Immigration: Digney

Indianapolis 500 Dept: In 1956, the Burnaby resident was blocked from entering the pits to compete in midget car lead racing as part of the famed Indianapolis 500 race. Officials said it was bad luck to have a woman in the pits. And she is still saddened by pressure put on her sponsor that ultimately sidelined her stock car during crucial races at Burnaby's Digney Speedway. That caused her point standing to slide in the 1954 season and she was no longer a serious contender, according to Vancouver Sun. But Kalevala wasn't done with getting attention for her driving skill. For two days, she led the 1956 B.C. Truck Rodeo in points and only lost on the final day coming second. All other competitors were men and her name is Kaija pronounced Kiya Kalevala and she still gets weepy as she recalls being forced to hang up her race car helmet and goggles after a decade of being a strong competitor on two continents. When her mother arrived from Finland to live with her, she couldn't accept offers to compete at out-of-town race tracks. Finally, her employer told her she had to choose between racing and driving his auto parts truck. The career of the first woman in Canada to compete head to head in male-only stock car races suddenly ended. As reported in the news.
@t stock car races, two continents