From Sports Car Club of America racing to Grand Prix racing, Paula Murphy did it all. A versatile driver who achieved what few have is finally getting respect. motorsports
in 1959. Shortly after, the noted racer Scooter Patrick let her drive his modified Porsche. She went on to teach at Dan Gurney’s racing school, and caught the attention of marketing genius Andy Granatelli—at the time, the most famous name in motorsports.
She soon became known as “Miss STP”, and for good reason. Driving for Granatelli’s then ubiquitous STP oil-additive brand, she set 365 new stock-car records for Granatelli and Studebaker at the Bonneville Salt Flats in 1963. Her success made her the first woman to compete in the Indianapolis 500, doing so behind the wheel of the Novi, Granatelli’s challenging Studebaker Indy race car.
Despite four inches of water on the ground, Murphy piloted the Avenger jet car to 243.33 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats in 1965.Drag racing was her next frontier, where she became the first woman licensed to pilot a nitro-powered NHRA funny car. Murphy showed up to NASCAR in 1971. “I knew I was doin’ pretty good,” she remarked about her first time qualifying. But a 1973 accident at Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., changed things.
During the course of her career, Murphy rubbed shoulders with so many great racers, yet few from any era have achieved her level of versatility as a driver. “How could you accomplish what Paula Murphy did in that time, to race in all those different categories?” says John Force, 16-time NHRA Champion. “That is unheard of by a man, let alone by a woman.”
Murphy clocked 254 mph in this dragster before it crashed due to a mechanical failure, laying her up for half a year with a broken neck.Looking back on her 15-year career, Murphy once said, “I may have started a little something.” The Petersen evening features the film screening, a panel discussion, a silent auction, and made-to-order In-N-Out burgers. To purchase tickets or donate, visit
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