Women in Motorsports Blog Carnival Nov. 22

Chowing down on that turducken? Give your arteries a rest, and check out the lively ladies in the auto racing world. As AskPatty.com takes a hot lap around the blogosphere to bring you all the news.

Jenny Taylor will be the only woman to drive in next season’s 16-race Stock Car Speed Association (SCSA) racing series at some of England’s premier racetracks. The opportunity would be particularly important for Taylor because she will be driving the breast cancer V8 vehicle sponsored by Cancer Research UK.

Taylor lost her grandmother to breast cancer.

She said: “She had a lump in her breast, but because she was old school, she was too proud to get it checked out.

“She ignored it and the lump turned into cancer. Although she lived for a few years after being diagnosed, the cancer was terminal and she became a shadow of her former self.

“It is that kind of story that must encourage people to go to the doctor as soon as they find any sort of lump. Who knows what would have happened to my grandmother if she had gone to the doctor immediately,” said Taylor.


The London Motorsport Show is hoping to discover the next Lewis Hamilton, Jason Plato or even Ron Dennis when it beings December 8th at ExCeL London. The Future of Motorsport Zone will have leading organizations on hand to give careers advice to wannabe drivers, car designers and race team organizers.

A new area for this year is the ‘Girls in Motorsport’ feature, created to encourage women to take an active role in what is predominantly a male environment. Successful female drivers from rallying, formula one and even power boat racing will all be at the show for ladies to talk to and to share their experiences.


Did we need our own class? Maybe, maybe not, but the Porsche Sport Driving School in Alabama has inaugurated classes exclusively for women. The initial two-day program was Sept. 18-19 at the school's gorgeous campus, the Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham. The next session has yet to be scheduled.
When asked what is different about this class for women compared to classes for men or the coed classes, teachers assured that all the classes were identical.



Lori Johnson runs “Ladies, Start Your Engines,” a hands-on automotive repair class just for women, which not only teaches women how to do basic auto work, but also gives them a sense of empowerment and confidence.
Johnson has over twenty-years of automotive experience and wants every woman to be able to maintain their own vehicle.

Jo and Sam Grace aren’t just pretty twins, they are serious race car drivers. They have competed in International Karting Federation events, ASN club and regional events, Street Races, Canadian National karting championships and indoor championships across the Prairies and the Pacific coast of Canada. In 2008, they will compete in the World Formula  class at the CARTBC  racing facility in British Columbia and racing a Neon ACR (American Club Racer) at the SCCBC Rivers Edge Road Course Track in Mission, BC.

Erin Crocker's first Baja 1000 went pretty well. Her team finished ninth in the Baja Challenge Class. With boyfriend and NASCAR team owner, Ray Evernham, by her side; Crocker was quite proud of her achievement.

Crocker's plans for next year remain undetermined. She will not drive for Evernham Motorsports next season.

AskPatty.com is a 2007 proud sponsor of the NASCAR No. 112 AskPatty.com Chevrolet driven by the highest ranked professional female race car driver Deborah Renshaw. Check out Deborah’s website at www.deborahrenshaw.com.









by Linda Przygodski
Contributing Editor
AskPatty.com