History of Women in Racing: Kart Drivers

Inspirational Women in Motorsports: Karting Edition

Kathey Hartman

Kathey, known as the "Queen of Champions," began karting in 1963 at Crescent Kartway in Ohio. She won her first National Championship in 1966 when she took the Modified Light Crown at Quincy, Illinois. Hartman won her first enduro championship at the 1969 Nationals taking the Stock Heavy Title. In 1970 she took home the Stock Light Gold in Indy and two titles; Limited and America Reed Senior Light at the Indy Nationals. In total she 15 national and 3 Grand National Titles. No other driver won 2 Grand National Championships in a row, as Kathey did in 1971 and 1972. Kathey has said that her achievements in karting must be shared with her husband, chief of Hartman Engineering, which introduced the firsts lay-down enduro kart in 1963.

Faye 'Ladybug' Pierson

Faye participated in the first Grand Nationals in 1959 where she finished 2nd behind Jimmy Yamane in the “A” Class. Over the next three years Faye went on to race the world over for their Team Bug including the U.S., Mexico, the Bahamas, England and Italy.  Faye's accomplishments are winning two years in a row the infamous and quite grueling 100 Miler in Tecate, Mexico. Faye Pierson along with her late husband Tom Pierson, founded Bug Engineering in 1958 which later became K&P Manufacturing, a business is manufacturing karts today in the Azusa area of Los Angeles, California.


Sources:
http://www.lostenduros.com/?page_id=679
http://kartdrome.com/index.php/history-of-karting/champions-of-karting
http://www.adamsmotorsportspark.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/Adams50thProgram.pdf
http://karting.archive.netcopy.co.uk/article/april-2010/36/karts-from-the-last-50-years-race-in-california