BOUNDLESS: BETTY SKELTON, a one-hour FOX Sports documentary presented by NASCAR RACE HUB, has earned a 2022 International Motor Film Awards nomination for Best Feature Documentary. Premiering as part of the “Left Behind” series on FS1 in March during Women’s History Month, the documentary showcased America’s real-life “Wonder Woman.”
Described by the news media at the time as the fastest woman on Earth, Skelton set countless speed records in the air and in motorsports. No man or woman influenced the post-World War II transportation industry more. The film, the first original NASCAR RACE HUB documentary, was co-produced by Pam Miller, Lindsey Mandia and Cindy Cisson, and also featured host and three-time Olympic Gold Medalist Misty May-Treanor, Jay Leno and Danica Patrick. It next re-airs Thursday, Aug. 18, at 6:00 PM ET on FS1.
Background info on Skelton:
Betty Skelton was known as the “First Lady of Firsts” and made a lasting impact, breaking gender barriers in motorsports, aviation, astronautics and even the advertising business throughout 1950s and 60s. She set 17 aviation and automobile records is a member of 10 different Halls of Fame. After winning countless Aerobatic Championships in the late 40s, Betty retired from aerobatics at the young age of 25. Working as a private pilot in the early 50s, Betty met Bill France Sr. when she chartered a plane for him and several other NASCAR drivers. France invited Skelton to the 1954 Daytona Speedweeks, where she set the stock-car speed record for women on the sand in Daytona and also drove the pace car. She would go on to set three other land speed records at the Daytona Beach Road Course. From there, she become the first female test driver with Chrysler, scoring countless records with Corvettes and becoming the first woman to go over 300mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats. In 1959, Skelton was the first woman to undergo NASA astronaut testing and enjoyed a successful career as one of the first female advertising executives. She wrote articles for magazines, had a radio show and accomplished countless other things women at that time were not allowed to do.
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