But the 60-year-old semi-retired driver said her biggest thrill is yet to come.
"Frankly, I would like to be around when a woman wins the Indy 500 and/or the Daytona 500, or any major NASCAR race," she said. "And I would like to see a woman contend for the [points] championship in a major [racing] series, because winning one race is awesome, but to win a championship is the ultimate goal, for any driver."
"We're getting closer," she added.
St. James is taking a break from her exhausting efforts to advance opportunities for women in motorsports to get back into some competitive racing of her own this month and next. She and Desiré Wilson, an instructor at the Ford High Performance Training Center's driving school at Miller Motorsports Park, will co-drive a one-of-its-kind Willment Cobra Coupe owned by Larry H. Miller later this month at the Goodwood Revival in England.
The Goodwood is the world's best and most renowned historic racing event and will be held at England's Goodwood Circuit the weekend of Aug. 31-Sept. 2. The revival features the world's most significant historic racing cars from 1947-1966, when the track was originally in operation. The cars are driven by many of the former top drivers in history, including St. James, who will be making her fourth trip, and Wilson, making her "seventh or eighth."
Wilson, wife of MMP CEO/General Manager Alan Wilson, is the only woman in history to have won a Formula One race, having accomplished that feat in 1980 in Brands Hatch, England.
The women tested the car at the MMP track on Wednesday, getting accustomed to its left-hand gear shift system and other elements that make the car different. This will be the second time they have teamed for the one-hour endurance race at Goodwood.
"It is a neat experience for us because it is like going back in time," Wilson said. "The drivers wear uniforms from the 1950s and '60s. Even the spectators dress in clothes from the era. It is a one-of-a-kind opportunity."
The Willment Cobra Coupe is a variant of a Shelby Cobra and was built in 1964 by England's Willment Racing Team from a set of original Shelby Daytona Coupe plans. Six original Daytona Coupes were built by the legendary Carroll Shelby, who turned down the Willment team's request for an original car, but allowed them to copy the design.
Wednesday, St. James used the opportunity to get a glimpse of MMP for the first time and to spread awareness of the obstacles and challenges facing women who either want to get into big-time racing or are there now and are struggling to advance to higher levels or championships.
"Of course, I followed its development on the Internet and all that, but this is my first time to see it in the flesh," she said. "It is awesome. It is just amazing that this massive facility is so functional and adaptable. It's like a theme park for adults - a legal, safe place to experience racing and have fun and learn."
As for her crusade to create more opportunities for women in racing, St. James said it is a slow and difficult process, but rewarding.
"I don't teach [women] how to race," she said. "They have to go figure that out for themselves. I teach them everything else they need to know to be prepared to be a professional race car driver, be it a drag racer, a road racer, an open-wheel racer or whatever."
St. James said the first goal is to get the motorsports industry to step up with support "if it really wants a more diverse talent pool" and not wait for non-racing companies that make products for women to jump in with sponsorships first.
She noted that women are making inroads into open-wheel racing - last May's Indy 500 featured three women for the first time - but are lagging behind in NASCAR. Currently, NASCAR's top three series - Nextel Cup, Busch and Craftsman Trucks - have no women drivers, although Erin Crocker, Deborah Renshaw and Kelly Sutton have been in the Truck series in past year.
drew@sltrib.com
