Women in Racing News - Horsepower & Heels

News about female racers, women in the pits and other news stories from the motorsports and automotive world.

2019 Women of the Year Awards

December 2, 2019 // by Horsepower & Heels

2016 Horsepower & Heels Women of the Year

Welcome back to the 2019 Horsepower & Heels Women of the Year Awards! This annual award program allows our readers and fans to nominate and recognize their favorite choices for woman of the year in motorsports based on their performances on and off the track.

2019 HORSEPOWER & HEELS WOMEN OF THE YEAR AWARDS CATEGORIES

The 2019 Horsepower & Heels Women of the Year awards recognize women in seven award categories:

Female Racer of the Year
Female Crewmember of the Year
Female Motorsports Professional of the Year
Female Rookie of the Year
Female Team of the Year
Most Improved
Most Influential Woman of Motorsports

Each category allows fans to select one woman for nomination. Once the ballots have been counted, the woman with the most votes in each category will be declared the winner.

View Previous Winners

Voting is open now through December 29, 2019 11:59PM EST. Votes will be collected into a database and winners will be calculated by tally of votes. Only one nominee per category, and one ballot per person/email accepted.

Winners will be announced on December 31, 2019 and posted on this website.

VOTE NOW | 2019 HORSEPOWER & HEELS WOMEN OF THE YEAR AWARDS

Erica Enders wins Pro Stock World Championship

November 19, 2019 // by Horsepower & Heels

The stakes were high coming into the closing race of the NHRA season. It was down to the wire for Pro Stock driver, Erica Enders, battling to claim her third NHRA Pro Stock World Championship.

Gossip and drama in Qualifying

The suspense and drama began in qualifying. Enders, who has claimed three No. 1 qualifying spots in the countdown, and has qualified second at the last two races, would again earn the No. 2 position entering eliminations.

That’s where things get complicated. In what many viewed as a calculated move, rival Greg Anderson strategically placed himself at the bottom of the qualifying ladder in the No. 15 position, in hopes to send Enders home first round and give his Summit Racing teammates a chance at the Championship.

Not at all intimidated, Enders spoke at the top end following qualifying that she and Anderson have a long history of controversial encounters.

“That guy has hated losing to a girl since the day I first set foot out here and I plan to keep it that way,”
Erica Enders, via NHRA.com

Critical Round wins in Eliminations

Everyone was talking about the epic first round match up of the NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.

The tension could be felt throughout the crowd as the two foes pulled to the starting line. Both had previously won in Pomona, Enders in 2014 and Anderson six times previously.

They left the line with nearly identical reaction times – Erica with a 0.017 and Anderson a 0.016. Both thundered down the track side-by-side, but Enders would come up with the win light by a mere 16 inches.

In a career-defining round win, Erica defeated Greg Anderson with a 6.570 ET at 210.41 mph, to his losing 6.575 at 210.31 mph. The crowd and her team on the starting line went wild in celebration.

“It was the race of the year for me, so I couldn’t be more proud. I found it bit interesting (the qualifying games), but it is what it is. I’ve said it before that I would rather race someone like him first round. We went out there and they gave us all they had, and today it ended in our favor. It was a great drag race.”
Erica Enders

Securing the championship

With that monumental win behind her, she just had one more round win to clinch a third championship: the quarterfinal match up against Chris McGaha. McGaha is another rival of Enders, with an equally colorful history of past encounters as well.

But Enders got the last laugh, as she proved deadly on the tree enroute to a holeshot win. Her reaction time of 0.019 over McGaha’s 0.050 was enough to keep her Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro in front with a 6.597 at 209.69 mph to a losing 6.593 at 210.08 mph.

“Going against Chris in the second round, it’s two of my favorite guys to beat in the same day (in Anderson and McGaha), so I was just thrilled for our entire organization. What an honor.”
Erica Enders

After turning on the win light that made the championship official, Enders coasted around and lingered inside the car gathering herself for the ensuing celebration.

“This one means a lot because of the valleys we’ve been through. It was a challenge for us and I’m thrilled. It’s just an awesome feeling to be back on top, and it’s the reason why you never give up.”
Erica Enders

“Today ended up being a great day with us locking up our third championship and my teammate, Jeg Coughlin, winning the race and solidifying the second position. For everyone at Elite Motorsports to take home the top two positions in NHRA Pro Stock, it’s a huge thrill for us. We take a lot of pride in what we do and it paid off this year. I’m just really proud.”

Erica Enders “thrEEtime” Pro Stock Champion

It’s been the perfect storm of a championship chase for the Elite team led by crew chiefs Rick Jones and Mark Ingersoll. They entered the chase in fifth place, and really turned it up during the Countdown . Hoisting the championship cup was the culmination of all that immense amount of work. Enders becomes the lowest-seeded driver to win a championship in Pro Stock history.

Enders proved she is fire under pressure, winning St. Louis and Las Vegas during the playoffs, qualifying at the top of the field throughout and putting together a string of consistent performances.

The 2019 championship marks her third career NHRA Pro Stock title. She’s already adopted the new hashtag “thrEEtime champ” – a play on her initials. She previously won championships in 2014 and 2015. Enders joins Angelle Sampey and Shirley Muldowney as the only females in NHRA history to win three world titles.

She ends the year with her two countdown wins and five final round appearances, a total of 25 career victories. The Vegas win was the 150th overall wins for females in NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series history – and 51 final round appearances.

“To give your whole life to something, it’s been a really long road and it hasn’t been easy at all,” Enders said. “You persevere and you just never give up.
Erica Enders

Audrey Worm expands team

November 12, 2019 // by Horsepower & Heels

New NHRA Top Fuel team owner and driver Audrey Worm made another significant announcement at the SEMA show this week in Las Vegas. The 28 year-old announced she will be welcome two new additions to her team – crew chief Ashley Fye and car chief Jenna Drake.

“The really, really, really big news that we wanted to announce this [week] at SEMA that I’ll be the first Top Fuel team as the owner/driver and three women – women of power and really strong women – Ashley Fye will be my crew chief and Jenna Drake, formerly Jenna Haddock, will be my car chief.”
Audrey Worm, team owner

After becoming only the second female team owner in NHRA history after legendary Shirley Muldowney, Worm aims to make her 2020 campaign a historic first by featuring an all-female team.

“I am so excited to own my own team, and can’t wait for the 2020 season, where we hope to show the boys what girl power looks like.”
Audrey Worm, team owner

Crew Chief – Ashley Fye

Ashley Fye began her NHRA racing career as part of Scott Palmer’s Top Fuel operation. Learning the ropes on a small, growing team meant Ashley often had to assume many roles during the average race weekend.

Ashley’s background growing up in a machine shop meant she was already suited to the mechanical side of the sport. Initially, she intended to tackle team marketing but quickly shifted focus, realizing she is a much better fit on the technical side of the ropes.

She served as crew chief under Scott Palmer previously. The hands-on experience in all roles of a smaller fuel team that grew into a respected operation helped to mold and shape those skills.

“I grew up in a machine shop and have been a gear head my whole life.”
Ashley Fye

Most recently, she has been an asset on the Hirata Motorsports A-Fuel team and has also jumped in to aid on Terry McMillan’s Top Fuel team in Bristol previously.

For 2020, Ashley will take on the role of Crew Chief on Audrey Worm’s newly formed Top Fuel operation.

Car Chief – Jenna Drake

Taking on the car chief position will be fellow Top Fuel driver Jenna Drake (formerly Jenna Haddock). A former top fuel driver herself, Jenna has direct experience driving the car Audrey purchased.

Drake competed in 15 national events during her driving role during the 2014-2015 seasons. She notably scored an upset victory against veteran Tony Schumacher in 2014 for her first round win. Drake also earned one of the nominations for rookie of the year honors for her efforts.

2020 NHRA Schedule

The team has selected 9 NHRA events as their preliminary schedule with main sponsor, Strutmasters. Those events primarily focus on the eastern coast events. They hope to add to the schedule with expanding dates as more sponsorship is secured entering the season.

Brittany Force earns Vegas win

November 6, 2019 // by Horsepower & Heels

NHRA driver Brittany Force and her Advance Auto Parts Top Fuel Dragster team came home with the jackpot at the Dodge NHRA Nationals presented by Pennzoil at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Record Setting Qualifying

Her winning weekend began in qualifying Friday night, when Force and her Advance Auto Parts team set the Top Fuel national speed record after running 338.17 mph in the second session. She now owns both ends (ET and MPH) of the national record in Top Fuel.

Force’s Friday qualifying pass reset the Vegas track record for ET at 3.659, positioning her as the provisional No. 1 position. She also earned bonus qualifying points as the quickest ET of session Q2, and 2nd quickest in sessions Q1 & Q4.

However, her provisional pole would not stand, as Leah Pritchett would reset the track record again in the final session, just five-thousandths of a second quicker with a 3.654. Brittany Force would enter eliminations in the No. 2 position.

Winning Vegas Eliminations

Beginning eliminations, Brittany Force opened race day with a commanding win against Pat Dakin, who lost traction early for only a 7.786-second pass against Force’s 3.689-second pass at 333.16 mph.

This would pair her against No. 10 qualified teammate Austin Prock for Round 2 eliminations. He held a 3-0 record against her in prior meetings. Prock would take the advantage at the starting line, but Force would reel him back in with a 3.709-second pass at 330.72 mph to his 3.732 at 331.69. The race was a close one, with the margin of victory at the finish just 13 inches or 0.0022 seconds.

The semifinals would prove to be the most pivotal overall in championship standings. All of the top 4 contenders remained – so the outcome of the semi final match ups would have big point implications. Brittany would watch Doug Kalitta, who sat ahead of her in the No. 2 points position, fall to the current points leader Steve Torrence.

She would then take lane choice against Steve’s dad Billy Torrence, the No. 4 in points. Brittany knew that a loss here could allow the father and son pair to take the top points positions entering the final race of the countdown.

With the pressure on, Force needed the Vegas win to move her ahead in the standings. Leaving the tree first, she stayed out front to beat Billy Torrence on a holeshot thanks to her .063-second reaction time on the tree and a 3.714-second pass at 329.99 mph. Torrence would run 3.710 at 332.10 with a .087 reaction time.

This meant Brittany was facing off with the reigning world champion and points leader, Steve Torrence, in the final round. Force and the Advance Auto Parts team would reclaim the Vegas track ET record, laying down the quickest pass of the event at 3.652-seconds, 334.73 mph to defeat Torrence’s 3.719 at 330.63.

“Las Vegas is a home track for me. I grew up out here racing super comp and A-fuel. I’ve always wanted to win here. This weekend has just been incredible for this Advance Auto Parts team. We have the record with mph, a 338. It’s incredible to hold that with the Advance Auto Parts boys. And we set the ET this year too. We’ve accomplished a lot but really what we’re going after is a championship together.”
Brittany Force

The win would mark the 10th career victory for Brittany Force, her first at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (she finished as runner up in 2017) and the second victory of the season.

Valuable Points win in Vegas

Winning Vegas moves the Advance Auto Parts team up to the No. 2 spot in the Mello Yello points standings. With just one race remaining in the countdown, Force trails leader Steve Torrence by just sixteen points.

“It’s a Vegas win, it’s a win in the Countdown which is huge and it moved this Advance Auto Parts team that much closer to the No. 1 spot so, this is a big win for our team. Like I said, it’s been since Houston since we’ve won so we’ve been out of the game for a little while but we’re turning a corner at the right time,” Force said. “We have Vegas and then we go right to Pomona. There’s one left and our minds are in the right place now.”
Brittany Force

Female Double up Win in Vegas

Brittany shared the podium this weekend with Pro Stock’s Erica Enders as well. Just moments before Force crossed the finish line, Enders took the Pro Stock win in Vegas, making her the 150th female win in the history of the sport. Brittany Force’s Vegas win made the 151st win for women in the NHRA.

“I always cheer the ladies on. There’s only a few of us out here and you know, Erica Enders, what she’s done for this sport, with two championships, I’ve always looked up to her. She’s incredible. She started in Jr. Dragsters. I remember watching her movie when it came out on Disney. Courtney and I would watch that thing over and over to get us pumped up before we’d go race in Super Comp, so to share the winner’s circle with her this weekend is pretty awesome. She’s a great friend, she’s an incredible driver and pretty cool that we did 150 and 151 today.”
Brittany Force

Melanie Salemi to debut new ride

November 5, 2019 // by Horsepower & Heels

Drag racing Pro modified driver, Melanie Salemi, is set to debut a new ride at the upcoming 26th Annual World Street Nationals race in Orlando, FL. The Buffalo, New York based team plan to debut a new screw blown Radial Vs. The World 2019 Camaro owned by Eddie Whelan.

“I’m extremely excited for the awesome opportunity for my team brought forth by Eddie Whelan. We owe all of this effort to him and his Al-Lee Installations team. He continuously provides us the opportunity to have the best of the best. I don’t doubt that in due time this car is going to be at the top of the class”.
Melanie Salemi

Melanie’s signature ‘Purple Reign’ livery theme will continue on the Whelan owned 2019 Camaro. The fan-favorite color scheme has been a staple for the Melanie Salemi Motorsports team over the years, making Melanie easily identifiable in the field.

The new Al-Lee Installations 2019 Camaro was built and assembled by Melanie’s Brother-in-law, Jim Salemi of G-Force Race Cars. Mike Stawicki, owner of MSR Performance Racing Engines, is responsible for the new C rotor screw supercharged Hemi powerplant setup. Transferring that power will be a Liberty Gears five speed transmission coupled to a QuickDrive Lock up drive unit with Neal Chance billet torque converter.

Melanie Salemi – 1310 on 315s

Salemi plans to be the first female to aggressively campaign in the wild radial doorslammer class at the World Street Nationals. They will be running the car on a 315-sized radial tire setup.

This is a versatile car. You’ll see it on 315’s and you’ll possibly see it on big tires at some point but for the next four months it will be strictly on 315’s. Needless to say we are pumped for the chance to go Radial vs. World racing with this new car and we have properly named this quest ‘1310 on 315’s!”
Jon Salemi

Audrey Worm’s New Top Fuel Dragster

October 24, 2019 // by Horsepower & Heels

NHRA Top Fuel Dragster driver Audrey Worm took a giant step this week in her young drag racing career. The 27 year-old just purchased her own Top Fuel Dragster, a huge step towards her goal of owning her own Top Fuel racing operation.

Promising Rookie Upstart

Coming up from the nostalgia racing ranks, Worm burst onto the scene in Top Fuel during the 2017 season in the Leverich Racing Top Fuel Dragster. She made her debut during the NHRA Dodge Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway, qualifying in the No. 14 position.

Audrey Worm Top Fuel — Photo: Audrey Worm, Facebook

She went onto compete in nine races during the 2018 season, qualifying for six of those events, and qualifying for the Auto Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award. Worm picked up her first professional round win at the NGK Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals. She also was named one of Drag Illustrated’s 30 Under 30 recipients.

In 2019, she would attend five races with the Leverich team, qualifying at those events, and culminating in a career-best 3.968-second pass at the Virginia NHRA Nationals in Richmond.

Her last appearance was at the NHRA New England Nationals in Epping, NH before the team decided to change directions. This left Worm on the sidelines without a racecar.

A 2020 Goal for Team Ownership

Undeterred, Audrey has always made it clear she wants to own her own racing team. This ambition would put her in elite company as the second female owner in the sport’s history.

“It’s official, I’m heading home from Texas with my own Top Fuel Dragster! The car was previously driven by Jenna Drake [formerly Jenna Haddock] and before that Antron Brown. I am so blessed to have the support — not only friends and family, and my amazing husband Aaron Grant, but also from great sponsors.
Audrey Worm via Facebook

Audrey Worm new Top Fuel Dragster — Jenna last drove the dragster in competition.

The purchase of her very own dragster is a monumental step towards fielding a Top Fuel team for 2020. She and her supporters have a bright future awaiting them in 2020 with plenty on the horizon to keep them busy and to look forward for in the coming months.

“I would like to thank Chip Lofton at Strutmasters; William Francis and Kenny from Burromax; Cody from Sisson Engineering; Hap Whitlock from Hi-tech Cam; Howie O’Neil [and] Leonard Long from G-Force Shifters; PennGrade; Duane A. Junker from Gates; Millerweld, Jim Novinger; Carrie Willhoff at Racechick; Jim Michaud; Heidi Jordan and Robert Jordan; all my Racefan members, and all the individuals who contributed money for making my dream come true!”
Audrey Worm

Brittany Force 2019 Dallas Results

October 21, 2019 // by Horsepower & Heels

A track record, the top qualifying position, and a semi-final appearance are among the highlights for NHRA Advance Auto Parts Top Fuel Dragster driver Brittany Force at the AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals in Dallas, Texas.

No 1 qualifying Double-up with Dad

For the second time in NHRA history, a parent/child duo scored a double-up in qualifying poles. Brittany Force secured the No. 1 qualifier spot in Top Fuel, while dad John Force also earned the Funny Car pole Saturday at the Texas Motorplex. This marks the second occasion that the pair was able to accomplish this feat, the first time coming from this year’s SpringNationals in Houston, Texas.

“It’s always really special to hold onto any No. 1 qualifier with a teammate but to hold it with my dad, that’s the best. He’s the one who taught me how to drive this car and everything about this sport, and the reason I’m out here is because of him so to be able to share the No. 1 qualifier with him is awesome,” Force said. “We did it earlier this season and now we’re doing it again. It’s just very special to me. I’ve doubled up with Robert a handful of times but to be able to double-up with my dad would be awesome. It’s on my bucket list.”
Brittany Force, driver of Advance Auto Parts Top Fuel Dragster

Brittany Force’s qualifying efforts of an exhilarating 3.651-second pass at 331.28 mph Friday night was enough to set the track elapsed time record and marked her first No. 1 qualifier at the Texas Motorplex. She scored an additional 6 qualifying bonus points for the quickest elapsed times of session Q2 & Q4.

Semi-Final eliminations finish for Force

In the opening round of eliminations, the Advance Auto Parts machine blasted past No. 16 qualified Cameron Ferre with a stellar 3.694-second pass at 330.31 mph defeating Ferre’s 3.984 at 269.19 mph pass.

Round two, Force competed against longtime rival and three-time world champion Antron Brown. In prior meetings, Brown has the edge with a 17-9 record. Brown would leave the starting line first, and Force would encounter trouble when her dragster had cylinders out early, but hung on to run a 3.815-second pass at 319.60 mph upsetting Brown’s 4.113 at 230.72 after he smoked the tires.

The semi-final matchup placed Force against Torrence whom she has a 3-1 record against prior to this meeting. Torrence would take the starting line advantage and never look back for the win. Force dropped a cylinder to run 3.793-seconds at 318.32 mph giving Torrence and his 3.747 at 328.38 mph performance a trip to the finals – and the eventual event win. The margin of victory at the finish line was 0.0606 seconds (approximately 28 feet).

“Going into first round, this Advance Auto Parts team made some big moves especially when points leader Steve Torrence got taken out and No. 2, Doug Kalitta, got beat by my teammate Austin Prock. That opened the doors for this Advance team to pick up some points and catch up and that’s exactly what we did. We made it to the semis and would have obviously liked to have gone all the way but I’m not looking down on it. I’m staying positive and we’re still in the hunt for this championship.”
Brittany Force

Brittany and her Advance Auto Parts team leave the event in the No. 3 points standings for the Countdown to the Championship. They trail current leader Steve Torrence by 46 points with two events remaining.

Leah Pritchett 2019 Dallas results

October 21, 2019 // by Horsepower & Heels

NHRA driver Leah Pritchett earns a pair of No. 2 qualifiers but falls short in both Top Fuel and Factory Stock eliminations during the AAA Texas NHRA Fall Nationals.

Pennzoil Top Fuel results

For the third time during the Countdown to the Championship events, Leah Pritchett and her Pennzoil Top Fuel team were able to score the No. 2 qualifying position, running a 3.681 E.T. at 332.10 mph best qualifying effort.

In the opening round of Top Fuel eliminations, she faced No. 15 qualifier Kebin Kinsley. Kinsley would have the early advantange, but Pritchett would drive around him at the finish line, running 3.724 E.T. at 324.12 mph to his losing 3.822 E.T. at 263.51 mph.

“Having a race car that makes it down the track on race day is very crucial for us, and we did not take Kebin Kinsley lightly. He showed with his early numbers that he wasn’t there for the taking, and it was a great drag race. The feeling of putting on that win light for the Pennzoil team is just as bright as our car. We’ve made progress in the sense of simplifying our issues. This was the best weekend we’ve had in the Countdown in regards to moving our program forward. The issues we’ve had have been in the bellhousing, and we were able to fix that.”
Leah Pritchett, driver of the Pennzoil Top Fuel Dragster

Round two would put her against No. 7 qualifier Austin Prock. Pritchett would leave first and carry the early lead, but encountered mechanical difficulties with her 11,000-horsepower machine dropping cylinders down track, allowing Prock to come around for the win. Leah ran 3.964 E.T. at 250.55 mph in her defeat by Austin Prock’s 3.742 E.T. at 330.39 mph.

“(Austin) Prock laid down that 3.68 in E1. Us not having lane choice wasn’t our issue in E2. We dropped a hole, and then dropped another two, and then kicked a belt at about half-track. At the top end, (NHRA on FOX reporter) Amanda Busick had asked how paralyzing it was to see your competition reach the finish line before you and I said, in that moment, it might be paralyzing because there’s nothing you can do, but this team is not paralyzed by any means. We know exactly what happened and why we weren’t able to move on beyond round two.
Leah Pritchett

Pritchett’s Pennzoil Top Fuel team exits the event in the No. 5 position in the Countdown to the Championship. She trails the current leader, Steve Torrence, by 104 points.

“The way the points are shaping up, it’s still extremely tight. We have a chance at this championship; we have a race car that’s coming around at a fast rate of speed and a team that’s dedicated to finishing strong. We look forward to continuing our Top Fuel championship campaign. We really thought today was our day. It was a good day, but unfortunately, it wasn’t a great day.”
Leah Pritchett

MOPAR Dodge Challenger Drag Pak Results

Pulling double-duty in the Factory Stock class with her MOPAR Dodge Challenger Dragpak can be a bit chaotic during the high-stress Countdown weekends, but Leah always balances this with professionalism and grace. This weekend, the Factory Stock driver was able to land the No. 2 qualified position in Factory Stock with a 7.889 E.T. at 172.36 mph effort.

“If you look back to March and the Gatornationals, the first Factory Stock race of the season, we were two-tenths behind the leaders in the class, and I remember telling Kevin Helms, our crew chief, we’ll be lucky if we even qualify for this race. That’s how far off pace we were, and the lack of parity in the class. It’s a testament to Dodge, MOPAR, DSR and this team. We knew we were challenged and we were still going to maximize all of our available opportunities with the power plant that we had. Hats off to NHRA for making pully adjustments and weight changes throughout the season to really tighten the class up. We weren’t the fastest or the quickest, but we were able to completely turn our season around by never giving up.
Leah Pritchett – driver of the MOPAR Dodge Challenger Dragpak

For the first time in 2019, Leah would land in the finals of the Factory Stock class – making for a busy weekend. In the opening round of eliminations, she would face David Barton, defeating him with a 7.934 E.T. at 172.61 mph to his 7.948 E.T. at 172.74 mph.

Round two would match her against David Janac, where despite running a bit off-pace with a 7.978 E.T. at 171.97 mph, she was able to score the easy win over Janac’s 8.821 E.T. at 119.16 mph.

In the semi-final, she captured the win in a tight race against Randy Taylor with a 8.012 E.T. at 171.36 mph over his 8.012 E.T. at 171.53 MPH. This placed her in the final against Chris Holbrook.

Unfortunately, her luck would run out in the finals. Leah’s 8.017 E.T. at 171.16 mph was not enough to defeat Chris Holbrook who posted a stout 7.977 E.T. at 172.74 mph.

Leah Pritchett finished the season in the No. 9 position in point standings for the 2019 Samtech.edu NHRA Factory Stock Showdown.

“To finish the year with a Wally and a back-to-back win at this race would’ve been amazing, but the first thing I did when I got out of the car is high-five the guys, and thank them for not giving up and working extra hard to squeeze as much as we can out of these cars and this program. We fought hard today, almost had both of our cars in the final, and I’m excited about 2020. There was a moment in all of the chaos, running back and forth between both cars, that I reminded myself that I’m one of the few people in the world that gets to do that, so I make sure I enjoy it and use it to condition myself for other high-pressure situations.”
Leah Pritchett

W Series Announces 2020 Drivers

October 21, 2019 // by Horsepower & Heels

The W Series, a ground-breaking racing series for women that launched in October 2018 to change the racing industry stereotypes and provide opportunity for women in racing has announced its second season of drivers.

After extensive three-day, on-track test sessions at Almeria (southern Spain) last month, and reviewing rigorous lap-time assessment and data-analysis, the W Series has selected six new drivers to race in 2020. They will join the top 12 returning drivers who automatically qualified for the 2020 W Series championship as a result of having finished inside the top 12 in the 2019 W Series championship season.

The 18 confirmed drivers for the 2020 W Series championship

DRIVER	Country	Age	Pts Position
Jamie Chadwick	UK	21	1st
Beitske Visser	Netherlands	24	2nd
Alice Powell	UK	26	3rd
Marta Garcia	Spain	19	4th
Emma Kimilainen	Finland	30	5th
Fabienne Wohlwend	Lichetenstein	21	6th
Miki Koyama	Japan	21	7th
Sarah Moore	UK	25	8th
Vicky Piria	Italy	25	9th
Tasmin Pepper	South Africa	29	10th
Jessica Hawkins	UK	24	11th
Sabre Cook	USA	24	12th
Ayala Agren	Norway	25	New
Abbie Eaton	UK	27	New
Belen Garcia	Spain	20	New
Nerea Marti	Spain	17	New
Irina Sidorkova	Russia	16	New
Bruna Tomaselli	BRasil	21	New

Two more 2020 W Series championship drivers will be announced at a later date, bringing the total to 20. Over 40 new drivers applied for consideration in the series.

It’s an impressive list, including the top 12 from our 2019 season, and six new drivers, who all performed well at Almeria. The result is a varied and international group, comprising 18 drivers from 12 countries, ranging in age from the super-experienced Finn, Emma Kimilainen, 30, to the very promising young Russian, Irina Sidorkova, 16.
Our commiserations go to those whom we haven’t selected, but sadly their disappointment is simply an example of the jeopardy inherent in any athlete’s life at the higher levels of competitive sport. The more you can win, the more you can lose.
Catherine Bond Muir (Chief Executive Officer, W Series)

I was generally impressed by the 14 drivers whom we tested and appraised at Almeria [southern Spain] last month, and making our selection was correspondingly difficult. But we’ve crunched all the data to the best of our ability, and I’m therefore confident that the 18 drivers whom we’ve selected so far represent an excellent line-up. But we’ve left two spaces available, to allow us a little more time to select the final two drivers who, together with the 18 drivers we’ve already selected, will make up the 20 drivers who’ll contest the 2020 W Series championship.
Dave Ryan (Racing Director, W Series)

More information on the W Series

Visit their website: http://www.wseries.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wseriesracing/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wseriesracing/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/w-series/

Alexis DeJoria returns in 2020

October 16, 2019 // by Horsepower & Heels

NHRA drag racing driver Alexis DeJoria returns in 2020 to nitro Funny Car competition full-time after a two-year hiatus. DeJoria will make her reentry into the sport beginning with the 2020 NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, California.

DeJoria made her NHRA Funny Car professional debut in 2011 at the Texas NHRA FallNationals, winning five races during her professional stint, including the prestigious 2014 NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. She announced her retirement at the conclusion of the 2017 season.

Though DeJoria enjoyed a slightly slower-paced lifestyle in retirement, the thrill and excitement of driving an 11,000-horsepower machine never left the back of her mind.

“I honestly knew deep down when I made the announcement to retire at the end of the 2017 NHRA season that it was going to be sort of an open-ended retirement,” said Alexis. “I’m beyond excited to get back out there. I’ve been blessed spending time with my family these past two years off. This was a decision I made with their support, and we are all looking forward to my return to the driver’s seat.”
Alexis DeJoria

Her independent return into Funny Car will be lead by Nicky Boninfante and Del Worsham. Boninfante and Worsham will serve as co-crew chiefs on DeJoria’s Funny Car operation. The trio have longstanding history extending back nearly a decade. Worsham witnessed and signed off on DeJoria’s Funny Car licensing paperwork when she piloted his car in 2010 before taking the lead as her crew chief during her rookie season in 2012. Boninfante took over tuning duties for DeJoria in 2017 after working along side her during her tenure at Kalitta Motorsports.

“I now have this incredible opportunity to build a team with two of the people who were by my side when I started my nitro Funny Car career. Del is my mentor and the person whose car I licensed with in the first place, and Nicky was one of the first people at Kalitta who I talked to when I made the transition from Top Alcohol Funny Car to nitro Funny Car. Del and Nicky, they’re the ‘dream team’ for me, and I’m eager to embark on this new adventure with them.”
Alexis DeJoria

DeJoria’s partners, including her primary sponsor, will be announced at a later date.