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.