Janet Guthrie was born in Iowa, USA, in 1938. She studied physics at university then became a pilot and an engineer. In 1960 she even tried to become an astronaut. But her dream was to become a racing car drive. Because she was a woman, it was very difficult. At that time, most people thought that only men could be racing car drives. So Janet started building and racing her own cars. By 1972, she had given up her other jobs. She was a racing car driver!