Betty Skelton Erde once was the fastest woman on Earth, setting female speed records at Daytona Beach and Utah's Bonneville salt flats half a century ago. On Aug. 13, 2008, she reaches a new milestone as only the fifth woman inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in suburban Detroit.

Photo: John Raoux The Associated Press
Betty Skelton Erde sits behind the wheel of her 2002 Corvette at her home in The Villages. An auto racing pioneer, Erde once was the fastest woman on Earth, setting female speed records at Daytona Beach and Utah's Bonneville salt flats half a century ago. On Wednesday, she reaches a new milestone as only the fifth woman inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in suburban Detroit.

Photo: John Raoux The Associated Press
Betty Skelton Erde with her 2002 Corvette at her home in The Villages

Photo: photo provided by Betty Skelton Erde
A 1951 photo shows Betty Skelton Erde piloting her Pitts Special aircraft over Tampa.

Photo: photo provided by Betty Skelton Erde
This handout photo taken in either 1954 or 1955 shows Betty Skelton Erde jumping over a car in a boat at the Cypress Gardens attraction in Winter Haven.

Photo: photo provided by Betty Skelton Erde
This handout photo shows Betty Skelton Erde in her Pitts Special aircraft in Tampa in 1951.

Photo: photo provided by Betty Skelton Erde
This undated handout photo shows Betty Skelton Erde driving a Corvette on the sands of Daytona Beach.

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