The story of Denise McCluggage America’s ‘First Lady of Racing’

Denise McCluggage was all of these things, but it seems history will best remember the Kansas native for her trailblazing career as a racing car driver – America’s ‘First Lady of Racing’, to be precise.

Denise’s love of cars was sparked in childhood, in 1933, at the sight of a Baby Austin 7 parked outside the McCluggage family home. Though Denise’s request to Santa for a Baby Austin of her own went unfulfilled, the six-year-old was not deterred. The wheels of destiny were in motion, and she was fated to follow her drive for automobiles to its most exciting possible conclusion: racing.

But Denise had a few other trophies to win first.

A woman of immense talent in many fields, Denise took an indirect yet impressive road to racing. The 1950s saw her rise as a determined journalist, competing with male counterparts at the San Francisco Chronicle, and in 1954 she became the first female sports editor of The New York Herald Tribune.

It was at the Tribune that Denise made her most substantial contact with the world of car racing. Each foray into that realm – all in the name of sports coverage – deepened her interest, but still never quite got her over the line. In the end, it was a serendipitous encounter with entrepreneurial sportsman Briggs Cunningham at a yachting event that really pressed the pedal to the metal on Denise’s initiation as a racer.

Recognising her raw talent for driving, Briggs helped Denise gain greater access to races, and to magnificent cars. It was in a Jaguar XK140 that she ran her first club race at a track in New York. From there, the road was the limit.

In 1958, Denise was called to join the legendary Luigi Chinetti’s Le Mans racing team – only to be knocked back at the last minute when the FIA announced that women were not invited to participate. But these kinds of setbacks were par for the course, and Denise was made of stronger stuff.

The 1960s was Denise’s decade to shine – and the triumphs came in droves. Driving solo, and with great teams, she busted through barrier after barrier to distinguish herself not just as a record-breaking woman, but also as an elite racer who could contend with any man on a circuit. It was this phenomenal ability that Denise took with her throughout the rest of her life, well into her 80s, when she was still making celebrity appearances – and outstripping competitors – on racetracks around her country.

Before her passing in 2015, Denise had achieved a great many more life successes, including the rescue of Competition Press, later to become Autoweek Magazine, the first motorsport weekly in America. She was someone who accomplished so many ‘firsts’, and her exact impact on car racing and journalism is unquantifiable. One thing, however, is certain: Denise McCluggage has left an enduring, world-changing legacy behind her.

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