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Previous PageWomen in Motorsports Blog Carnival - April 24
Congratulations to Danica Patrick who became the first woman driver to ever win an Indy Car race. Patrick won the Indy Japan 300 after the top contenders were forced to pit for fuel in the final laps.
"It's a long time coming. Finally," Patrick said. "It was a fuel strategy race, but my team called it perfectly for me. I knew I was on the same strategy as Helio and when I passed him for the lead, I couldn't believe it. This is fabulous."
Danica Patrick’s first career Indy Car Series win is causing some sports reporters to call for a dusting off of other female racers to follow suit. Especially in NASCAR, where female forms are mainly kept in the soft soles of public relations shoes.
“Maybe it’s time to dust off Erin Crocker and give her another chance, and drag Sarah Fisher back to NASCAR and give her another look,” says NASCAR expert Mike Mulhern in his new column. “Now that Danica Patrick, with her first Indy-car victory, in the Japan 300, has put women-in-racing front and center again.”
Gabi DiCarlo (driver of the No. 90 Great Clips Toyota in ARCA for Stringer Motorsports), Alli Owens (driver of the No. 12 ElectrifyingCareers.com Chevrolet in ARCA for DGM Racing) and Ashley Parlett (car chief of the No. 09 Zaxby’s-SPS-BB&T Ford iN ARCA driven by John Wes Townley and fielded by RAB Racing with Brack Maggard), are scheduled to gather in Kansas Speedway’s hospitality village for Women in Racing on Saturday, April 26th.
Guests attending the Women in Racing event will have the opportunity to tour the pits, enjoy Saturday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race and speak with women leaders in motorsports. Proceeds go to the Women’s Intersport Network for Kansas City. Details are available at www.sportkc.org.
The NHRA would like to remind people that it’s diversity program for women has been working for years.
Shirley Muldowney (18 victories) and Angelle Sampey (41 wins, most among women), seven other females have won national events in the 57-year history of the NHRA. The most recent, Peggy Llewellyn, became the first black woman to win in the NHRA with a Pro Stock Motorcycle victory in the Powerade Drag Racing Series in Ennis, Texas, in September.
"We haven't gotten that kind of publicity in drag racing because we've won races before and nobody thinks it's that big a deal," Sampey says. "I'm sure (Patrick) was as thrilled with her win as I was mine 11 years ago.
"I hope Danica makes it not that big a deal (if she wins). When people look at us whether we're women or minorities and expect the same result, that's when we'll all be equal and will get the same attention from sponsors, fans and competitors that we all deserve."
Kristin Bumbera and her #40 TXI-MAXIMIZER CONCRETE Chevrolet made their NASCAR Grand National Division debut in the Allstate Texas Thunder 150 in Kyle, TX as the only female driver in the race and the only driver from the Lone Star state.
She passed four cars in the final few laps of the race to bring home an 11th place finish on the lead lap. After the biggest race of her career Bumbera was pleased with the results.
“I definitely had a lot of fun racing with this group of talented men,” said Bumbera. “Avoiding all the wrecks was challenging and I’m glad after all of that we were still able to have a successful night. I had a front row seat to much of the action. It seemed like things were happening right in front of me every time but I knew I would be fine with the help of my spotter. I can’t wait to join these guys again in Irwindale.”
Cindi Lux showed she’s got the goods at the Grand Prix of Long Beach (Calif.). The female driver scored her career-high finish in the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) SPEED World Challenge GT Series with a ninth-place result. Lux, who will represent the parts division of Chrysler as the road racing representative to Team Mopar in 2008, ran has high as sixth in the hour long event. However, three caution periods, including one that was still waving when the checkered flag fell, broke the forward momentum of the No. 2 Mopar/CORSA/MOMO Dodge Viper Competition Coupe potentially costing Lux an even higher finish. Today's event was Lux's first with Mopar and her first SPEED GT race of the season.
"We rolled the dice on setup like we never had before,” said Lux. “We uncharacteristically made some huge chassis changes before the race and we were either going to be a hero or a zero in the deal. Thanks to my engineer Matt Bejnarowicz we looked like heroes but he is the real hero of the weekend. In a typical street race you have to drive the wheels off this thing and there is absolutely no hanging back and that is what we did. This Mopar Viper was phenomenal in the first half of the race. It was the best it has ever been in my career in the World Challenge. We had to fight the differential at the end but one of the great things about the relationship with Mopar is that they had the Motorsports Engineering group here. They were already in development mode before the race was over. It is great to have that kind of support from a partner. We just keep chipping away at this deal and the team is getting more solid each weekend. I am pretty excited to head to Salt Lake City next month."
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