Ask Patty Women in Motorsports Blog Carnival: August 30th

Published Aug 31st 2007, 6:15pm by Jody DeVere in Featured Articles

AskPatty.com takes its weekly jaunt around the motorsports world to see what some of our favorite ladies are up to this last holiday weekend of the summer. Turns out ABC really wanted a female race car driver for Dancing with the Stars, but had to settle for Helio Castroneves. Danica Patrick couldn't fit it in her schedule and Sarah Fisher is too busy planning her wedding.

Congratulations to IRL driver Sarah Fisher who is set to marry her long time love, Andy. Fisher says it has been hard balancing a racing schedule with planning a wedding but for her it has been a very rewarding year. "Since I didn't run a full IndyCar Series schedule last year, this year has forced me to retone all my muscles, and areas keep getting smaller," said Fisher. "So more and more alterations are needed for the dress. I've had the dress for a while, to say the least. I was excited to go get one right away after Andy proposed."

Danica Patrick didn't want to do Dancing With the Stars but she does want to talk power steering after IRL's Sonoma race last weekend. "It's the same exertion for a man or a woman, it's just that women, unfortunately, naturally come with less muscle mass and a smaller frame,'' said Patrick. "Power steering would make a huge difference. I think that we're all getting more conditioned to the feeling. I know in the past we have complained."

Lyn St. James hopes her biggest thrill is yet to come. The 60-yearold retired racer is still waiting for a woman to rise to the very top in auto racing. "Frankly, I would like to be around when a woman wins the Indy 500 and/or the Daytona 500, or any major NASCAR race," she said. "And I would like to see a woman contend for the [points] championship in a major [racing] series, because winning one race is awesome, but to win a championship is the ultimate goal, for any driver."

Velma Sluggs, 47, isn’t letting her age keep her from her love of motorsports; Sluggs has enrolled in the Palmetto Advancement for Learning Motorsports to pursue a career in automotive welding. PALM was founded in 2005 as a nonprofit corporation funded by the Waccamaw Workforce Investment Board. The tuition-free program targets people who are economically disadvantaged, unemployed, homeless or considered "at risk."

"I'd like to retire as a welder," Suggs said.

NHRA driver Ashley Force may have beat Danica Patrick to be one of AOL’s Hottest Women in Sports but The Driving Woman reminds us this week that Shirley Muldowney is the original motorsports pin-up girl. Muldowney left active competition in 2003 and continues to enjoy retirement.

"I had such a glow about that last year that I wouldn’t want to tarnish by making a comeback. I’m happy with where I am, and who I am. But if there’s a place for me somewhere in drag racing, I’m ready and willing," said Muldowney.

A lot of people have been asking whatever happened to Shawna Robinson. You remember her, she was the chick who stormed NASCAR Cup Series racing, but due to lack of sponsorship and lack of female driver development at NASCAR’s top level, Robinson was left without a ride. Currently, she is an interior designer in Mooresville, North Carolina but still hopes to one day get behind of the wheel of a NASCAR stock car again.

^{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. Watch Deborah on September 8^{th at Chicagoland Speedway in the ARCA/ReMax Series race.}}

by Linda Przygodski
Women in Motorsports
Contributing Editor