July 22, 2019—The Automotive Hall of Fame inducted four new members, including Janet Guthrie and Sergio Marchionne, reports Car and Driver.
Before being the first woman to race in the Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500 in 1977, she trained in aerospace engineering to become an astronaut, then began racing in 1963. By 1972, she was racing full-time, and is only the fourth woman among hundreds of inductees since the start of the awards in 1967. She is now 81.
The late Sergio Marchionne is said by organizers to be “the visionary automotive businessman behind the merger of the two troubled companies, Fiat and Chrysler, to form one of the largest and most profitable automotive manufacturers in the world, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.”
The other two members inducted are Richard E. “Dick” Dauch and Patrick Ryan. Dauch was Chrysler’s executive vice president of worldwide manufacturing before retiring and co-founding American Axle Manufacturing, now one of the largest automotive suppliers in the world. Ryan founded the first finance and insurance (F&I) department at a dealership near Chicago, changing the sales industry.
The ceremony celebrated its 80th anniversary.
