The First Lady of Dirt: The Triumphs and Tragedy of Racing Pioneer Cheryl Glass

Journalist Poehler (The Brown Bullet) presents a heartbreaking if conflicted biography of Cheryl Glass (1961–1997), one of the first Black women to become a professional race car driver. Growing up in Seattle, Glass was 10 when she discovered “quarter midget” racing, in which kids competed in quarter-scale cars. She soon mastered the sport, and by 18 was racing professionally. In 1980, Glass won the sprint car main event at Washington State’s Skagit Speedway, the “biggest night” of her career. The rest of Glass’s story is less valedictory. She crashed twice during a 1991 race in Phoenix, Ariz., and complaints from her competitors that she was a dangerous driver led to the Indy Lights series suspending her competitor’s license, which ended her racing career. Afterward, Glass began to display “erratic behavior, aggression, depression, problems planning and carrying out tasks, substance use, and suicidal thoughts,” likely as a result of head injuries incurred on the track, Poehler suggests. In 1997, Glass jumped to her death from Seattle’s Aurora Bridge. Unfortunately, Poehler doesn’t provide much insight into his subject’s legacy, and his assertion that “Glass tried to climb the racing ladder too fast” by taking on competitions she wasn’t ready for muddles the meaning of her story, arguing, in effect, that she shouldn’t have taken part in the races that made her a trailblazer. The result is a murky portrait of a racing pioneer. Photos. (Feb.)