Verena Mei - Racing Sideways!

Verena Mei

Verena Mei is an Asian-American who  was born November 2nd, 1974 in Pearl City, Hawaii.  Unlike most racers, Verena did not grow up with a background in cars.  Instead she got a marketing degree from Iowa State and worked as a model. Her interests in racing came about when she was modelling for Toyo Tires, in 2000, at a SEMA ( Specialty Equipment Market Association) show.  Verena did not know how to enter the racing scene (mainly the drifting scene) from the model world; and anyone who heard her idea laughed at her and called it cute dream.

Verena Mei Drifting

But Verena was a determined woman and instead of just giving up and giving into the laughter, she took the bull by the horns and bought and built her own car.  Now that she had a car she needed some education in driving, so she turned to her good friend Bobby Unser Jr.  He gave her advice on race schools she should attend and  provided support  to continue to do what she wanted. Mei attended and graduated the Motion Picture Stunt Driving School in Palmdale, California in January 2002. She learned to control a vehicle in extreme cases and perform movie stunts such as drifting. She attended to see if driving was for her and if she could really do it.  Verena had such talent, that she left an very good impression on her instructors.  They invited her to join them in the Xtreme Racing League, where stunt drag racing is done on a track.  

She declined the offer because she had a goal set in her mind and she was resolute on achieving it.  So Mei attended the Frank Hawley Drag Racing School in Pomona, California, where she would solidify the fundamentals of drag racing before trying for the professionals. April 9th, 2002 Verena did three major things in her life.  One was she earned her NHRA Professional Competition Drag Racing License; two she became the fastest Asian-American Woman in the world with a quarter mile time of 9.46 seconds; thirdly she became the first Asian-American woman to earn a NHRA Professional Competition Drag Racing License.

Verena Mei's 350z

In 2004, Mei became a professional drifter, a pioneer in drifting.  She was one of the first women to compete in the inaugural season of Forumla-D Professional U.S. Drift series and she also placed first in points at the 2006 D1 License Qualifier at Irwindale Speedway.  More pioneering from Mei was she the first drift driver to obtain a non-automotive sponsor in the history of drifting, became the first female to compete in a team tandem competition, being the first drifter to take part in a NASCAR autograph session and drive in the inaugural drift exhibition at the Indy Car Series.  From 2005 to 2007 Verena was recognized as a top female driver at the  Lyn St. James Women in the Winner's Circle event.

For the 2008 year, Mei focused more on road racing rather than drifting.  She converted her twin-turbo Nissan 350z into a road racer which ran on alternative fuel (which she knows how to work on 95% of the car).  She debuted in road racing on March 29th, 2008 at the season opener of the Redline Time Attack Series and placed second in the drift class.  She also raced in the Bullet Motor Speedlab, in a BMW, where she competed in 12-,24- and 25 hour endurance races.  For 2009 and 2010, Verena continued to do road racing and then attended the Team O'Neil Rally School in Dalton, New Hampshire to try her skills in rally racing.

Verena Mei is not just a professional driver but also a driving instructor at the BMW Performance Driving School, a stunt driver in movies such as The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift, a stunt driver for car commercials and hosts her own car show Sexy Road Test.  Even with all this driving, Mei finds time to continue to be a freelance model for magazines and websites such as Super Street, Compact Car, etc.  Verena Mei shows women even if they are in a "stereotypical women's role" in car culture, they can always break it and become what they want to be.  It seems everyday women are breaking down the walls of discrimination and becoming an integral part of the racing scene.  Hopefully in the near future the thoughts of women in racing are all positive and no longer have basis on the fact of their gender is not male.

Milka Duno - The Latin Fury!

Milka Duno

Mila Duno was born on April 22, 1972 in Caracas, Venezuela.  Unlike many women in the sport, she started racing not at an early age but when she was 24.   You are now asking yourself, what got her into racing and what was she doing before racing?  Part of the answer is she was a model and a Naval engineer with four master's degrees.  This was the story of Mila until 1996 when she was invited to take part in a Porsche Driving Clinic in Venezuela. The mechanics and precision of the sport captured her full attention and coupled with her passion for challenge and competition she knew she was meant to be a race car driver.

Duno's career began in 1996 in Venezuela when she raced in the Venezuelan GT Championship, she finished second.  In 1998 she raced in the Venezuelan Porsche Supercup Championship and placed a respectable fourth.  In 1999, needing more racing education, she moved to the United States of America and attended advanced racing schools.  The start of the new millennium was a big year for Duno, she competed in the Barber Dodge Pro Series, became the first woman (and still the only) to win a Ferrari Challenge race in the USA, won The Panoz GT series - her first Series Championship and was named "Venezuelan Auto Racing Driver of the Year".  

2000 Dodge Viper GTS at Le Mans

Even after all her racing in 2000, the year was not over and she made her American Le Mans Series Debut in a Dodge Viper GTS where she finished third in her class. This put her in the history books as the first women to finish on the podium in the GTS class in American Lemans Series. She then made her debut at the 24 hours of Daytona in 2001 and took time to compete in the World Series by Nissan open-wheel series in Europe (also raced in 2003).  She became the first woman to score points in this series and was also crowned Vice-Champion Driver in the LMP (Le Mans Prototype) 675 Class of the American Le Mans Series.  To be crowned such an achievement, she scored four wins (impressive for any driver), which included her win at the prestigious Petit Le Mans (making her the first woman to score a class win in this major competition). She also managed to win another LMP 675 class win at the Petit Le Mans in 2004 (the first woman with two class wins at this event). Another notable achievement for Duno was she was the first woman to drive the fastest cars in the American Le Mans series -- the LMP 900.

Howard-Boss Daytona Prototype 2004

In 2004, Milka began her Rolex Grand-Am series career.  She drove for the Howard-Boss Motorsports team and was provided a Daytona Prototype race car.  Her stay with Howard-Boss did not last overly long, she joined the SAMAX motorsport team in 2006. In 2007, raced in the 24 hours of Daytona again and placed second in the race.  This made her the female with the highest finishing in the history of the famous race and made her the highest placing Venezuelan driver as well.  In the Rolex series Duno achieved three overall wins, and in typical Milka Duno style she made history again.  She won twice at the Homestead-Miami Speedway and once at Le Circuit Mont-Tremblant in Quebec. Her win at Miami put her into the racing history books again as the first woman to win overall a major international sports car race in North America. She ended her time in the Rolex Series with three overall wins, earning seven podium spots , ten top five finishes and eighteen top ten finishes.

Milka Duno racing in the IRL

After her career in the Rolex Grand-Am series, she began racing in the Indy Racing League (IRL)  in 2007.  She raced in the IRL from 2007 - 2010 and achieved another first - the first Latin woman to qualify and race in the Indianapolis 500.  During the later part of her Indy career Duno faced many challenges and upsets, so she began racing in the ARCA Racing Series for the 2010 season.  Milka continues to drive in the ARCA series and continues to be a force to be reckoned with behind the wheel. 

Milka Duno has achieved a lot of firsts in her career, right from the beginning.  She has overcome the stereotypes of women and the belief they cannot be a dominant force in professional racing.  She is another shining example in which gender has no role in a skill of a driver nor their determination to be great. With Milka Duno as an example, women should have no fear in competing an a "male dominated" sport, there is no reason for them not to compete knowing all to well they are good as or better then the male drivers.

Angelle Sampey - Doing it on two wheels

Date of Birth: 1970

Location: New Orleans, Louisiana

Angelle Sampey

Angelle became interested in racing at a young age, mostly interested in racing motorcycles. This was largely due to her father and uncles were racers themselves. It soon became a large hobby of hers. By the time she was six years old, she had her own dirtbike and was racing.  In 1989 Angelle went to the Charity School of Nursing in New Orleans to become an intensive care nurse.  By the time she had graduated in 1995, her passion for motorcycle racing had grown substantially and she wanted to pursue it and become a professional.  To begin her racing career she attended Frank Hawley's Drag Racing school in the winter of 1995.  She was coached by the four time National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) champion George Bryce, her skills as a race developed substantially. 

NHRA Logo

In July 1996, she debuted in the NHRA Stock Motorcycle races at Bandimere Speedway in Denver, Colorado.  By September of that year, she had won her first race in Reading, Pennsylvania  in only four career starts.  At the end of 1996, Angelle finished 7th overall even though she missed the first six events of the season  In 1997, her first full season of racing, she won the All-Star Invitational. To continue her success, Angelle placed 2nd in the final standings, falling 8 points short of the leader (Matt Hines). In 2000, she won the NHRA World Championship crown in 2000 by leading Pro Stock Motorcycles in wins, final rounds, and being the number one qualifier.  Angelle was the first woman to do this since Shirley Muldowney in 1977 (top fuel dragster).

Angelle's winning style did not stop in 2000, she continued to win the NHRA World Championship crown in 2001 and 2002. In 2001, she achieved this by winning an astounding 22 victories.  This broke an NHRA record and put her in the record books as the woman with the most wins in drag racing history.  Her title win in 2002 made her the second rider to win three consecutive championships and tied Muldowney for the most titles won by a female competitor.

Angelle Sampey Racing for U.S. Army

In 2003, Sampey partnered with U.S. Army and Don Schumacher Racing.  During this year she finished second in points standing by winning three races and having three number one qualifying positions.  In 2004, she achieved her 35th career victory and again finished second overall with four victories during the season.  Though in 2005 it was a tough season, only finishing third and with only two victories.  In 2006, her 10th season as a professional NHRA racer, she finished third in standings again, but she achieved two records.  During the season she achieved her 40th win, the most wins by any female driver and she broke the national elapsed time record with a 6.939 second run at Maple Grove Raceway.

The 2007 season was no better for Angelle, only finishing 5th in standings with one win.  Though she did break the national elapsed time record again, twice.  First it was with a run of 6.911 seconds and the second was with a run of 6.871 seconds.   After 2007, Angelle was no longer sponsored by U.S. Army and found a new home with George Bryce and Rush Racing Products.   2008 was not a great season for Sampey.  Prior to this year she only raced on a Suzuki, but this season she was racing on an S&S VTwin bike.  Many mechanical issues arose and not being overall used to the bike she finished 5th overall with no wins.  For 2009, Angelle was unable to find sponsorship and was forced to watch the races from the crowd after 13 years of professional racing.  

In 2010, Angelle retired from NHRA to start her new life as a mother.  Angelle left racing with 41 wins and being only 5 wins away from being the most winning Pro Stock Motorcylce racer ever.  She made a name for herself in the NHRA and in racing history.  She showed women can be a dominant force in racing and do more than just race.  She achieved many records and standings throughout her 13 years racing professionally.

Angelle Sampey is just another fine example of how women should be treated as equals in racing, they are not just something to look at but rather they are  people who are capable of anything just as much as men are.

Janet Guthrie - The first Woman at Indy 500 (Part 2)

Macmillan Ring Free Oil Ad with the Motor Maids

The Macmillan Ring-Free Oil Company seeing women were more than competent drivers in races decided to sponsor an all women's team- the Macmillan Ring-Free Motor Maids.  Compromised of Smokey Drolet, Rosemary Smith, Suzy Dietrich, Donna Mae Mims, Liane Engeman, and Janet Guthrie.  Janet raced with the Motor Maids until the early 1970's.  She not only raced but was also the spokeswoman for the team to the media giving public talks and tv appearances.  Racing for Macmillan gave her the chance to drive and learn about many different cars, from a Ford Mustang to a Sunbeam Alpine.  While racing for Macmillan she also raced in her own time in amateur races

In 1971, she was asked to join another racing team made up of Toyotas.  And won several races with this team, driving a Celica, including  the North Atlantic Road Racing championship and 1973 and the Vanderbilt Cup in 1975.

1970's Championship Cars

In 1975, Janet was contacted by Rolla Vollstedt, to see if she wanted to race in one of his Indy 500 championship cars.  He chose her from the recommendation of the SCCA stating she was the best woman driver out of the 100 women drivers participating.  But since the  cars of Indianapolis are three times as powerful as the SCCA cars, she had to pass two tests first.  The first was a speed test at a track in Los Angeles and the second was to compete at the Trenton 200.  She passed the former by impressing both Rolla and Rolla's professional Indy driver Dick Simon.

Having passed her first test, news was sent out that she was to compete in the Trenton 200, the first woman ever to do this.  This rocked the sports community across the country.  Many were supporting her but as well just as many were against allowing a woman into a man's sport. Before she could compete at Trenton she had to qualify.  After practicing the track several times, she showed the USAC (United States Auto Club) she could keep pace (158mph) and drive professionally.  

Janet in her championship car

Her race at the Trenton 200 was where she showed the USCA and the other drivers that she was a very capable driver.  The race was going well for her until the 70th lap when she hit the gravel and spun out.  She had rejoined the race right after her mishap but heard something terrible coming from the transmission.  Not wanting to damage her car any further, she pulled into the pits and ended the race.  By the 70th lap she was 11th out of the remaining 14 racers.  Having to quit the race early put her into 15th place, a place where she showed the USCA what kind of driver she was.

Having completed her race at Trenton so well she was off to try to qualify for the Indianapolis 500.  To do this she had to pass the "rookie test" which all new Indy drivers had to pass.  This required her to do 20 laps (equivalent to 50 miles) at 160mph and then do another 20 laps at 165mph.  If she completed this she could try to qualify for the Indy 500.  Her day of testing was fraught with a non behaving race car.  Anything that could go wrong was and made her testing that much more difficult.  Eventually, the crew made the car behave long enough so Janet could complete both tests and be allowed to qualify for the big race.  But there was a slight problem, experienced drivers were posting record making times of 182mph to 188mph, and everyone wondered if Janet's car could hold those speeds without breaking down.

Janet Guthrie and her crew

To have a chance of qualifying Janet needed to post a speed of 180mph or greater.  Her championship race car though was not behaving as it should and would not top 175mph.  Realizing Janet may not be able to even qualify for the 500, Rolla Vollstedt phoned A.J. Foyt, a veteran Indy racer, to see if he could borrow his back up race car, The Coyote, to have Janet qualify in.  Foyt being a good natured man agreed to lend it to Janet.  Once Janet was familiar with the car she took it out for a couple of practice laps and easily hit 181mph, meaning she could definitely qualify for the big race.  But there had seemed to be a misunderstanding between Foyt and Vollstedt, Foyt thought he was only lending the car not letting Jane qualify in it.  He would not risk letting her qualify in it since he needed the car for a race very soon.  This then halted any chance of Janet qualifying for the Indy 500 this year.

No sooner had Janet lost her chance at the Indy 500 she received an offer from out of the blue from Lynda Ferrari (a bank vice president and avid racing fan of Janet's) to sponsor Janet at the World 600 stock car race (a NASCAR event).  The race was to be held the same day the Indy 500 was to run.  While every other race was qualifying for the 500, Janet was in Charlotte, North Carolina learning about stock cars and the new type of racing a week before the race.  As with Trenton, Janet faced much negativity with her entering the race; not just as a female but as a rookie driver not trying lesser races before hand as well.  Janet became the first woman to qualify for a major NASCAR event in 27th position out of 40 racers.  By the end of the 600, she had finished 15th, moving past twelve other drivers during the race.   With such a good start to NASCAR racing, Janet continued to race here and began placing a consistent 15th place at Daytona and in 1977 she improved her placing to 12th at Virginia State Fairgrounds.  

Janet and her stock car for NASCAR

Even though Janet enjoyed the NASCAR races, she still wanted to qualify for the Indy 500.  In 1976, Vollstedt and Janet began their path to the 500 again.  At the start they achieved no greater luck then they had when Janet first tried to at the Indy 500.  But soon afterwards, Vollstedt obtained a great race car for the 500, the Lindsey Hopkins Lightning.  On February 8th, 1977 Janet and Vollstedt announced they would be competing to qualify for the Indianapolis 500.  When they arrived to do practice laps, Janet made her presence known by hitting speeds of 191mph and during qualifying of 188mph.  With this she had earned her spot in the Indy 500.  But the race itself for Janet was a disappointment, full of mechanical problems and frustration.  By the 27th lap, Janet was forced to pull into the pits and end the race.  By the end of the race, Janet placed 29th overall.

Janet raced in the three major racing series - sports car, championship car, and stock car - a major feat for anyone.  Janet proved too many that women can be as good as drivers as any man can be no matter what the race. Janet helped remove some of the discrimination women faced entering into professional racing by remaining cool and collected during her career and never stopping to achieve her goals.   She made a great impact in the world of racing and will always be remembered through history as the first woman to take part in the Indianapolis 500.

Janet Guthrie - The first Woman at Indy 500 (Part 1)

Janet Guthrie

Janet Guthrie was born in Iowa City, Iowa March 7th, 1938 to William Lain Guthrie.  William was a pilot and when Janet was old enough, she took much interest in flying and being adventurous.  By the time she was 16 she had already done her first solo flight and when she was 17 she obtained her private flying license.  By the time she was 21 she had recorded more then 400 hours of flight.  Being an adventurous woman, she was excited when in 1965 NASA announced they were going to train women to be astronauts.  Janet applied and became one of the first four female astronauts.  But soon afterwards, the people and NASA decided for women to be astronauts they needed to hold PhD degrees.

Jaguar XK-120

Not to be an astronaut, Janet decided to go into another daring sport - racing.  She had bought a Jaguar XK-120 (a car she fell in love with while at a private school for girls).  She bought it for the beauty of the machine, but soon started to question how far were the limits of the car?  Looking to find an answer to this question she scoured local race clubs and events and decided to enter into gymkhana races. In 1962, she was named women's gymkhana champion of Long Island.

Wanting to improve her driving skills further, she joined the Lime Rock driving school in Connecticut.  During her time there, she had caught the eye of a veteran sports car driver Gordon Mckenzie.  Seeing she had talent, he asked her if she wanted to be a sports car driver.

Jaguar XK-140

Thinking this was a great idea, she joined another racing school, this one sponsored by the SCCA (Sports Car Club of America).  This helped her further improve her racing driving by learning to shift through corners, carrying speed through the track, how to pass, etc.  Having completed this course, she decided she need a more powerful car to compete.  So she bought herself a Jaguar XK-140 and learned the internal workings of the motor (by disassembling and reassembling it) before entering a single race to be able to fix it in case of failure.  In 1963 she began racing in the SCCA.  In her first year she completed 12 races, and by the end of the second year she had accomplished 120 races.  In nearly of all her races she finished in the top ten cars. 

This caught the eye of Macmillan Ring-Free Oil Company.

To Be Continued.

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog!

I have created this blog for a class at the University of Saskatchewan, WGST 201: Images of Gender and Sexuality in Popular Culture.  This blog is for my second project in this class to discuss topics raised in the course. 

This blog will be directed at how woman are breaking the masculine hegemonic veil of professional racing.  I will be doing posts about women in professional racing and how they have achieved their status and their impact on racing.

I hope you all enjoy reading this and get useful information from this.

Thanks,

Harrison J.

P.S. Definition of hegemony