’t going to be paid to drive someone else’s race car, she would pay to race one of theirs.

She viewed the dirt-track world as if it were a thing of the past, even though it was her identity in the racing world. In three years of dirt-track racing, Cheryl had conquered the form, in her opinion. Cheryl now needed to learn to road race.

Unlike circle track racing, the idea of paying to drive somebody else’s race car was an acceptable practice in road racing. While circle track racing always hinged on the willingness of car owners to pay drivers to race their cars, road racing was considered to be a sportsman’s pursuit, something to be done for the joy and prestige. Money was almost a dirty word in circle track racing, but buying a ride in road racing was not considered a sin.

Cheryl had driven small formula cars like the Formula Vee at driving schools she attended and initially wanted to race one. But that path up the racing ladder was a long one with small-bore formula cars. It could take decades to learn the skills necessary to be a competent road racer in that path. Cheryl considered herself a professional race car driver, and she only wanted to race in series that paid prize money, of which there were few.

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