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76-Year-Old Cancer Survivor 'Grandma Betty' Wins Drag Race … Twice

The next time you gripe about getting older, think about Betty. The 76-year- old Minnesotan grandmother made a name for herself at the Green Cove Dragway in Green Cove Springs, Florida, in March by taking on a far younger racer – and winning.

The other racer, Peter Miele, challenged Betty to a rematch, and on Aug. 16, she beat him. Again. (Ever the gracious loser, Miele presented Betty with bumper stickers reading "I beat Peter" after their match.) The GCD named the evening's races in her honor and used the occasion to raise money for breast cancer, which Betty has been living with since 1987. Betty "started out with dirt track [racing]
in the late 1950s, running a '48 Ford with a '51 Lincoln engine," according to her profile on the GCD site.

(She was also eight months pregnant when she came in first place in a race for the first time.) So if you're ever in Florida and see Betty on the highway, let her pass. She's
earned it.

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