Judy Stropus: The Secret Weapon of 1970s Race Teams

Early Life and Entry into Motorsports

• 💡 Arriving from Lithuania in 1949 with no language skills, Judy Stropus learned to drive and became involved in cars through a boyfriend.
• 🚀 Within 20 years, she transitioned to timing race cars globally and established a PR business, embracing a "going with the flow" career path.
• 🧠 Stropus discovered her aptitude for timing by learning from women at the Queens Sports Car Club, finding it surprisingly easy and a unique skill.

Transition to Professional Timing and PR

• 🚗 Initially writing for the Queen Sports Car Club newsletter and Auto Week, Stropus's career took off after a personal car accident led her to score a race for a friend.
• 💰 A $25 offer to score a 5-hour Trans Am race for Bud Moore's team led to significant opportunities, including calls from NASCAR teams like Ford and Bud Moore.
• 🛠️ Stropus worked simultaneously as a professional timer and ran a PR business, representing major clients like Chevrolet and BMW even before her professional timing career began.

Career with Top Racing Teams

• 🏁 She worked with prominent teams such as the Javelin team (Jim Jeffs) and Penske Racing for Can-Am, and later for numerous IMSA teams.
• 📈 Before computers, Stropus's timing services were in high demand, allowing her to build a lucrative business by invoicing multiple teams.
• 💻 Stropus semi-computerized her scoring system by using monitors and coaxial cables to provide real-time information to pit crews, though it remained a manual process.

Challenges and Retirement

• ⚠️ A significant mistake at Riverside, where she missed a lap on the potential winning car (John Fitzpatrick's #1), made newspaper headlines and remains a source of regret.
• 🛑 Stropus ultimately retired from timing after setting a deadline for team commitments, with only one team responding, fulfilling her wish to step away.
• 🏆 Despite the challenges, Stropus was inducted into the Hall of Fame, being the only female in the sports car category to receive this honor.