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CORVETTE TODAY #154 - Betty Skelton, The First Woman of Firsts
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May 8, 2025
As we finish the month of March and Women's History Month, we honor the first woman inducted into the Corvette Hall of Fame, Betty Skelton. Cindy Sisson, CEO of GSEvents and Pam Miller, Co-Producers of the documentary Betty Skelton: Boundless join your CORVETTE TODAY host, Steve Garrett, to highlight Betty's illustrious career. The list of Betty's accomplishments are too many to list here. She broke barriers that no woman had crossed prior to her. After watching and/or listening to this episode of CORVETTE TODAY, you'll understand why Betty is the first woman to be inducted into the Corvette Hall of Fame. Enjoy this insightful episode about Betty Skelton on CORVETTE TODAY!
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0:00
[Music]
0:03
welcome to Corvette today the podcast
0:06
that talks about everything Corvette
0:08
with your host Steve Garrett MC and DJ
0:11
at one of the largest Corvette weekends
0:13
in the country Corvette Fun Fest
0:14
president of the Corvette club of Kansas
0:17
City Missouri and radio disc jockey at
0:19
the number one radio station in Kansas
0:21
City for over 40 years
0:23
here's Steve Garrett
0:25
[Music]
0:28
thanks for listening and watching
0:30
Corvette today the show that talks about
0:31
everything Corvette and the only current
0:34
podcast dedicated to Corvette I'm your
0:37
host Steve Garrett I appreciate you
0:38
tuning in Corva today is brought to you
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by wheelcraft want to dress up your
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the month of March is women's history
2:31
month and what a better way to pay
2:33
tribute to women and Corvettes than to
2:35
talk about Betty Skelton the first woman
2:37
of Firsts to give us some perspective on
2:40
Betty on today's show I have with me
2:42
Cindy Susan the CEO of GS events an
2:45
Elite Marketing Group and Pam Miller the
2:48
director and executive producer of Betty
2:50
Skelton boundless which was made for Fox
2:53
Sports Pam also worked for the Velocity
2:55
Channel and Motor Trend CBS Sports and
2:58
fox broadcasting Cindy Pam welcome to
3:01
Corvette today I appreciate being here
3:04
especially supporting women's histories
3:06
month Ladies as I said at the beginning
3:07
of the show the month of March is
3:09
women's history month so it's really
3:11
ideal that we're paying tribute to Betty
3:13
Skelton right absolutely she charted a
3:17
course for many women in Motorsports and
3:20
also women in space exploration
3:22
advertising it's amazing how many genres
3:25
of professions that she open doors for
3:29
post-world War II and we're going to
3:31
touch on those in our podcast today now
3:33
Pam you produced a terrific documentary
3:36
on Betty for Fox talk about the
3:38
documentary and how people can view that
3:40
people can view it on Fox or working on
3:43
getting our streaming opportunities
3:45
together and soon it'll be on streaming
3:47
but it came together Cindy and I kind of
3:50
brainstorming during covid one of the
3:52
beauties of covet was we all have time
3:54
to stop and think we started talking
3:56
about ways we could remember women that
3:58
have been forgotten to history in
4:00
Motorsports and Betty was clearly the
4:02
top of the list when you look at as I
4:04
said post World War II America there
4:07
were few people who touched every form
4:10
of transportation more than Betty I mean
4:12
it was probably Betty and then all the
4:14
men she just really had a lot of
4:17
influence and it really motivated us to
4:19
put together her story because we felt
4:21
that people should not forget and that
4:24
her fingerprints were still on those
4:26
Industries today and I'd like to add add
4:28
to that Steve it's actually part of a
4:30
series that Pam and I co-produced or
4:31
co-created called the Left Behind series
4:33
and you'll hear it first our next
4:35
documentary will Air during women's
4:37
History Month on March 30th on Fox
4:40
Sports 1 and it'll be on a woman named
4:43
Paula Murphy the first woman protestrov
4:45
at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in
4:47
1963 and believe it or not she's still
4:50
alive with us today 94 years young lives
4:53
in Palmdale California we're excited to
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tell her story as well that's awesome
4:57
God love her 94 years old years young
5:00
that's right Betty Skelton was known as
5:03
the first lady of first now this
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encompasses like we had talked about
5:06
just a second ago Aviation racing
5:09
advertising and Aeronautics she was a
5:12
true trendsetter and not just for women
5:14
either was she yes she said a standard
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in her aerobatics and the tricks she did
5:20
in her plane and the championships for
5:22
men she did the same tricks as men she
5:25
did the same competitions as men she
5:27
wanted to be able to compete against the
5:29
men she had all the respect of the men
5:31
in that industry and in everything she
5:33
touched but she did open the door she
5:35
was the first she was the first woman
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three-time aerobatic Champion she was
5:40
the first woman to be part of the
5:42
original Corvette team with sir duntoth
5:45
and John Fitch she was the only woman to
5:48
do the astronaut tests at Nasa with the
5:51
actual astronauts not the other group
5:52
who are amazing but they did their tests
5:55
at Loveless which was a different
5:56
facility and then she was the first
5:58
woman advertising exact in that world of
6:01
Mad Men in the 50s that we all saw on
6:03
that great streaming show so she was a
6:05
pretty amazing person but she was the
6:07
first in so many categories Pam let's
6:10
not forget Bonneville either correct she
6:12
went over 300 miles an hour at
6:13
Bonneville that's amazing I'm glad you
6:16
mentioned that YouTube because in 1949
6:18
and 1950 she won the national feminine
6:21
aerobatic Championship with her plane
6:23
called the little stinker that plane is
6:25
still around today it's at the National
6:26
Air and Space Museum yeah it's basically
6:29
the greeter for the air and space museum
6:31
it's the first plane you see when you
6:33
walk in it's upside down you look up and
6:35
there's this tiny plane and when you
6:36
look at it you go that's no way that
6:38
somebody flew that plane it looks like a
6:39
toy it is Tiny and in fact Cindy will
6:42
tell a great story when we were working
6:44
on the documentary we were fortunate to
6:46
have the Smithsonian to ourselves at
6:48
like 5 a.m and she and I just kind of
6:51
laid on the floor and just like looked
6:54
up at the plane and you could just feel
6:56
The Vibes coming out of it from looking
6:58
at how you would fly I mean she flew
7:00
between events in that plane she did all
7:02
her best Championship moves in that
7:04
plane she was so daring in that plane
7:07
and when you look at it you just can't
7:09
even imagine it that's cool it's an open
7:11
cockpit plane I mean it's unlike
7:13
anything people would imagine flying
7:15
today and to add to it the reason it's
7:17
upside down and she was also famous for
7:19
clipping ribbons so in those days you
7:22
would take two poles with a big ribbon
7:24
and the pilot would try to clip the
7:26
ribbon on there on their way thing well
7:29
Betty actually flipped the plane and did
7:31
it upside down and that's what makes it
7:33
so special that's amazing now Betty met
7:36
Bill France who was the founder of
7:38
NASCAR and Bill convinced her to drive
7:40
the pace car at speed week at Daytona
7:43
not only did she drive the pace car but
7:45
she said a stock car record as well she
7:47
became the first female test driver and
7:50
set a land speed record didn't she yeah
7:52
it was actually the first thing she did
7:54
at the beach not actually in a Corvette
7:57
it was in a Dodge it was in the fire
7:59
arrow and she set some records in the
8:02
Dodge first in 1954 and then famously
8:05
she told Bill France that she was bored
8:08
with the Dodge and that she heard about
8:10
this little thing coming out called a
8:12
Corvette and she said hey can you help
8:14
me out can you see if they'll let me
8:16
drive one of those and the rest is
8:18
history that's amazing well ladies let's
8:20
take our first break and when we come
8:22
back we're going to talk about Betty
8:23
skelton's relationship with General
8:25
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host Steve Garrett
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hey thanks for listening and watching
11:24
Corvette today the show that talks about
11:27
everything Corvette brought to you by
11:29
wheelcraft want to dress up your
11:30
Corvette with bright Chrome or black
11:32
chrome wheels visit wheelcraft.com and
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learn about their Advanced PVD chrome
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833-840-5334 I'm your host Steve Garrett
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with me today is Cindy Susan and Pam
11:53
Miller we're talking about Betty Skelton
11:55
in the second segment we're going to
11:57
talk about Betty's relationship with GM
11:59
and Corvette ladies in 56 Betty started
12:02
working in advertising for GM as a top
12:05
executive and a spokesperson for
12:07
Chevrolet she appeared on some radio TV
12:09
and print ads for General Motors and I
12:11
think that was kind of a first wasn't it
12:13
oh absolutely in fact there's a famous
12:15
TV appearance that GM did it when they
12:18
would buy half hour shows so she is on
12:20
the set talking to a national audience
12:23
promoting driving and the whole goal of
12:26
the interview is to put her in the same
12:29
context as a renowned Stunt Driver a
12:31
three-time Indy 500 champ and her and
12:34
she's talking to women about being
12:36
comfortable driving taking u-turns
12:38
grabbing the wheel enjoying the car and
12:41
it really is telling because they're
12:43
putting her in a category in Primetime
12:45
TV but these very esteemed gentlemen and
12:48
making her an equal in the eyes of the
12:50
viewer it's a pretty stunning piece of
12:52
film that's in the documentary and you
12:55
can tell they've given her talking
12:57
points but she's kind of adding a couple
12:59
zingers of her own in there about how
13:01
fun it is and just do it and drive and
13:04
it's pretty amazing but it's so
13:06
communicative to the average woman in a
13:09
comforting way and I think that's part
13:11
of why she was a really great
13:12
spokesperson when you look at ads when
13:14
you look at the visuals of her driving
13:16
the Corvette on the beach they were
13:18
lucky to have found her also ladies in
13:20
1956 February 56 she worked as you had
13:24
talked about a minute ago was Zora
13:26
arcusdentoff and John Fitch at Daytona
13:28
she ran 145 miles an hour which was only
13:32
three miles per hour less than the men's
13:33
record yeah and if you talk to her she
13:36
probably could have gone faster she felt
13:38
like they held the horsepower down on
13:40
her and if you look at the noses of the
13:41
cars hers was slightly different so she
13:44
was really frustrated that she wasn't
13:46
allowed to go faster it was almost like
13:48
they held her back a little bit but she
13:50
was right there with them breaking down
13:52
that barrier and fighting the same
13:54
conditions they were and succeeding
13:56
that's so cool also in 1956 she worked
13:59
with Harley Earl and Bill Mitchell and
14:01
they designed a special Corvette
14:03
strictly for Betty the color was really
14:05
cool it was a translucent gold then in
14:08
57 she paced all the NASCAR races that
14:10
year didn't she yeah I mean and that was
14:13
a stunning car I mean she loved that car
14:15
she called it her gold corvette she said
14:18
they put a special footrest in it one
14:20
fact about Betty that we both love Cindy
14:22
and I is that she flew Barefoot even at
14:25
high altitudes and she drove Barefoot
14:27
she never wore shoes so she loved this
14:30
little pedestal they put inside the car
14:32
for her and she would Pace the field and
14:35
it's ironic that as much as she would
14:37
have loved to have raised head-to-head
14:38
with the men and talking to people like
14:40
Paul Goldsmith who was a Corvette
14:41
teammate of hers he felt like she would
14:43
have been able to hold her own against
14:45
the men of the era they would not allow
14:47
her to race with them on an oval track
14:49
but they let her lead them to the green
14:51
so it's kind of an interesting
14:52
juxtaposition that they were okay with
14:54
that but not so okay with her racing the
14:57
guys the publicity when you read the
14:59
newspapers of the era of that car coming
15:01
to town and Betty Skelton the aerobatic
15:03
champion and Corvette Champion coming to
15:05
town she's in every newspaper every day
15:07
with that car for a whole year it was a
15:09
pretty amazing campaign and also an
15:12
amazing level of respect that Harley
15:15
Earl and Bill Mitchell have for her to
15:16
create a car just for her that is so
15:19
cool she also became the first woman to
15:21
receive the Automobile Association
15:22
Association of America racing license
15:24
that's really a milestone yeah because
15:27
the AAA had outlawed women from even
15:30
getting a license back as early as 1910
15:33
I believe so a woman hadn't had a AAA
15:36
license and at that point almost 50
15:38
years so the fact that she earned that
15:41
license and had the respect of the
15:43
industry spoke volumes for her talents
15:46
and for what the men her peers thought
15:49
of her ability and Steve I want to add
15:51
to that the Joan Newton kuniel was
15:52
actually that woman who had that first
15:54
license and it was taken it away and the
15:57
reason why is they said manufacturers
15:59
were concerned if a woman was killed in
16:01
a car or their car it would vote bad for
16:04
their marketing purposes so that's a
16:07
remarkable 50-year Sprint but the other
16:09
thing that Pam and I and I know a lot of
16:12
folks in the Corvette business are
16:14
seeking as that cold Corvette so if
16:16
anybody has any leads if that car is
16:19
still with us today we're on that golden
16:21
egg hunt to try and find that car yeah
16:23
it's basically a Holy Grail I mean we've
16:25
asked many experts and there's much
16:27
debate whether that car still exists
16:29
somewhere in somebody's barn or if that
16:31
car went to the crusher there's two
16:33
camps and two schools of thought on that
16:35
so I'd be curious to find out
16:36
interesting also in 1959 and we touched
16:40
on this a little bit ago she became the
16:42
first woman to pass the NASA physical
16:43
that the male astronauts had to pass in
16:46
order to get into the Mercury program
16:48
she played a big part in getting all
16:50
those astronauts into Corvettes as well
16:52
talk about that because that's a huge
16:55
deal that she passed the male physical
16:56
but helping get those Corvettes to the
16:59
astronauts was a big deal as well yeah
17:01
it was funny because she knew
17:03
realistically that she was doing the
17:05
tests for look magazine there was no way
17:08
that a woman was going to be allowed
17:09
into space because one of the criteria
17:11
was that you had to be able to fly a
17:14
fighter jet she had never had the
17:15
opportunity to fly a fighter jet but she
17:17
did pass those tests and in passing
17:20
those tests she knew a lot of those
17:22
astronauts from her days of flying early
17:24
pre-war when she was growing up at the
17:26
airfields in Pensacola she had met them
17:28
and also flying later on after the war
17:30
so she had known a lot of those guys her
17:33
goal was to get that visual from a
17:36
marketing perspective of these are the
17:38
Great American Heroes of the era and how
17:40
do you put the Great American Heroes
17:42
together with the Great American Car
17:43
well it was definitely a match and so
17:46
she figured out a way to a dealer in
17:49
South Florida to recreate a program for
17:51
astronauts and I believe Cindy can
17:54
correct me if I'm wrong it still exists
17:55
today wow and those visuals you can go
17:58
online and see through time the era of
18:01
which astronaut and which Corvette
18:03
matches because they're still driving
18:05
around in Corvettes that's amazing and
18:07
they did have to buy him by the way yeah
18:09
I think the cost was very minimal though
18:11
I want to say as low as a dollar GM
18:14
lease them for a dollar a year to the
18:16
astronauts that's I mean it was a very
18:18
low number I didn't want to over speak
18:20
but I think it's a dollar I'd like to
18:22
talk to GM myself about leasing a
18:24
Corvette for a dollar a year that'd be
18:25
great just pretend you're an astronaut
18:27
exactly exactly that would work with
18:30
Kansas City Missouri exactly well ladies
18:33
let's take our final break when we come
18:35
back we're going to talk about Betty
18:36
Skelton and the Corvette Hall of Fame
18:38
coming up next on Corvette today
18:41
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you're enjoying the only current podcast
21:00
on Corvettes Corvette today
21:03
thanks once again for listening and
21:05
watching Corvette today the show that
21:07
talks about everything Corvette brought
21:09
to you by wheelcraft want to dress up
21:11
your Corvette with bright Chrome or
21:12
black chrome wheels visit wheelcraft.com
21:14
and learn about their Advanced PVD
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chrome finishing they can refinish your
21:19
wheels or offer a wheel exchange for
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most models and it comes with a five
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year warranty visit wheelcraft.com today
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or call them
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833-840-5334 I'm your host Steve Garrett
21:31
with me is Cindy Susan from GS events
21:34
and also Pam Miller the director and
21:36
executive producer of Betty Skelton
21:38
boundless in this third and final
21:40
segment we're going to talk about Betty
21:41
Skelton a little bit closer to Corvette
21:43
and the Corvette Hall of Fame first of
21:45
all you two Betty was inducted into 10
21:48
Halls of Fame which included the
21:50
Corvette Hall of Fame where she was
21:51
inducted in 2001. as a matter of fact
21:54
she was the first woman to be inducted
21:56
into the Corvette Hall of Fame yeah and
21:58
I don't know of any other women that are
21:59
in aviation Halls of Fame advertising
22:02
Halls of Fame this Smithsonian and the
22:04
Corvette and many other Motorsports
22:06
Halls of Fame it's a pretty remarkable
22:08
achievement when you think about it
22:09
she's not inducted into the automotive
22:12
Hall of Fame which is something we are
22:13
working on as well in fact the
22:15
automotive Hall of Fame since 1939 is at
22:18
800 inductees and only eight women the
22:20
last one was Lindsay James last year and
22:23
this year it's Mary Barra a big time
22:25
General Motors person obviously will be
22:27
inducted into the automotive Hall of
22:29
Fame how cool is that that's awesome as
22:31
a matter of fact well into her 80s Betty
22:33
still drove a red C5 Corvette didn't she
22:35
oh yeah she was cruising around Florida
22:37
all the time in that Corvette she loved
22:39
a Corvette and she drove a Corvette till
22:41
the end pretty amazing in fact I think
22:43
the Corvette Hall of Fame found one of
22:46
her Corvettes in Ohio a couple years ago
22:48
that was sitting in a barn and it was
22:50
one that had her name in the plates that
22:53
had been made for her years ago wow I
22:55
think in the late 60s maybe and restored
22:58
I believe as well so yeah that's
22:59
important that's really important now
23:01
Cindy and Pam you're going to become
23:03
conducting a seminar at the NCM Michelin
23:06
bash at the National Corvette Museum
23:07
give us some details and talk a little
23:09
bit about the upcoming seminar well I'm
23:11
so honored to be invited Pam can come I
23:14
don't know if she's going to be able to
23:15
make it because one of the things about
23:17
Pam we haven't said is she is the
23:18
producer for all the NASCAR Fox Cup
23:21
races so she's a busy busy gal but we
23:23
were approached last year and presented
23:25
Betty at the National Corvette Museum
23:27
made a presentation and was very very
23:30
exciting we then got a call from General
23:31
Motors they invited their women of
23:34
General Motors to watch Betty they had
23:35
over 500 women show up wow the following
23:38
the week we did a zoom with Pam Miller
23:40
Lindsey bandia who's our other
23:42
co-producer on that documentary and they
23:44
got to ask us questions how we came
23:46
together and how we produced the
23:47
documentary a lot of folks really like
23:49
that so on April 28th at The Bash I put
23:53
together a panel called you don't have
23:54
to be a pro to be a racer and on the
23:57
panel is Tracy Badu she is a fantastic
24:00
Corvette racer Ken and Kristen in
24:03
lincolnfelter he builds the engines for
24:05
Tracy and we just found out recently
24:08
that Chris and his wife just became a
24:10
racer and then Lori eberhardt who is a
24:12
founding partner member of Apollo sports
24:14
and entertainment she's actually the
24:16
legal firm for the Corvette Museum and
24:18
the racetrack and we're going to talk
24:19
about how women could start racing but
24:22
you don't have to be a pro to be a racer
24:24
there are still tickets available it's
24:26
Friday night from 5 45 to 7 30 60 for
24:31
non-members and 55 dollars for members
24:34
of the National Corvette Museum we're
24:36
really excited about being able to put
24:38
that event together and the beneficiary
24:40
of the event is women in Motorsports
24:42
North America a New Foundation that was
24:45
created April of 2022 with Lynn St James
24:48
the legendary IndyCar racer and Beth
24:51
peretta who actually fielded a all
24:53
women's team or mostly all women's team
24:55
two years ago at Indy this Foundation
24:57
was created to support and promote all
24:59
women in Motorsports just not Racers you
25:02
could be a PR person person an engineer
25:04
you can work at Fox and produce races
25:07
we're all coming together men and women
25:09
to really advocate for women in
25:11
Motorsports now you've got an upcoming
25:13
Summit coming up for women in Motorsport
25:14
North America too don't you Cindy we do
25:17
it'll be November 7th and 8th the week
25:20
after the Nascar championship weekend
25:22
mobile one is our primary sponsor why
25:25
that's important is because mobile one
25:27
is also a big sponsor of the National
25:29
Corvette Museum we've done this now
25:31
it'll be our third year each year has
25:34
sold out bringing the brightest most
25:36
excited people about advocating for
25:39
women in Motorsports together the
25:40
network that's done the new business
25:42
that's done is unprecedented so Steve if
25:45
you want to come out we'd love to have
25:46
you that'd be fantastic I'd love to come
25:48
out Cindy also GS events has a terrific
25:51
podcast as well talk about your podcast
25:53
and where people can listen to it sure
25:56
it's called women shifting gears we've
25:58
had over 51 women some of the biggest
26:01
names in Motorsports and on automotive
26:03
industry participate but if you go to my
26:06
website GS events.live at the top of the
26:09
tab you can see women shifting Garrett's
26:11
podcast it's hosted by none other than
26:14
Amanda Busick who is becoming the voice
26:16
of I think every racing series in
26:18
America her newest stunt or stint if you
26:21
will is with fox in the Trek series she
26:24
does NHRA SRO Ferrari challenge I mean
26:28
the list goes on a very talented woman
26:30
and just brings out the best of people
26:31
in fact one of my favorite podcasts is
26:34
Sharon Bronner the CEO of the National
26:37
Corvette Museum that one will make you
26:39
cry it's really really really good and I
26:42
encourage those who are listening to
26:44
listen to Sharon I'd listen to that
26:46
podcast and as a matter of fact Sharon
26:48
was a guest on Corvette today as well
26:50
and I really enjoyed listening to your
26:52
podcast she did a fantastic job on that
26:54
one as well yeah she's amazing and she's
26:57
really done a great job at the National
26:58
Corvette Museum the new exhibits and
27:01
just the expansion that's going on there
27:03
and so supportive of what we're doing
27:05
and it's because of Sharon actually that
27:07
we met the mobile one team who has
27:09
become one of our biggest supporters so
27:11
big shout out to Sharon we'll make sure
27:13
she hears his podcast absolutely ladies
27:15
if somebody wants to get in touch with
27:17
you how can they do that well for me
27:19
it's Cindy GS events.live that's my
27:23
email address and you can check out my
27:25
website and cam you can just reach me
27:27
and I'll get you yeah exactly I think
27:29
that's the best you are the great
27:30
connector why don't you connect
27:32
everybody it's easier to go through
27:34
Cindy everybody everybody does already
27:36
that's right
27:38
GS events.live ladies it has been so
27:42
wonderful to having you on Corvette
27:43
today I've learned so much and hearing
27:46
about Betty Skelton from people like you
27:48
who know about Betty Skelton has been
27:50
fantastic thank you so much for being on
27:52
the show thanks for having us we
27:54
appreciate you thanks for listening to
27:56
Corvette today and please be sure to
27:57
tell your family friends and other
27:59
Corvette enthusiasts about the Corvette
28:01
Today podcast and thanks to our sponsors
28:03
wheelcraft want to dress up your
28:05
Corvette with bright Chrome or black
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chrome wheels visit wheelcraft.com to
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learn about their Advanced PVD chrome
28:10
finishing they can refinish your wheels
28:12
or offer a wheel exchange for most
28:14
models and it comes with a five year
28:15
warranty visit wheelcraft.com today or
28:18
call
28:21
833-840-5334 American hydrocarbon at
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americanhydrocarbon.com true wealth and
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if you've been listening to Corvette
28:43
today with Steve Garrett if you'd like
28:46
to contact Steve with any thoughts on
28:47
the podcast or ideas for guests on
28:49
Corvette today you can email him at
28:52
stevegarett DJ gmail.com
28:55
that's Steve Garrett DJ gmail.com
28:58
Garrett has two r's and two T's or
29:01
connect with Steve on social media on
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thanks again for listening to Corvette
29:11
today
29:11
[Music]
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