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ince then, she has a high level of , according to for "jumping on planes the way other learned not only how to Mark Raffauf, vice president and chief people pick up the telephone." This affin- swim but how to drive steward of the IMSA. ity for travel comes in handy in her role as fast without crashing. "There were many times last year a consumer advisor and spokesperson And on those rare oc- when Lyn was driving and people for the and Lincoln- casions when she has thought it was her co-driver, Pete Mercury. She'll visit more than 30 cities in crashed-at Riverside (Calif.) Interna- Halsmer-you couldn't tell the differ- this capacity in 1987. And when she tional Raceway in April, 1986, for exam- ence," says Raffauf. "Ability-wise, Lyn speaks about the salety and engineering ple, where her car was rear-ended at 180 can do it." features built into cars like the Mercury miles per hour-she has learned how to According to Raffauf, the only thing Tracer, she knows what she's talking crawl through a wall of flames to survive. separating St. James from a group of about because she serves as a test driv- She knows what it's like to be tormented about a dozen male drivers who domi- er for Ford and Lincoln-Mercury. by failure. She also knows what it's like to nate the premier IMSA circuit, GTP Speaking out on behalf of wom win a GTO race all by herself at historic (which features specially built. one-of-a- also something St. James does regu 8- Watkins Glen-the first and only time a kind prototype cars), is the fact that week Iy, whether she's suggesting 'lays "or woman driver has ever done so in an IMSA after week these drivers follow their cars Ford engineers to tailor the " :dm of the GT (International I:"i.,

Motor Sports Asso- /ZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA- ciation) event-and yet have none of her male crew members show up in the vic- tory lane to offer congratulations or douse her with champagne. She has pitched in and gotien her hands dirty in the pit area, while somehow keeping her finger- nails nice enough to pass for those of a successful busi-RQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA nesswoman-which t.: -, ':o-(~ she is away from the track. And in an ef- fort to diminish whatever physical discrepancies exist between her and her male competi- tors, she has en- tered into a rigorous physical fitness pro- gram tailored to the specific bio-me- chanical needs of a race car driver. Watkins Glen, 1985: lyn becomes the first and only woman driver to win an IMSA GTO race by herself. In short, Lyn Sl. James has tried to do around the country, testing and fine-tun- steering wheel to a woman's frame or everything possible to be the best at ing both the vehicles and their own skills. helping the Women's Sports Foundation what she does. It's this fighting spirit that Whereas St. James goes home to Fort lobby to restore Title IX legislation to its has enabled this ex-piano teacher Lauderdale between races and tends to originai strength (Title iX prohibits sex turned Grand Prix driver to make a name the half-dozen other professional en- discrimination in schools receiving fed- for herself in a male-dominated business deavors which pay her bills. eral funds). She is in demand as a rnoii- where women customarily make sand- To begin with, she is an entrepreneur vational speaker, and in 1987 will ad- wiches and wait with fingers crossed in having owned and operated Autodyne, a dress five national women's conventions, campers for their husbands or boy- wholesale automotive parts supply com- including Women in Communications friends to return from racing. pany in Fort Lauderdale, since 1974. and the Society of Women E .gineers_ "I am the kind of person who. if Isee a This makes her so conversant in things St. James doesn't have an aqent. so light at the end of the tunnel. I go for it." automotive that it provides a natural she handles all these arrangements. says St. James. who teamed with stock communications link with men in the rac- plus auto show appearances. herself. car great to win this year's 24 ing business-and with men at her local And as recently as 1983. before she be- Hours of Daytona. driving a production- fitness club who might strike up a con- came a full-fledged member of Ford's based Ford Mustang. St. Jamess victory versation with her because of the way factory racing team. she not only did the was her fourth shared or solo win in the she looks in a leotard. but who end up driving but acted as her own team man- last 17 months on the IMSA GTO circuit. enthralled with her advice on torsion bars ager-a catch-all job with never-ending No other American woman has ever and McPherson struts. headaches of its own. achieved that degree of success at such St. James says she has a reputation This regimen explains why Raffauf INTRODUCINGRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBATHE REEBOK~FITNESSWALKER. Isit possible forwalking to be ing device that works like a po go in soft, supple garment leather and as exhilarating as love!Yes,if you stick: with each step, th ey'll absorb in a wide variety of colors. pick up the pace a bit. And do it in your heel's impact, then return that Altogether, they could well be the proper equipment. _ . energy back into your stride. the best walking shoe you can buy Reebok Fitness ~~-~- ,j". And to make the sport of today. For love or money. Walkers are made with - ~ - _;' /______.. walking even more an excl~sive Sprin.g ~._ ..._.__/'~ appealing, new ~itness ~C!(!bok~qponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA System'heel-cushion- . ~~. Walkers areavailable FITNESSWALKERS .------•.. qponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA..ZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA-~.-.~ -.~ ~-.-... ~..------,

A Special Advertising Section from Mercury Tracer

feels St. James may need to narrow her "Andrews taught me how to live with piano. She took a job as a secretary with focus slightly if she is to mount a chal- other kids," she recalls. "and it was my U.S Steel in Cleveland, hoping to work lenge for the driver's championship in friend Karlene who got me involved in her way up the corporate ladder. She IMSA's GTO class. St. James, who radi- sports I was captain of the field hockey supplemented her income by giving pi- ates positivism in a tactful, bright-eyed, team and I also played basketball. vol- ano lessons to children. friendly package, says she knows she's leyball and tennis. In public high school In 1970. Lyn moved to and spread too thin, but maintains she can alii could have been was a cheerleader. married John Carusso. with whom she win the GTO title anyway. That would and Iwouldn't have made the cheerlead- shared several interests-he owned an probably vault her back into GTP compe- er squad. Sports taught me that Just be- electronics firm where she could apply tition, where she has driven before and cause things aren't going right doesn't her business skills. and they were both would like to compete again. In GTP, she mean people are picking on you I never crazy about cars. However, she was not would get to drive a more exotic breed of could have related with my all-male rac- crazy about being called "Mrs. Carusso" race car and have a shot at beating such ing teams if I hadn't learned that. and she had never liked her maiden well-known racing names as A.J. Foyt, Lyn didn't date in high school. But un- name. Cornwall. One night. while watch- Danny Sullivan and AI Unser Jr.' likely as it may sound. she did hang ing actress Susan Saint James on "Me- "My immediate goal is to win the driv- around with a group of public schoo! kids Millan & Wife" on TV, she suddenly blurt- er's championship in GTO, and this is my who liked drag racing, and they began to ed out. "That's itl That's my new name." year to do it," says St. James. "I have the bring her out of her shell. Actually, she From then on, she has been known as equipment, the team and the support of had always been interested in cars. and Lyn St. James. the Ford racing program behind me. I've one night out at the local strip she got up Lyns first racing car was the Pinto that waited a long time for this opportunity." enough nerve to climb into one of the got dunked in the lake. After that soggy dragsters and race it. She still has the mishap. it took 36 hours in a 250-degree Imost· anyone who trophy in her Fort Lauderdale office. oven Just to dry the motor that ran he knew Lyn as Evelyn In 1963, t.yn's drag racing friends de- car's windshield wipers. Lyn con- Cornwall, the introvert- cided to attend the . Lyn tinued to drive the Pinto ed only child of a Wil- begged her parents to let her go, loughby, Ohio sheet too. and her mother metal worker and his said it was okay as wife, would have a hard time believing long as she could who she is today. go along as chaper- "I grew up literally and figuratively on one. the wrong side of the tracks," says Lyn, "The Indy 500 was who led such a sheltered life as a child the most incredible that she not only couldn't swim, she experience I've ever couldn't ride a bicycle either. "There had," says Lyn. "I was were only four other houses in the area absolutely mesmer- and Istayed indoors a lot and played the ized by the whole piano. My dad worked such long hours thing. They wouldn't let that I don't have many memories of him. me into Gasoline Alley My mother, who had a polio-like disease [the pit and garage as a child, is basically shy, too." area] because women "Lyn was so shy she bordered on be- weren't allowed there in ing afraid of people, and she had to work those days. But I got to harder at sports than other people be- go to the drivers' meet- cause she didn't have much coordina- ing. which was open to tion," recalls Karlene Pinkney, a class- the public. Isaw A. J. Foyt mate of Lyn's at The Andrews School for and Mario Andretti. I never girls who remains her closest friend to- in a million years thought day. I'd be doing what they did. "I was self-conscious all through There just wasn't any point grade school," Lyn recalls. "I didn't have of reference for me. I was a many friends, I never felt good about my' girl. I loved that whole rac- looks, and Iwasn't one of those girls who ing scene more than you wants to spend an hour and a half get- could imagine. but there ting dressed in the morning to look my were no women racing best. Ifthere was any person Iwanted to there." be like, it was my piano teacher, who Twenty years later. Lyn was taught me for 13 years. She was a beau- driving on the same team with tiful human being, she dressed perfectly Foyt at Daytona. and she was always sweet." "When I raced with A.J., I Intimidated by the prospect of attend- thought back to that time at ing public school and having to interact Indy." she says. "It was hard to with a lot of strangers. Lyn filled out ttie believe I had come so far" Andrews School application herself and Alter graduating irom An- didn't tell her mother until she was ac- drews. Lyn go! her teaching cer- cepted. Ironically. the decision to attend tificate from the SL Louis Institute an all-girl school is what eventually led to of Music. But her first love-after Lyn becoming a race car driver. cars. thai is-was business. not in Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) competition until 1977, eventually win- ning the Florida regional championship in the showroom stock class. In 1978, she drove a -Vega and was runner-up in Southeast SCCA competi- tion, then co-drove her husband's Cor- vette in the 12 Hours of Sebring. If Lyn seems to have more than her share of self-confidence, it may stem from the fact that in her very first pro- fessional race, at in 1979, she came within .79 of a second of winning a Kelly American Challenge competition. It was seven more years before a woman would succeed in do- ing so. At the end of 1979, Lyn and her husband divorced, and she went ahead with her racing career alone. In 1981, driving a , she climbed all the way up to fifth place in the Kelly point standings for the year. That was an es- pecially good finish, consid- ering she was working with her fourth crew in two years. Lyn had to finance her cars herself, look for sponsorship on a race- to-race basis and ex- pend a lot of energies as team manager. In con- trast, many of the men who were beating her on the racetrack merely had to show up and drive. When 1982 turned out to be a disastrous year, Lyn wondered whether the odds of a woman making it in racing were too high for her to overcome. "In my frustration, I remember. think- ing I was a total failure," she says. "You know, men can just be sitting around having a beer together, and one of them is a race car driver and the other is a race car owner and theRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA

Spring, 1987: Strapped in and ready to race at Sebring, Fla. Top: Sizzling down the straightaway in her production- based Mustang.ZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA

.: ~ ..~------~ A Special Advertising Section from Mercury Tracer

next thing you know the owner says to went out and earned it on the track," Lyn lei! as thougrl "an elephant had put the driver, 'Hey, I want you to drive my says Emory Donaldson, a driver who has his foot on the car." It was then she real- car' That chemistry, that almost inde- known her since 1974. "She started out ized she needed to get involved in a scribable thing that men have is pretty slower than some other drivers, but in the strength and conditioning program. Oth- damn tough for a woman driver to re- end she went faster. You put her in a first- erwise, everything she had worked for create." rate car and she's going to win" might wither away for want of muscle. But in the depths of her despair, Lyn The "01" necklace Lyn wears is dedi- happened to read a magazine article on cated to the No. 07 Ford Probe, an 850- riving a race car may famed stock car driver Bobby Allison. It horsepower research vehicle in which be a sedentary enter- made her feel better immediately. she set her Women's Closed Course prise, but so is flying a "The article was about Bobby winning Speed Record of 204.223 miles per hour. jet fighter-and no- the NASCAR driving championship. and The record run took place at the Ala- body gets to be Top in it he said that in 22 years of racing he bama International Motor Speedway in Gun in either without had gone through being in excellent 17 different racing shape. The G forces teams," says Lyn. "It brought on by ac- made me realize celerating from, say.. that maybe this was 60 to 150 miles per the way the game hour in a stretch of was played, and only 500 yards put that Iwasn't the one an incredible strain at fault." on a driver's head Lyn turned to and neck. So do the IMSA GTP racing in side forces that 1984, and was build up on long ra- named "Rookie of dius turns at speeds the Year" by approaching 200 AutoWeek. But it miles per hour on was in 1985, with high-banked tracks. sponsorship from _ Anybody who uses Ford for ten IMSA ~ a manual transmis- GTO races, that her ~ sion can appreciate career really took ! what it's like for a off. With her team ~ race car driver to she won three ~ have to shift hun- races, and the vic- dreds or even thou- tory she'll never for- sands of times in a get is the historic race. Throw in cock- one she won all by pit temperatures herself at Watkins that can reach 140 Glen, N.Y., when degrees and pile all she refused to get that on top' of the out of the car and let emotional pressure her co-driver finish of trying to outma- the 500-kilometer neuver and outdis- race. tance 70 of the fast- "I wasn't tired and est land vehicles in Lyn arrives at her health club for a workout specially tailored to help her withstand the I didn't need relief," the world, and you grueling pressures of racecar driving. Lyn recalls. "So have some idea of when I came into the pits to refuel. November, 1985. There were times on why race car drivers have to think of change tires and switch drivers. I just the backstretch that day when Lyn hit themselves as athletes if they are to suc- stared at my crew chief. Charlie Selix, 215 m.p.h. ceed on the circuit. and didn't move. My co-driver. Whitney "At that speed, you are driving the car Lyn knows that now, but there was a Ganz, was standing there trying to help at its absolute limits" says Lyn. "Your time when she didn't. me get unstrapped, but Inever looked at visual reference points come up so much "Before I tested the Probe in February, him. I just kept staring at Charlie, and quicker. I felt like I was threading a nee- 1986, Iwas into what I would call a main- then I shook my head no. Charlie never dle. I wasn't frightened, but I can tell you tenance program," she says. "I'd run one flinched and off Iwent." it was eerie. At those speed levels, the or two miles a couple of times a week When Lyn got the checkered flag, the car could JUSI take over. That's where my and do a little Nautilus, but I didn't feelZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBAit news media surrounded her. But she own aggressiveness comes in." was necessary to do anything out of the looked in vain for someone from her When Lyn tested the Probe again prior ordinary. I'd work out when Ifelt guilty or crew. They had been as sharp as ever to driving it on the 1986 IMSA circuit, she when Ihad time. Then, suddenly Iknew I ·during the latter stages of the race. but was shocked at how differently it han- had to get much more powerful to be didn't appear in the victory circle. Later. dled with racing "ground effects" added able to handle the car the way I wanted Ganz took Lyn aside and told her he to enhance trac ion. In Alabama. on an to." would have done the same thing if he'd empty 'rack, the Probe had been set up Lyn is 5'6", weighs 125 pounds, plays been in her shoes. to do e ery!hing but fly. Now, instead of tennis and is slim and attractive by any- "Lyn never asked for respect: she 'eelinQ . e s e was threading a needle. one's standards. Yet when she was first

A Special Advertising Section from Mercury Tracer

evaluated by exercise physiologist Mark other muscles, in this case the buttocks, Jones at the Sports and Fitness Clinic in to help. Lauderdale-By-The-Sea, she was no- "This combination is not for the every- where near as fit as she could be. Her day person," says Jones. "This is for body fat content registered 26.2 percent, people who are trying to build serious which was near average. Her aerobic ca- muscle." ~ pacity was 34.5 milliliters of oxygen per "This is about as bad as it gets," says .~ kilogram of body weight per minute- . Lyn, "because the last thing the front of d also about average. Jones told her he .the thighs want to do after the first part is ~ could get her into much better shape. more work."ZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBAJ' What Jones prescribed, after exten- "But they have to!" says Nick, whose sive interviews with Lyn and with several favorite remonstrance to his pupil is, drivers at last year's Miami Grand Prix, "You want to suffer here or on the track?" was a combination of Nautilus and free Lyn's next stop is Station No.3, the weight work (to increase Lyn's upper and Nautilus leg curl machine, which targets lower body strength and muscular en- her hamstrings, or back-of-thigh mus- durance), plus a cardiovascular pro- cles. Staiion No.4, the abductor-ad- gram designed to improve her overall ductor machine, is a feminine body health and make her stronger at the end shaper which helps slim the outer hip of a race. and the inner thigh. Station No.5, which In creating the specifics of Lyn's over- includes both the Nautilus rowing torso all fitness program, Jones also had to machine and its pre-exhauster, the par- take two more things into consider- allel grip pull-down, is designed to iso- ation: her personality, which she de- late and exhaust the upper-body muscle scribes as workaholic, and her attention groups that are subject to overuse when span, which she admits is short-she a race car driver has to extend her arms tends to wander into boredom if some- to a steering wheel. thing fast or exciting isn't happening to "My basic attitude here is belliger- her most of the time. ence," says Lyn, "but when it really gets "I am not a recreational fitness per- hard I close my eyes and pretend trn son," she says. "I'm very results-oriented sitting in the race car. Mental imagery in everything I do. I don't consider· driv-RQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBAreallyhelps." ~ ing a race car all that dangerous. What I "Ninety-nine percent of people will quit 8 do consider dangerous is peddling an an exercise before they get the full benefit ~ exercise bicycle for 30 minutes at a time out of it, ifyou let them," says Jones. "Lyn's ffi . h nothing else to do." workout is a progressive routine. We're a? According to Lyn's definition, nothing constantly overloading her body, stimulat- 3 in the routine Jones has designed for her ingittochange and get stronger." ~ is dangerous. But by the same token, no At Stations NO.6 and No.8, the incline part of it could be considered particularly dumbbell press and the close-grip ~ genteel or languorous, either. bench press, Lyn uses free weights-a ~ After a 10-minute stretching and pair of 15-pound dumbbells and a 45- a warmup period, Lyn and her personal pound Olympic bar-to target the pec- ~ a: exercise coach, Nick Georgette, embark torals, the front deltoids and the triceps 3 on a 14-station strength routine, followed inthebackofthearms. ~ by a six-station aerobic workout, follow- "Lyn has had a strength increase of !i1 ed by 10 minutes of cool-down and 100 percent in some areas and 60 per- ~ stretching when the body's muscles are cent overall in a year's time," says Jones. ~ at their most flexible. The entire program She has also shown marked improve- '5 ment on Station No.7, the lateral shout- ~ takes roughly one hour and 15 minutes >- including a five-minute break between der raises. ~ the strength and aerobic phases. Station Nos. 9-14 target l.yn's biceps, ! Station No.1, the Nautilus hip-and- her triceps again, her lower back again, ~ back machine, is designed to strengthen her wrists. which get weak and sluggish ~ Lyn's lower back and the buttocks area, after too much shifting, her abdomen ~ 8 which is crucial in shifting her Mustang's and, finally, her calves. Her aerobics pro- 0 five-speed transmission. From there, Lyn gram includes step-ups on a 14-inch- 5: moves to Station No.2, the Nautilus com- high platform, an upper body ergometer pound-leg machine. (an exercise bike for the upper body), a yn S1.James is not the The primary focus here is the quadri- stationary bike, a treadmill, and a cross- offspring of a racing ceps (the front thigh muscles), which are country ski machine. star. She didn't buy her also involved in shifting. "We put enough "Getting involved in fitness has made way into the sport, ei- resistance on her so she'll reach muscu- me more a:ware of the physical elements ther. On the contrary, lar failure somewhere between 40-70 that are important in racing," says Lyn. .:_~;t'~'.:.." she had to crawl out of seconds," says Jones. With no break in "Sometimes I think I have an advantage a lake and through fire just to get to between, Lyn changes leg positions and over other drivers because I have what where she is today. does a second thigh-straining move- I'd call a higher focus. But I don't want to And where is that? Well, consider that ment-but since her quadriceps are give that advantage away because I'm Janet Guthrie, who gained a lot of atten- already exhausted, she has to recruit not strong enough." tion by racing in the Indianapolis 500 sports, SL James competes against the best men in her field every time she climbs into her race car. "I've talked to a lot of male drivers who say, 'Lyn I give you credit. I couldn't do what you do.' I was willing to take the risk because Isaw no other aiternative in order to have a career," she says. "Experlencinq success and control in a race car has made me realize that Ihad capabilities and power as an individ- ual-and not just all by myself, but' as graded against other people of equal or greater strength. That gave me a sense of confidence I never had before. That's why Ithink auto racing is so special."RQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA

Lyn's overall fitness goals: more upper-body strength, cardiovascular endurance. Left: the incline dumbbell press. Below: the upper-body ergometer. Bottom: the Nautilus compound- leg machine.

from 1977-79, hasn't been able to qualify can women drivers to reckon there since' France's Michelle Mouton with: Patty Moise, who in was a world-class rally driver and once 1986 became the first wom- held the record for the Pike's Peak hill an to win a race in the Kelly climb But, like Guthrie, she never American Challenge series; reached higher ground. South Africa's Robin McCall-Dalienbach, Desire Wilson and Italy's Lelia Lombardi who finished second in a have both won prestigious international Kelly American Challenge races, but racing opportunities for wom- race in 1986; and St.James. en in Europe are much more numerous Unlike professional than in the US. That leaves three Ameri- women athletes in other

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