The Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA) has announced that Lyn St. James and Sarah Fisher are returning to race in this year’s Fathers’ Day Weekend Indy Legends Charity Pro-Am at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Fisher won the A-Production class of the contest last year, and St. James prepares for her fifth Pro-Am on June 16.
“Both Lyn and Sarah are household names for racing fans, and it’s well deserved,” said Tony Parella, the CEO of SVRA. “Lyn has been an important supporter of SVRA, and I think Sarah really enjoyed herself last year, winning on her first try.”
St. James, a seven-time starter in the Indianapolis 500 and the event’s rookie of the year in 1992, raced in 15 Indy car races in her career. While many fans know Lyn best for her Indianapolis 500 achievements, she is an accomplished road racer and has earned numerous laurels at the wheel of a variety of racecars. She is a two-time competitor in the 24 Hours of Le Mans (1989 and ’91). She was even more successful in 62 IMSA GT events, amassing a record of six wins, 17 top-five and 37 top-ten finishes. Her 1985 GT victory at Watkins Glen remains the only time a woman has scored a win in that series driving solo. Lyn raced in the 12 Hours of Sebring nine times, winning the GTO class in 1990, and was a two-time winner in the GTO Class at the 24 Hours of Daytona. Lyn raced in 53 Trans Am races with seven top-five finishes. She has held 31 international and national closed circuit speed records and is a member of the Florida Sports Hall of Fame and the SCCA Hall of Fame. She has competed in all of the Indy Legends Pro-Am races since 2014 and has raced in a variety of cars on different tracks at SVRA events. Lyn has also authored articles for SVRA’s Vintage Quarterly Magazine.
Fisher is a veteran of nine Indy 500s, more than any other woman. She is also the first woman to compete full time in the Indy Car series. There she earned standout results as the first woman to earn a pole position with a record-setting performance at Kentucky Speedway in 2002. Also at Kentucky, she was the first woman to finish on the podium in 2000 and backed it up with a runner-up finish at Homestead in 2002. Fans voted her Indy Car’s Most Popular Driver for three consecutive years, 2001-2003. She won a similar trophy in 2005 in the NASCAR West Series. Fisher enjoyed early success winning championships in karting and quarter midgets. She climbed the ladder of midget and sprint cars, including World of Outlaws. After her driving career, she became the first woman to own a full-time Indy car team in 2008 and scored a victory with driver Ed Carpenter in 2011.
The Indy Legends Pro-Am is the Saturday feature event of the Brickyard Invitational. The Indianapolis 500 veterans will be in 1963 to 1972 vintage Corvettes, Camaros and Mustangs of SVRA “Group 6” A and B Production. The professionals will be paired with amateur drivers, splitting their stints at the wheel. Additional Indy 500 drivers will be announced as they enter in the coming weeks.
In addition to the Pro-Am, there will be a festival of other activities at the Brickyard Invitational including the Sunday, June 17 feature race by the professional Trans-Am series headed by 2017 champion and emerging superstar, 20-year-old Ernie Francis Jr. The weekend also presents the Hagerty Insurance “shine and show” car corral, vintage motorcycle racing, and 500+ vintage racers ranging over 100 years of automotive history racing in SVRA Groups 1 through 12. An oval exhibition featuring a racecar show of judged competition for the A.J. Watson and Sir Jack Brabham trophies led by track historian Donald Davidson will also take place. Also, the Pre-1920 Race Exhibition cars will be on track along with a paddock area full of in-period equipment displays. The National that finished seventh in the first Indianapolis 500 in 1911 will be driven at speed.
For more details visit the SVRA website
