30 Days in May: No. 27, Janet Guthrie, 1977 Bryant Heating and Cooling Lightning/Offy

Welcome to our monthlong countdown celebrating notable drivers and cars from the history of the Indianapolis 500!

Photo credit: Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Janet Guthrie drove in the Indianapolis 500 three times starting in 1977.

30 Days in May: No. 27, Janet Guthrie, 1977 Bryant Heating and Cooling Lightning/Offy. Janet Guthrie was something of a retread rookie in 1977 after trying valiantly the year before to make the race in a Vollstedt that was, to put it kindly, a bit long in the tooth.

Updated equipment made a big difference for Guthrie the next year, as she made the field comfortably on the last day of qualifying. Mechanical woes doomed her to 29^th place. She made the race the next two years, with a best finish of ninth in 1978. It wasn’t until 1992 that another woman, Lyn St. James, qualified for the 500.

Bryant has been a sponsor at Indianapolis since the furnace and the air conditioner were invented (just kidding) and has been associated with Tony Kanaan in recent years.