Too Cool for School

Helen Leigh-Wagner recently said in an email that she's a big stock car fan. And she went on to say that she drove in the very first Powder Puff race at Sunshine Speedway in 1960.

Let me tell you why that fact impresses the daylights out of me...When we were at Northeast, our culture said that "girls" could do things like be a nurse, a teacher, an airline stewardess, a secretary, and of course a wife and mother. "Boys" did the rough-and-tumble things like stock car racing. When the 1960s came along, with the beginnings of broad changes in cultural attitudes--which would lead to "girls can do anything they want to try to do"--then doors started opening for females.

But Helen was a pioneer when I had no clue what it meant to be a pioneer.

Here is Helen's story as she tells it: I was supposed to drive my brother-in-law's car but it was co-owned at the time and the other owner's wife wanted to drive it. She felt bad and went to the pits and talked another driver into letting me drive his little Ford coupe. It was blue and cute as could be. ...If I remember correctly, I finished fourth.

I married Cliff in '59, so I was married and also had my oldest boy by then. That was the only time I drove. My son was 6 months old. I must have been crazy. I remember doing it on a dare. Cliff didn't think I would do it but I did.

You have to be a little crazy to drive around in circles. We started going to Citrus County Speedway because my nephew was driving up there. He has since sold his car but we got hooked.