Reportedly, the Murphys had first put Betty behind the wheel when they realized that the cops were less likely to hassle a woman driver—at least over what was in her cargo area, anyway. But once they realized just how good she was, Betty became their go-to getaway driver, easily supplanting her cousins due to a record of avoiding the cops and making moonshine runs on the quickfast.

But when the illicit moonshine races began to take a turn toward respectability and the track, Betty saw herself shut out. Boss Halloran, who ran the track, wouldn’t accept a woman as a competitor, and nor would most of his racers. Betty raced a few times in disguise as her cousin Billy, but each time the charade was found out and a hurious Halloran had the race re-run without her.

Incensed, Betty decided to pool her money for an all-female race, the very first Lace Lightning. In the retelling, years later, and in the slick made-for-TV movie a network slapped together, the first Lace Lightning was a roaring success and ended sexism in the county for good.

Reality was not quite so kind. Though it was well-attended and popular, the first Lace Lightning did not make back its money, and the prize pot bankrupted Betty Murphy. It wasn’t until 1972 that the Lace Lightning race became a truly annual tradition, and although Betty Murphy served as honorary grand marshal until her death in 1995, she did so from poverty—the organizers of the event named in her honor couldn’t afford to do anything but comp her gas and meals.

  • Like what you see? Purchase a print or ebook version!