By Sylvia Wilkinson

To say Judy Stropus is unique stretches the word. After World War II, five-year-old Judy arrived in the U. S. as a displaced person from Lithuania. By early adulthood she was a treasured team member for many including Roger Penske. Judy who was always “fascinated with words” learned English (“easy for a child,” she says), then became a master of numbers, recording speeds of the fastest race cars in the world, notating tenths-of-a-second separations with a handheld watch. 

“I learned timing and scoring from the Queens Sports Car Club,” she recalled. “I was quickly picked up by the Mercury Cougar team at a five-hour-long Trans-Am race at Marlboro, Maryland. I was paid $25. Afterwards they called saying, please do the rest of the year for us, and I was paid well.” Thus began a vocation that placed an impeccably dressed woman at the top of a one-of-a-kind profession: No one could match her. And she shamed the early computers. 

“I always wanted my helpers to be as obsessed as I was,” she said. “Eventually, I understood they knew I was in charge. But, based on early life’s experiences and upbringing — in my family there were surgeons, scientists, skilled professionals — I believed that everyone else was better than I was. It was paramount that we did an accurate job for these high-profile teams. That was a lot of pressure. Once you have the reputation of being very good, you have to live up to it.” 

Driving a race car from curiosity, Judy expanded her technical role into competition. 

“I learned so much from the drivers I was hanging around with, (Mark) Donohue, (Peter) Revson, (George) Follmer, (Al) Holbert. Al helped me get a car, then he’d fly in to different tracks to give me driving lessons. I would listen to recaps of the races. I absorbed a lot. I enjoyed the competition but creating a business and respect for my abilities and, of course, making a living were my number one goals. I was always a top runner in the VW Cup Series — my fellow drivers are still my good friends — but my work kept me from doing the entire series. 

“Sadly, I knew many drivers who were killed in those early days. Mark and Peter’s deaths had a major effect on me. It made me say to myself: Just do your best, try to achieve your goals, because life can be taken away from you at any time. I came to accept these early deaths as part of life. Today I cringe when I watch major crashes, and yet the drivers are walking away. That pleases me to no end. I lost too many good friends. 

“After retirement, I began to become more aware of other people’s personalities, qualities, and quirks. I feel like I am now grown up, and can apply my new knowledge, to what I am doing today — and it’s working well. My PR/consulting business is thriving and I’m grateful for that.” 

Judy adds with a laugh: “I did try a venture into a promotion for a ship designer and did a terrible job!” 

I doubt that, but when you’re the best, and you love doing what you’re doing with people you like, you can’t beat that. 

Sylvia Wilkinson, one of Judy’s timing/scoring (graduate) students, is now a novelist, racing journalist and fellow dinosaur who spent many hours as Judy’s 24-hour helper at Le Mans and Daytona. Her most recent book, “50/50, The Story of Champion Race Car Driver John Paul Jr.,” was published in 2018.

MSHFA 2016 Inductee Sam Posey

(Thomas R. Miller Photography)