Patricia Mernone

Patricia Ann Lynn Mernone (born 1940) was an American automobile racer and organic chemist. In 1964, she became the first American woman driver to compete for a national racing title, when she drove in the first American Road Race of Champions. Her portrait, portrayed by Norman Rockwell, is displayed in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C.

Patricia Mernone
Born1940
Other namesPat Mernone, Pat Young (after marriage)
Occupation(s)Automobile racer, organic chemist
Years active1960s

Early life

Mernone was the daughter of Edward Mernone Jr. and Mattie Powell Mernone.[1][2] She was from Falls Church, Virginia, and attended nearby Annandale High School.[3] Her father was a rally driver and race track owner,[4] and he encouraged her to learn how to drive racing cars at Carroll Shelby's school.[5][6] She was a graduate student in chemistry at American University during her racing career.[7][8]

Career

Mernone began driving competitively in 1961, in Sports Car Club of America events. She worked with tuner and driver Peter van der Vate from 1962 to 1964, sharing the wheel of an Austin-Healey Sebring Sprite. Together the pair won the Class G Production category in 1963.[9] In 1963 she was also part of an "all-girl team" with Donna Mae Mims, driving a Renault Dauphine at Marlboro in Maryland.[10]

Mernone was the points leader that summer in the Class G Production category, and "the only woman driver of 200" entries in an event at Thompson Raceway in Connecticut, where she drove a Morgan tuned by van der Vate.[7] On the basis of her regional wins in the Class H Production category in 1964,[11] Mernone was invited to compete in the first American Road Race of Champions in Riverside, California, making her the first American woman driver to compete for a national racing title.[12][13]

In 1964 and 1965, Mernone and teammate Marianne "Pinkie" Rollo[14] drove a Peugeot 404 together at several events.[5][15][16] She raced her Morgan again in 1965,[17] and won an event at Virginia International Raceway.[18] In 1966, she competed in a Formula Vee race in New Jersey.[19] She was an editorial assistant for the American Chemical Society[20] when she raced a Porsche 911 at Virginia International Raceway in 1967.[21] In 1969, Mernone was the subject of a portrait drawing by painter Norman Rockwell, now in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery.[12]

Personal life

Patricia Mernone married a fellow racing driver, Bill Young, who was also her father's business partner.[4][22] Patricia Young was alive and living in Canyon Lake, California, in 2002, when her stepfather Charles M. Kugel died.

References
  1. "Mrs. Mattie Powell". Florence Morning News. August 12, 1970. p. 2. Retrieved July 22, 2020 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  2. "Powell--Mernone". Monmouth Democrat. 1936-11-05. p. 5. Retrieved 2020-07-22 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. Antenna. Annandale High School. 1957. p. 31 – via Internet Archive.
  4. "WIR: 'Summit Point bills will be paid'". The Morning Herald. 1972-09-29. p. 3. Retrieved 2020-07-22 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. Staff (August 24, 1964). "The Furious Fun of Pinkie and Pat". Sports Illustrated Vault. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
  6. Reimler, Kay (1965-12-11). "The Lady is a Sports Car Racer". The Charlotte News. p. 7. Retrieved 2020-07-22 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Pat Mernone Races at Thompson Today". The New York Times. 1964-07-05. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
  8. "Lady Chemist in Road Race". The Record. 1964-07-03. p. 21. Retrieved 2020-07-22 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Pete van der Vate". The Road Racing Drivers Club. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
  10. Blunk, Frank M. (August 18, 1963). "37 Cars Entered in Marlboro Race". The New York Times. p. 160 – via ProQuest.
  11. "Not Spectacular". The Baltimore Sun. 1964-01-04. p. 14. Retrieved 2020-07-22 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. "Patricia Mernone". National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
  13. McCormack, Jim (November 13, 1964). "Spotlight on Ascot, Riverside". Long Beach Press-Telegram. p. 28. Retrieved July 22, 2020 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  14. "Sports Cars at Vineland Speedway Sunday". The Daily Journal. 1964-09-11. p. 7. Retrieved 2020-07-22 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. Shelsby, Earl (1964-08-01). "Two Women Enter Marlboro 12-Hour Endurance Race". The Baltimore Sun. p. 16. Retrieved 2020-07-22 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. Blunk, Frank M. (March 21, 1965). "Mrs. Rollo's Team to Compete In Virginia Auto Race April 10". The New York Times. p. S22 – via ProQuest.
  17. "Pat Mernone, Dick Staples Stage Thrilling VIR Race". The Danville Register. 1965-10-17. p. 37. Retrieved 2020-07-22 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. "Mernone Wins Top Duel at VIR". The Bee. 1965-10-18. p. 26. Retrieved 2020-07-22 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. Blunk, Frank M. (April 17, 1966). "150 Cars Tune Up at Jersey Track". The New York Times. p. 239 – via ProQuest.
  20. "Masthead". Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 16 (5): 714. May 1968. doi:10.1021/jf60159a700. ISSN 0021-8561.
  21. Wilkinson, Sylvia (October 1967). "Virginia International Raceway Event Draws Jennings, Mernone". The Daily Tarheel. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
  22. "New Car Raceway Planned". The Evening Sun. 1972-09-27. p. 48. Retrieved 2020-07-22 – via Newspapers.com.
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