Ask Patty is at it again for our blog carnival! Yippee! This week we are gathering all the posts and articles out there about women in motorsports. Of course you know how much we support women in the automotive industry, especially if she is racing fast cars! Go get ‘em gals!
To start off we can’t forget to mention that Ask Patty is sponsoring
the NASCAR No. 112 Chevrolet driven by the highest ranked female race
car driver, Deborah Renshaw. AskPatty.com is sponsoring her races this
year and is proud to be doing so! Check out her full sponsorship page here and read our press release
with all the dirty details here. Deborah Renshaw also heads up a panel
of 50 automotive expert women on AskPatty.com. Deborah Renshaw made her
return to Nashville's Music City Motorplex in a dramatic Saturday night
race .Renshaw, who left five years ago to pursue a NASCAR career,
missed making Nashville racing history by a half-car length to finish
second behind former rival Mark Day. No woman has won a
premier-division race in the track's 50-year history.
Named "one of the top 100 female athletes of the century" by Sports
Illustrated, Lyn St. James has set 31 national and international speed
records and succeeded in the sport of auto racing at levels
unparalleled by any other woman. Ask Patty will be at the Lyn St. James
Foundation Women in the Winner’s Circle event on July 26th of this
week. If you are still interested in attending, check it out here.
Whoever said women can’t drive never met Milka Duno, the Venezuelan
engineer taking part in the Indy 500. Milka Duno marked a milestone in
this year’s Indianapolis 500 race as the latest in a growing number of
female drivers—and the first Hispanic woman—ever to compete in the
96-year-old event. Milka said recently to Newsweek,
“I was racing street cars, but now I’ve moved to oval tracks. This is
the highest level where I always wanted to be, I am so happy to be part
of this.”
A 14-year-old race car driver? You got it! Meet Erin Warner.
On the weekend of July 12, Erin became the champion of the 14-year-old
age bracket at Bristol Dragway in Tennessee, home of the 2007 Jr. Drag
Racing League's Eastern Conference Finals. According to The Sentinel,
“Erin isn't the only girl becoming interested in drag racing. According
to the Jr. Drag Racing League, about a quarter of its members are
girls, and Erin has noticed that just about half of her competitors are
girls.”
We have another young one here. Cassie Gannis
is 16 years old and is hoping to turn her racing experience into NASCAR
gold when she’s older. In the meantime, the race driver has her sights
on another circle: the fifth annual Women in the Winner's Circle
luncheon, which honors women in motor sports, July 26 at Indianapolis
Motor Speedway. Other women racers like Danica Patrick, Janet Guthrie,
and Lyn St. James will be at the event! Gannis celebrated her 16th
birthday in April by obtaining a NASCAR license to race in the NASCAR
Super Late Model Series.
Check out Alissa Geving.
Alissa is racing sprint cars at Petaluma, CA, and Antioch CA, in two
points series. The schedules for these seasons are now updated. She
recently won the first sprint car main event and became the youngest
female to win! She has some awesome photos and videos for you to check
out too!
These ladies are so inspirational! Some of the women racers say they
were born to be race car drivers, while others are inspired by national
drivers such as Danica Patrick and Sarah Fisher. One was racing before
a couple of the others were born. Whatever their backgrounds and
experiences, six women competed as drivers
Saturday night at Rocky Mountain Raceways. Californians Shauna Hogg,
Audra Sasselli and Laura Hayes drove in the Firecracker 100 Sprint Cars
race, while Utahns Jamie Wysong and Lyndie Burdett Luttmer and teenager
Caitlin Shaw of Albuquerque, N.M., drove Ford Focus midgets.
California represent! Most of the time, Shannon Mansch
is a typical Roseville, Calif., resident. She is married and she has a
9-to-5 job in the workers' compensation industry. But for a few hours
on Saturday nights under the lights at All American Speedway, Mansch's
life is totally atypical. For more than 20 years she's rubbed fenders
all over the Central Valley in levels from mini-stocks to her current
Late Model Chevrolet Malibu. Last season Mansch was rewarded for her
perseverance by becoming the first female driver to win a Late Model
championship in motor racing history by claiming the Westcar Late Model
Series. Way to go Shannon!
