Fantasy NASCAR Racing

Marian Pagan, often known as “Mopsy” was one of the first female drivers to try her hand in NASCAR.  Residing in California, she was the first woman from outside NASCAR’s Southern heartlands to try her hand at one of its top-level events.  She only made one Cup start in 1954, finishing 18th out of 33 in the Oakland Grand National race in a Plymouth run by her husband Eddie.  He also took part in the race. Some of her male rivals protested her entry, but responses from the media and the public were largely positive.  “Mopsy” had relatively little experience in motorsport, but she had been quite successful in horse-drawn buggy races and was a member of the Cheesecake Racing Association.  In a 1955 newspaper interview, Eddie Pagan claimed that Marian had got into motor racing through him and that she first competed in 1951 after seeing her first “powderpuff derby” ladies’ race. In 1957, she was one of nine women who competed in the Mobil gas Economy Run for the Ford team.  This was not a race but a cross-country trial with the aim of covering the greatest distance on the least fuel.  Away from the track, Marian worked in the aircraft industry.  Some info from SpeedQueens.