Lucy O’Reilly Schell: A motorsport trailblazer from Europe to the Indy 500

The year is 1940. Lucy O’Reilly Schell sits on the last ocean liner to depart Italy for the United States of America before World War II completely engulfs the European continent. Accompanying her are some of European Grand Prix racing's stars, two Maseratis, her young son Harry, and a dream: She intends to win the Indianapolis 500.

It is a dream deferred by the death of her beloved husband Laury in a road accident — one that also left Lucy with injuries that she's still nursing on that ship. It is a dream nearly brought to a screaming halt by war, a dream she won't be able to realize from the pits of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, because even though she's a team owner, women are banned lest they distract the men.

It is a dream that will not come true, but Lucy O’Reilly Schell is not the kind of woman to worry about those kinds of things. After all, she fielded the quiet Delahaye that, with Jewish driver René Dreyfus behind the wheel, defeated the might of Nazi Germany's repressively dominant Mercedes and Auto Union teams at the 1938 Pau Grand Prix. 

Today on “Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys,” we're investigating the exceptional life of Lucy O’Relly Schell, a French-born American racing driver turned team owner who did her best to bring glory to French automakers during the build-up to the second World War.

#motorsport #motorsporthistory #indy500 #indianapolis500 #worldwarii #wwii #renedreyfus #lucyschell #lucyoreillyschell #racing #womeninracing #womeninmotorsport

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Episode Bibliography: 

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https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/inspire-me/blog/blog-posts/why-were-women-written-out-of-history-an-interview-with-bettany-hughes/