Lyn St. James Awarded Spirit of Ford Honor at Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance

The annual Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, located just north of Jacksonville, Florida, always maintains a strong motorsports presence, a hallmark of founder Bill Warner, who continues to race himself at well past retirement age.

The 26th annual Concours held May 20-23 was no exception, with the honoree being Lyn St. James, sports car champion and seven-time Indianapolis 500 competitor. St. James was also the surprise recipient of the Spirit of Ford award, presented by Ford CEO Jim Farley. “Today, she is channeling the same drive she had in breaking through barriers in her racing career to become a tireless promoter of opportunities for women and minorities in the racing world. And the sport and industry is better for it,” he said.

St. James began her professional racing career in her Ford Pinto, going on to compete in more than 100 SCCA Trans-Am and IMSA races. She won her class twice at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the 12 Hours of Sebring once, and became the first and only woman to win an IMSA GT sports car race solo in 1985 at Watkins Glen.

She went on to run the Indianapolis 500 seven times, including being the first woman to win Rookie of the Year honors in 1992. St. James held 21 international and national closed circuit speed records for women over a 20-year period, including 225.722 mph during qualifying for the 1995 Indy 500.

Warner and his team gathered 11 of the cars that Lyn St. James drove throughout her racing career, including the 1985 Ford Mustang displayed by 3 Dog Garage. Her first Daytona 24 hour class victory would come behind the wheel of this car in 1987 when she shared driving duties with Daytona 500 winner Bill Elliott, Trans-Am champ Tom Gloy and IMSA GTO champion Scott Pruett.

“Lyn has always been an exceptional advocate for Ford, and I’m proud to call her a friend,” said Edsel B. Ford II, who has been involved in Ford’s racing efforts for decades. “I have always been impressed by how hard she worked to be a successful driver. She has worked just as hard to give so many young drivers the same kind of mentorships that she had in her career. Lyn is a very worthy honoree of the Spirit of Ford Award.”

Spirit of Ford Award Winners

• Bill Stroppe, 1988

• Bob Glidden, 1989

• Chris Economaki, 1990

• Richard Petty, 1992

• Bob Bondurant, 1993

• Mario Andretti, 1994

• Jackie Stewart, 1994

• Bud Moore, 1995

• Parnelli Jones, 1996

• Jim Clark, 1997

• Phil Hill, 1998

• Stirling Moss, 1998

• Bill France, Sr., 1998

• Bill France Jr. 1998

• Junie Donlavey, Jr., 1999

• Glen Wood, 1999

• Leonard Wood, 1999

• Dan Gurney, 1999

• Denise McCluggage, 2000

• Bill Elliott, 2000

• Carroll Shelby, 2001

• Wally Parks, 2001

• Ned Jarrett, 2003

• Mose Nowland, 2005

• Jack Roush, 2006

• John Force, 2010

• Kevin Kennedy, 2011

• A.J. Foyt, 2017

• Lyn St. James 2021