Roberta Leighton

Roberta Maxine Leighton (née Haslam; April 27, 1932 – November 15, 2002) was an American drag racer. She was the first woman licensed by the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) to race competitively. She was also the first woman to win a national title, in the 1962 U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis, in the J/S class. In 2002, shortly before her death, she received a lifetime achievement award at the World Finals at Pomona. Along with other family members, she was a member of the Dust Devils Car Club, which ran Inyokern Dragstrip in the high desert of Southern California.

Leighton, like fellow racers Carol Cox and Shirley Shahan, campaigned to allow women to compete equally with men. Leighton, in 1963, was the first woman licensed to compete in NHRA's Gas class. She later turned the Camino into an injected alky-burner.

Leighton died of cancer on November 15, 2002.