Woman sits in Corvette at her funeral

BRIDGEVILLE, Pa. (AP) - It was not your usual funeral visitation.

Instead of the deceased lying in a casket, or at least ashes in an urn, there she was behind the steering wheel of a 1979 pink Corvette.

But Donna Mae Sims had credentials for such a flamboyant goodbye. She was the first woman to win a Sports Car Club of America national championship, back in 1963. She died Tuesday in Bridgeville, Pennsylvania, at age 82.

In her racing days, Mims was known as the "Pink Lady" because of her preferred color for cars. She even took part in the famous Cannonball Run, during which her 1968 Cadillac limousine was wrecked. Not by her, by her teammate.