Rep Power: 548

Betty Skelton Erde, an aviator and auto racing pioneer once called the fastest woman on Earth, has died. She was 85.

Erde set female speed records at Daytona Beach and Utah's Bonneville salt flats half a century ago. In 2008, she was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in suburban Detroit.

Dozens of firsts are attached to her name: the auto industry's first female test driver in 1954; set a land speed record for women in 1956 (145 mph at Daytona Beach); and the world land speed record for women in 1965, hitting 315.72 mph at Bonneville.

Erde began drawing attention as a female stunt pilot as a teenager in the 1940s.

Read more: http://espn.go.com/racing/story/_/id...de-dies-age-85