She was the first female test driver in the auto industry in 1954 with Chrysler's Dodge division
Not only did she drive the pace car at Daytona, she also set a stock car record in a 1954 Dodge Red Ram V8 on the beach.
As auto industry’s first female test driver, she guided “L’il Miss Dodge,” a jump boat, over a 1955 Custom Royal Lancer on a ramp at Florida’s Cypress Gardens and she was part of a team that drove a 1955 Dodge to 395 new records at the Bonneville Salt Flats.
And in 1956, she broke Cannonball Baker's 40-year record for the Transcontinental Auto Race from New York to Los Angeles
why they figured this was a good marketing idea is anyone's guess. Seriously, flying speedboats? I would guess this was when Betty decided to go work for GM... safer, less ridiculous marketing stunts
http://www.overdrive.fi/forum/threads/vanhoja-valokuvia-ameriikan-raitilta.267070/page-489#post-3109577
https://airandspace.si.edu/explore-and-learn/topics/women-in-aviation/Skelton.cfm
http://www.amosauto.com/wp-content/uploads/h11-1211ae.jpg
https://wikivisually.com/wiki/Betty_Skelton_Frankman_Erde