Her Pinkness
Remembering Donna Mae Mims
I don’t remember exactly when I first met Donna Mae. It may have been when she was working on the false grid at Nelson Ledges or maybe when admiring her pink Corvette with the incredible mural of Marilyn Monroe on the hood. Her name sounded familiar since I had been following racing since the nearly 60’s, but it was only later I learned the extent of her accomplishments. Donna started racing in 1958 was the first and only one of three women to win an SCCA National Championship in H Production in 1963 in her pink Austin-Healy Bug eye Sprite in her pink coveralls and helmet. “I just always liked pink,” she said. Donna was an employee of the famous Yenko Chevrolet and worked with Zora Arkus Duntov among others in the development of Chevrolet Racing. She also raced Camaros, MGs, Corvettes, and Corvairs in places such as Sebring, Daytona, and Riverside. For one of her funnier escapades, she drove a Cadillac Limo in the 1972 Cannonball Run with an all girl team.