Celebrating, promoting and supporting women in motorsports and Moto Enthusiasts

You are here: Home / Archives for Horsepower & Heels Blog

Horsepower & Heels Blog

Erica Ortiz is a professional drag racer from the all-female pro modified team Horsepower & Heels and strong advocate of women in motorsports. A veteran both behind the wheel and behind a torque wrench, Erica brings over 10 years of experience navigating the male-dominated motor sports arena from the female perspective.

SUBSCRIBE TO THIS BLOG! Enter your email address:

Traveling the country one track at a time

//  by 

One of the great things about racing, is that it has allowed me to travel the country, one racetrack at a time. I tried to sit down and think of all the tracks I’ve been to, which isn’t an easy task. Sad part is, that although I’ve been all over the U.S., I couldn’t tell you much about the cities I’ve visited BESIDES which track surfaces are good and how the pit parking was.

The list that I can remember is about 40+ right now, including a few over the ocean in Puerto Rico. I’m hoping to add to it as the years go by. (or as I can remember where else I’ve been!)

A look at all the tracks I’ve been to in my brief career
  1. US 19 Dragway — Albany, GA
  2. Goodtimes Drag Strip — Baileyton, AL
  3. Houston Motorsports Park — Baytown, TX
  4. Beechbend Raceway — Bowling Green, KY
  5. Bradenton Motorsports Park — Bradenton, FL
  6. Bristol Dragstrip — Bristol, TN
  7. National Trails Raceway — Columbus, OH
  8. Atlanta Dragway — Commerce, GA
  9. One Way Dragway — Cottonwood, AL
  10. Cordova Dragway Park — Cordova, IL
  11. Southeastern Int’l Raceway — Dallas, GA
  12. Darlington Int’l Dragway — Darlington, SC
  13. Dothan Dragway — Dothan, AL
  14. Douglas Drag Strip — Douglas, GA
  15. Texas Motorplex– Ennis, TX
  16. Gainesville Raceway Park — Gainesville, FL
  17. Huntsville Dragway — Harvest, AL
  18. Emerald Coast Dragway — Holt, FL
  19. O’Reilly Motorsports Park — Indianapolis, IN
  20. Carolina Dragway — Jackson, SC
  21. Route 66 Raceway — Joliet, IL
  22. Lakeland Motorsports Park — Lakeland, FL
  23. The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway — Las Vegas, NV
  24. Twiggs Co. Raceway — Macon, GA
  25. Gateway International Raceway — Madison, IL
  26. Montgomery Motorsports Park — Montgomery, AL
  27. Summit Raceway Park — Norwalk, OH
  28. Orangeburg Dragstrip — Orangeburg, SC
  29. Orlando Speed World — Orlando, FL
  30. Phenix Motorsport Park — Phenix City, AL
  31. Pomona Raceway — Pomona, CA
  32. Ponce International Raceway — Ponce, Puerto Rico
  33. Maple Grove Raceway — Reading, PA
  34. Silver Dollar Raceway — Reynolds, GA
  35. Old Dominion Raceway — Richmond, VA
  36. Rockingham Dragway — Rockingham, NC
  37. Puerto Rico International Speedway — Salinas, Puerto Rico
  38. Alabama International Raceway — Steele, AL
  39. Heartland Motorsports Park — Topeka, KS
  40. South Georgia Motorsports Park — Valdosta, GA
  41. Palm Beach International Raceway — West Palm, FL

I don’t even want to think how many road miles that adds up to!

My favorites are Bristol’s Thunder Valley for the beautiful scenery and awesome atmosphere as the cars race through the mountain valley, and Norwalk’s Summit Raceway Park because of the midway and great hospitality (and because it was my first 6 sec, 200mph pass there). The ultimate package has to be Ponce Int’l Raceway in Puerto Rico, its a drag racer’s dream! More on that in another blog post though…

I’m hoping to add the rest of the NHRA tour onto my list at some point (in the not-so-distant future).

A photo says a thousand words

//  by 

In addition to the crew chiefs and drivers, one of the other groups of greatly talented professionals you get to meet at the racetrack every weekend are the guys and gals that are risking their butts hanging on the guardwalls to give us great images of the action. Though I know absolutely NOTHING about photography aside from point-and-click, I’ve always had great respect for these guys and gals, and always truly admire their work.
Sports Photographer Mark Rebilas

Last week, I had the pleasure of meeting my absolute favorite Professional Sports Photographer, Mark Rebilas. I’ve been a fan of his and have been following his work for quite awhile now, but I didn’t realize how cool a guy he actually is until recently.

Mark hails from Phoenix, AZ; the son of photographer Gil Rebilas, who first put a camera in his son’s hands at age 10. Mark quickly learned the trade, enlisting as a Photographer for the US Navy, and leading a team of 22 photographers on an aircraft carrier during a wartime deployment across the world.
Now, you can find him high above the tri-oval at NASCAR races, capturing some of the crazy crashes, or on the sidelines at baseball games and a wide variety of other sports. A very recognized name in the business, Mark’s won the NMPA Motorsports Photographer of the Year award twice, and has been featured all over the industry in ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and many other publications. Mark has also covered a few drag racing events, and his images are absolutely stunning. His photo blog is really impressive, and tells a great story about the events he covers. Though he told me he originally started the blog for other photographers, any sports fan can really appreciate his detailed blogging style and the great story his images tell.
Someof my favorites are the unique portraits he’s done with my favorite NHRA drivers. His approach is drastically different from our regular drag racing photographers, and from what he outlines in his blogs, his techniques are much more complicated and a lot harder work. But the results are amazing:
Angelle Sampey
Angelle Sampey last season in the staging lanes
Now-retired Funny Car driver Gary Scelzi

The action shots are unlike anything I’ve ever seen. With drag racing being the fastest moving of all the motorsports, I imagine its quite difficult to catch all the action coming at you at 300mph. But these are just the most vivid and spectacular I’ve ever seen…

Robert Hight
Robert Hight in Nitro Funny Car
Tony Schumacher explosion
Tony Schumacher in Top Fuel
Fuel Altered explosion
Fuel Altered Engine Explosion at March Meet

Clearly, I don’t have to do much talking. His work speaks rather breathlessly for itself. I couldn’t possibly post all of my favorites, so you really need to head on over to his blog to check them all out.

Other than the fact he drives a Corvette (::groan::), Mark is one of the coolest people I’ve had a chance to hang out with in some time! I’ve already made him promise that if I strike the lotto and go Top Fuel racing, he’s going to be the official Photographer with sole mission to make me look like a resident bad ass! Thanks, Mark!

Check out Mark’s Blog: www.markjrebilas.com/blog
Or better yet, subscribe to it free here.

Soggy weekend gamble

//  by 

The past month or so has been such an incredibly hectic time for me. I feel like I’ve been on the go for weeks. Between Roller Derby and trying to attend a few races here and there, I haven’t had much time to recharge.

Dan Parker Promod
Parker/George Pro Mod 1st round ADRL

I started out by attending the ADRL race in Valdosta. I forgot how badly I missed these events. Its so much different than attending the “all business” national events. While the ADRL is a huge show, and just as professional, it still retains the level of fun and comraderie that isn’t as apparent in national events. I got to chat with a lot of the guys I’ve been racing with for years, and even rounded up a few more parts to finish my car. I spent the weekend hanging out with Dan Parker/Bill George’s team. They made the show, but had to take on the #1 qualifier, and shook just a bit at the top of low for a close race at the finish. [photo Competition Plus, Roger Richards]

Next up, I headed out to Vegas for a work-related tradeshow. I handle marketing for a broadcast equipment manufacturing company, and the NAB Show is our largest tradeshow of the year. Its always a very long week, with 2 after-show events that I manage for our dealers/customers. I did get a few hours out by the hotel pool at the Sahara, as well as skating with the Sin City Roller Girls at one of their practices, dinner at Tao and dancing at Pure Nightclub in Ceasar’s Palace one of the nights as well.

broken finger
What a way to start my first roller derby game

From Vegas, I hopped a plane over to Columbus, OH where I was playing my very first Roller Derby Bout against the Ohio Roller Girls. We lost, I broke my finger, dislocated a knuckle and pulled a tendon in my hand, and I was way tired, but it was still a good experience. My friend Chuck came out along with my cousin Ana and her boys, so it was great seeing family and friends as well.

Then, on top of all of the craziness, I had 2 days once I got home to move to a new house my roommate and I were renting. With a broken finger. NOT fun. One of my coworkers and his wife helped me move most of it Monday night. I had to be out by Wednesday, and after a trip to Atlanta on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning to pick up my badly missed little Chihuahua, handle some work, and meet a special new friend (more on that next blog), it has been an exhausting month.

Stevens Top Fuel
Missed my team qualifying because of weather

Which brings me to this weekend: the St. Louis NHRA race. I went to this race last year, and was planning to go this year as well. The Stevens Family Top Fuel Dragster, which some may remember is the team I have been working with to get a top fuel ride once we find funding to license and run, had a one-race deal for St. Louis, and I had planned to go there and shoot some video of the team and me with the dragster to put together a promo reel for the sponsor chase. However, Friday afternoon when I was getting ready to pack up and leave, the weather sirens started going off, making the drive not look like such a great idea. That fact, combined with the radar outlook for Saturday showing rain all day long, made me decide to stay home after lots of back-and-forth. A decision I instantly regretted the next morning when Dave Stevens called me saying it was clear blue skies and sunny there. DOH! [photo Competition Plus, Roger Richards]So the team ended up qualifying and getting into the show. They went out first round to Morgan Lucas. Of course, I missed all the action. I’m super sad. 🙁 So much for luck… I gambled and lost in Vegas, Ohio, and St. Louis! DARN!

Season 2 kickoff with Ashley Force-Hood

//  by 

Ashley Force-Hood and Erica Ortiz

You may remember a few months ago (where the heck is time going lately!) that I had a chance to sit down with NHRA Nitro Funny Car driver Ashley Force-Hood for some gal chat to kick off Season 2 of Horsepower & Heels TV…

Its been a hectic few months, but the folks at PNN just finalized the episode. Though I wish we could have included all 20 minutes of great insight from Ashley on a wide variety of topics, PNN and I chose to give some insight to viewers from Ashley into the very unique side of being a woman at the races.

 

Hope you enjoy!

 

Sad day in history

//  by 

Today marks a very sad day in my racing world.

American Autosports, the longtime producer of the legendary Fun Ford Weekend Series and more recently Battle of the Brands, has just announced that due to current economic climate, they have ceased operations.
Fun Ford Weekend began in 1991 and spearheaded the Ford Drag Racing movement that gave so many of us a great competitive place to race. We watched PRO 5.0 grow from just a 10 second class into the low 6’s at over 200mph, Outlaw from true 10.5″ 9 and 8 second rides, into the high 6 second class on 10.5W’s that rivaled the Pro from just a few years back, and huge advancements in Renegade, Warrior, Drag Radial, and my favorite, True Street.
Fun Ford Weekend is where I cut my teeth drag racing, starting in the Street Bracket. From there, I moved into True Street, where I won my first race at Gainesville in 2002. With the addition of a drag radial class in 2003, I runnered-up in my first heads-up race, became the first woman in FFW to break the 8 second barrier on a drag radial, and runnered-up for my first championship. In 2006, I moved up to Pro 5.0, becoming the first and only woman to pilot a 6 second, 200 mph car in Fun Ford history. I runnered-up for the Pro 5.0 championship as well that year as a rookie in PRO 5.0. Fun Ford Weekend made me what I am today, and I’m eternally grateful for everything I learned all those years and all the people who made racing with FFW so much fun.

 

But, in additon to that, it created a home for a huge family of people, a tight group of the very best friends I will ever have. Unlike the stringent and regulated NHRA/IHRA events, Fun Ford events were filled with commraderie and fun, and some of the best times happened after the racing was finished for the day.
I’m sad that we no longer have FFW/Battle of the Brands to bring us together, and hope that all of my racing counterparts still continue on somewhere when this mess of an economy picks itself up and dusts off.
Thanks to Bill & Cheryl Alexander, Crystal, George and the rest of the FFW crew for a decade (and more) of priceless memories!

We will miss you!

April Fools Day can kiss my….

//  by 

Oh yes. April Fools Day…. the day you can be unnecessarily vicious and it be labeled “All in Good Fun”.

Being that my life is pretty much an open book (err… browser window, considering its all online anymore), its not hard to figure out what key things in life would get me pretty friggen excited.

  • A big sponsor to go racing
  • Hitting the lottery (to be able to go racing)
  • Getting a full time nitro professional driver’s gig (again, racing. See a trend here?)
  • A ride-along with the Blue Angels or Thunderbirds
  • and maybe a date with Bradley Cooper. (I’m still a single woman, folks. let a girl dream!)

So, my April 1st had gone off relatively calm-like. Work had me and my coworkers so busy that there wasn’t much foolery going around, and quite honestly, I forgot it was April 1st about mid-morning.

Around 5pm, just as I was leaving work, a unrecognized number popped up on my cell phone. The area code was 313, which I just happened to know was a Detriot area phone number. Puzzled, I answered.

The caller, an unrecognized male voice, was on the line:

Mr. 313: “Erica Ortiz?”
Me: “This is Erica.”

Mr. 313: “Hi Erica, this is Jim O’Reilly, I’m with the Motorsports Activation team for Ford. Did I catch you at a good time to chat?”
Me: “Certainly.”

(Casual greeting niceties exchanged.)

Mr. 313: “Erica, we’ve been monitoring your website and promotional efforts with Horsepower & Heels and would like to talk to you about becoming an Ambassador for Ford Racing.”
Me: (GASP) “Yes, yes sir.”

Mr. 313: “You’re currently racing a Mustang, is that correct?”
Me: “Well yes sir, I’m just finishing my racecar now. Its a 2007 Mustang Pro Mod. I’m hoping to debut it soon.”

Mr. 313: “Great! We’ve seen your posts on your website about your loyalty to Ford, and thought having such a charismatic ambassador representing us out there in motorsports and online would be a great partnership.”
Me: “Oh yes, I’m a die-hard Ford girl. My blood runs Ford Blue all the way. I’d be honored to be an Ambassador.”

Mr. 313: “Great. I understand you’re finishing your car now, what are your future plans both upcoming and long term?”
Me: “Well, my plan right now is to try and make some Pro Mod events close to home, and a few ADRL XTF events as well. Ultimately, I’m hoping to try and put together a package to be able to race professionally, as that is my aspiration.”

Mr. 313: (in reference to my recent interview) “I see you’ve interacted with our John Force Racing friends recently.”
Me: “Yes, I had a great time down in FL getting the chance to sit down with Ashley. She’s fantastic.”

Mr. 313: “We’d like to see you as successful right along with Ashley.”

At this point, I’m a little short on breath and feeling light-headed. I mean, first to have Ford calling, and them wanting me to be some sort of Ambassador??? I could hardly see straight.

Mr. 313 embarked on a whole long speech about how in today’s climate its really important to have people active out in the community and representing them, how mass advertising isn’t the answer anymore, and how Ford has taken a new stance of focusing on the grassroots levels and finding people to represent them. All seemed credible. Actually, down right knowledgable to be honest…. they were all key marketing initiatives that made sense to me.

He then explained that they felt I had a lot to offer in terms of my activity in the social networking communities, and how they felt my story would be a great testimonial for Ford. And then the kicker….. the what’s in it for YOU line.

So, in exchange for my twitterin’/ myspacin’/ facebookin’/ vloggin’/ bloggin’ awesomeness (yes, I’m everywhere), Mr. 313 tells me that they’d like to ensure that I was able to move up…. ultimately to Nitro Funny Car!

Now, as many times as I have had people dangle that dang carrot in front of my nose, you think I’d be leary of such a proposition (or HELLO, remember that its April 1st!), but the fact that this was FORD calling, and that he sounded so official-y, I went through the whole Roller Coaster of emotion again.

So this whole conversation went on for about another 5-10 minutes of him explaining how Ford was really backing their loyal motorsports fans and followers and that this meant putting good representatives in opportunities…. BLAH, BLAH, BLAH.

And then, just as abruptly as can be….

Mr. 313: “Ummm….what? I’m sorry, Erica, can you hang on?”
(Background garble)
“What is today?? April 1st?”

Followed by a resounding CLICK.

FYI, Mr. Not-so-Funny April Fooler…. YOU SUCK!!!

Gainesville NHRA and Ashley Force-Hood

//  by 

Ashley Force and Erica Ortiz sit down and chat for Horsepower & Heels TV

Its been over a week since I got back from a great trip to the 40th Annual NHRA Gator Nationals, and I’m just catching up enough to sit down for an update.

What a great trip! The Gator Nationals have become a semi-traditional trip for me, being the first east coast race of the season, and my first chance to get away and “smell the nitro” for the year.
As usual, the trip kicks off at the Gainesville Ale House on Thursday night, with a chance to catch up to many of my racing friends and a few personal friends from home that come up for the weekend from Orlando.
But the highlight of this year’s trip was my opportunity on Friday morning to visit with Ashley Force courtesey of JFR PR pro Elon Werner. I met Elon through the new @JFR_Racing twitter campaign, and he invited me out to chat with Ashley in the pits. The JFR Twitter accounts allows fans to follow the instant team updates throughout the weekend to get a “behind the scenes” feel from the races in real-time.
(Check out my growing list of Drag Racing Twitter Accounts for other team updates)
Right now, Ashley is living the dream of a lot of us women racers in the PRO leagues of drag racing, being one of the few women competing this year in the NHRA. The advancement of women in racing is a passion of mine, so I was very eager to sit down with the top gal in our sport for some insight into what its like out there with the Big Boys. Ashley is in her third year as a professional Nitro Funny Car racer with her father’s premiere funny car team. She’s had incredible success as a racer, and is an inspiration to many.
Armed with my Horsepower & Heels TV Cam, I spent about 20 minutes with Ashley in her driver’s lounge chatting about what its been like for her as a woman out on the circuit and how she’s progressed through the ranks to reach professional status. PNN and I are now sorting through the editing, and we’ll be kicking off Season 2 of Horsepower & Heels TV with this insightful look at the leading lady in NHRA Nitro Funny Car.
Stay tuned for more coming soon!!!

2009 Gator Nationals

//  by 

The 2009 NHRA Gator Nationals are back in Gainesville, FL this weekend, and as is tradition now, I will be attending from Thursday-Sunday.
I’m even MORE excited to go this year, because I have a few exciting meetings lined-up during the course of the weekend, and a few surprises in store for Horsepower and Heels.com when I get back! I can’t mention anything yet, but believe me, its a *BIG* surprise!’
If you’ll be at the Gator’s, I invite you to stop by the Nitromater.com meet ups on Saturday and Sunday mornings at 10am in front of the Nitro Mall. Or, come out to the Gainesville Ale House Thursday night for the traditional NHRA party.
Keep an eye on my Twitter updates for some real-time commentary on the race too!

On Air: Houston’s 1560AM The Game “Thunder Road”

//  by 

Listen in this Sunday, March 1st to Houston’s 1560AM The Game radio station for my guest spot on the Thunder Road show’s “Driving Divas” segment.

Thunder Road is Houston’s ONLY place for all things motor sports and the best damn racing show around, featuring hosts Doug Johnson, a former Fun Ford Weekend competitor, and “Ya Boy Blue” (Jeffery Blue). Past guests on the “Driving Divas” segment have been NHRA Pro Stock driver Erica Enders and Stock Car racer Kristen Bumbera.

The show will air this Sunday, March 1st from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM central standard time.

Don’t live in Houston? The show is also available via web. You can listen online.