Women in Racing

Larsen Motorsports 2016 Schedule

February 23, 2016 // by Horsepower & Heels

Jet Dragster super team, Larsen Motorsports has a busy year planned for 2016. The Horsepower & Heels Female Motorsports Team of the Year has some new venues and drivers on deck for the season. Check out some of the personnel changes on the team and the Larsen Motorsports 2016 schedule below.

Elaine Larsen | Florida Institute of Technology

Elaine Larsen will return off her 2015 Championship season to drive the Florida Institute of Technology jet dragster. She replaces Shea Holbrook, who has returned to touring car racing in 2016.

Kat Moller | Matrix Systems

Kat Moller returns as well in 2016 to resume driving duties in her Matrix Systems jet dragster. Kat is beginning her third professional year with the Larsen Motorsports team.

Allison West | Applied Racing Components

Allison West will take over driving duties on the ARC jet dragster for 2016, after Marisha Falk retired at the end of last season.

Dawn Perdue | LMS

Dawn Perdue joins Larsen Motorsports again in 2016 to drive the fourth Larsen Motorsports jet dragster for the 2016 season.

Jake Elliott | Floating Driver

Jake Elliott served as crew chief on the FIT dragster in 2015, is a fabricator in the Larsen shop, and completed his licensing requirements behind the wheel at the end of 2014. The first male driver for the team, he will be gunning for a full-time seat in the Larsen camp, jumping in for driving opportunities during the year.

Larsen Motorsports 2016 Schedule

Date	Event	Location
February 26	Florida Tech Exploration Day	Florida Tech Campus Melbourne, FL
March 4-6	IHRA Spring Nitro Nationals	Orlando Speed World Orlando, FL
March 17-20	47th Annual NHRA Gator Nationals	Gainesville Raceway Gainesville, FL
March 25	Florida Tech Exploration Day	Florida Tech Campus Melbourne, FL
March 26	Race for Autism Cure	Orlando Speed World Orlando, FL
April 1-3	Melbourne Airshow	Melbourne International Airport Melbourne, FL
April 9	Florida Tech Discovery Day	Florida Tech Campus Melbourne, FL
April 21-24	7th Annual NHRA 4-Wide Nationals	Z-Max Dragway Charlotte, NC
April 28- May 1	NMRA Ford Nationals	Maple Grove Raceway Reading, PA
June 3-5	Chevy Performance Nationals	Atlanta Dragway Atlanta, GA
June 9-12	NMRA Ford Super Nationals	National Trails Raceway Columbus, OH
June 25	Atlanta Night of Fire	Atlanta Dragway Atlanta, GA
July 22	Florida Tech Exploration Day	Florida Tech Campus Melbourne, FL
August 26	Florida Tech Exploration Day	Florida Tech Campus Melbourne, FL
October 29	Orlando Night of Fire	Orlando Speed World Orlando, FL
November 19	Florida Tech Exploration Day	Florida Tech Campus Melbourne, FL
November 25-27	Citrus Nationals	Palm Beach International Raceway West Palm Beach, FL
December 2-3	Snowbird Nationals	Bradenton Motorsports Park Bradenton, FL

Sara Slaughter new NHRA Media Relations Manager

February 23, 2016 // by Horsepower & Heels

The National Hot Rod Association announced Sara Slaughter as the new NHRA Media Relations Manager for the drag racing organization. Slaughter will bring her experience gained in the sports department of Riverside, California’s The Press-Enterprise newspaper and her previous internship at Health & Fitness Magazine in London, England to support outreach for the NHRA.

In her new role, Slaughter will provide media outreach for the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, as well as support other NHRA communications programs and NHRA racing series. In addition, she will maintain and develop relationships with national media members, assist with research and statistical projects and contribute to all NHRA communications department publications.

We’re pleased to have someone with Sara’s abilities join our communications team,” Anthony Vestal, NHRA Director of Media Relations said. “She has the work ethic, personality, attitude and desire to have an immediate impact with the media relations programs we have developed to promote and publicize the sport of NHRA Drag Racing.”

Slaughter graduated with her bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Riverside in June 2014 with a major in Political Science. She is a native of Southern California.

It is a fantastic feeling to be chosen to join the NHRA team,” Slaughter said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity to be able to be a part of this growing sport and continue my career in the sports world.”

Willow Springs challenging for Michele Abbate

February 23, 2016 // by Horsepower & Heels

Rounds 3 & 4 of the SCCA US National Tour made Willow Springs challenging for Michele Abbate. After a successful opening weekend a few weeks ago, Michele and her GRR Racing team were ready to take on Willow Springs Raceway in Rosamond, CA. This would mark the first time the team would be racing their Scion FRS at the venue, with no practices on the schedule to prepare for qualifying and racing.

Saturday’s Qualifying and Race

Saturday morning would begin well for Michele, as she was able to qualify with a 1:32.9 lap time, earning her the P3 position out of 9 cars. Confident after a strong qualifying effort, the team felt prepared for the race, with crew chief Anthony Philleo stating, “We just need to stay consistent and hit our marks and we will be running up front”.

As the green flag dropped for the race, Abbate pushed forward in an excellent start, passing two cars in other classes on the lead lap. As she approached to battle for 2^nd place, the handling of GRR Racing FRS started to fall off exponentially.

The car became progressively worse, but I continued to push with hopes of making to the checkered flag”, Abbate confessed.

She eased up and dropped back to 4^th place to stay conservative. But with just two laps to go, the front left tire expired as she entered turn 8, and forced Abbate to retire early.

Afterwards, the GRR Racing team assessed the damage, replacing the flat tire and looking over the car to find the source of the flat and ill-handling during the race. The culprit? A broken rear endlink – causing the car to lose its desired setup and making it very difficult for Michele to control around the track. The team worked through the night to repair the damage, and reset the car for Sunday’s activities.

Sunday’s Qualifying and Race

On Sunday, Michele returned to the track with her freshly setup GRR Racing FRS for qualifying. Her lap times earned her the P3 spot again for the Sunday afternoon race. Much like her Saturday start, when field took off to the wave of the green, Abbate rocketed forward passing 3 other classed cars on the inside before entering turn one. Another promising start, and the team was optimistic that this would be the turnaround for the weekend. Unfortunately, about a third of the way into the race, the handling start to fall off once again on the GRR Racing FRS. Understeering terribly through the right handers, Abbate struggled to maintain consistent, fast lap times. Taking precautions she nursed the car to a 4^th place finish once the checkered was thrown.

Willow Springs challenging for Michele Abbate

Though the weekend was challenging for Michele Abbate and the GRR Racing team, they are taking the lessons learned and are applying them to prepare the car for Rounds 5 and 6 at Thunderhill Raceway in Willows, CA on April 8^th-10th. The team has 6 weeks to analyze and make changes before, and will be ready for the next round in the SCCA Nationals Tour.

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Danica Patrick’s Daytona 500 Cut Short

February 22, 2016 // by Taylor Hyatt

As Speedweeks came to a close with the 58^th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, Danica Patrick left with much to be desired from her newly sponsored Nature’s Bakery No. 10 Chevy SS with Stewart-Haas Racing. This was Patrick’s first event with the snack and food brand sponsor as well as crew chief Billy Scott. The two had never worked together until the February 13^th Sprint Unlimited, but the communication seemed fluent between them all weekend. Unfortunately, everything else didn’t go as planned.

Patrick takes damage in the Sprint Unlimited race

Patrick, whose 2013 Daytona 500 pole position earned her a spot in the Sprint Unlimited, started the race in 12^th and despite multiple incidents finished in 11^thposition. She had made her way towards the front of the pack at one point, but a sudden decrease in speed by the No. 31 caused her to make contact ending in major grille damage. After fixing the majority of the problem during yellow flag pit stops, the No. 10 was caught up in a multi-car incident leading to right-front damage once again. Fortunately, for the team the car was able to continue and finished the race. In a post-race interview Patrick didn’t show much excitement about the on track activity.

That’s just speedway racing. I feel really good about how tonight went.”

Danica Patrick | Thursday’s Can-Am Duel

More trouble was ahead for the Stewart-Hass Racing team in Thursday’s qualifying race, the Can-Am Duel, for the Daytona 500. Starting in the 14^th position Patrick was in a great place to fine tune the team’s plan. That is until she was once again caught up in a multi-car accident, however, only sustaining minor damage from a spin in oil after moving to avoid the carnage happening in front of her car. Being that this happened on the final lap she was able to take the checkered flag and because of the NASCAR caution rules she was given a 7^th place finish. Patrick was optimistic that her team would be able to repair her car before the big day.

Hopefully, nothing is wrong with the car and we can just hammer on it a little bit, get it where it needs to be, change out the engine and get ready for the 500.”

Danica Patrick’s Daytona 500 efforts

Finally, it was time for the main event. The event race fans from all around the nation come to the sunshine state to watch, The Daytona 500. Patrick began the race in 16^th position, but after a green-flag pit stop causing a pass-through penalty due to crew members being over the wall before permitted by the guidelines, she was back on track without any help from the draft. Quickly, she found herself a lap down and during the next caution was just out of reach for the “Lucky Dog” which would have put her back on the lead lap.

It (the penalty) put us in a position of being aggressive at the wrong time in the race against cars you don’t always want to be aggressive with” said Patrick.

Unfortunately, left-rear contact was made with the No. 16 car, of Greg Biffle, causing Patrick to go airborne and spinning into the infield ultimately ending her day with a 35^th position finish and only earning six points towards the chase.

As if Danica needed anything else to go wrong during the first race of the season, The King himself, Mr. Richard Petty, thought he would add insult to injury. He’s always been a tough critic of hers and very vocal in regards to her NASCAR career. In an interview with Yahoo Sports he once again expressed his opinion.

“She ain’t gotten no better or no worse.”

Although, a rough start to the season, Danica Patrick has the tools, the car, and the team to have a great year. Next week she’ll show what she’s got in Atlanta!

What do you think of her Speedweek efforts and the King’s comments?

Comment below!

Ariel Biggs announces 2016 plans [Video]

February 22, 2016 // by Horsepower & Heels

Rising dirt track racer, Ariel Biggs announces her 2016 plans with Toyota Racing and Daum Motorsports, including a move back east to Illinois. Check out what has happened after her big outing at the Chili Bowl earlier this year, and what she will be looking forward to for a 2016 racing schedule.

Ariel Biggs Announces 2016 Plans

Keep up with Ariel Biggs and hundreds of other women in racing by subscribing to receive free Horsepower & Heels news updates.

New partner for Pippa Mann: BREVAGenplus

February 22, 2016 // by Horsepower & Heels

Verizon IndyCar Series driver Pippa Mann just announced a partnership with Genetic Technologies Limited (NASDAQ: GENE), a molecular diagnostics company specializing in women’s health, to promote their BREVAGenplus® first-in-class, clinically-validated risk assessment test for non-hereditary breast cancer.

This new partner for Pippa Mann is another advancement in her ongoing efforts and commitment to breast cancer prevention. This season will mark the third year Pippa has supported and partnered with Susan G. Komen®, the world’s largest breast cancer organization.

A new partner for Pippa Man in fight against Breast Cancer

Driving a pink and white race car adorned with the Susan G. Komen livery for the past two Indianapolis 500 races, Pippa has raised awareness and funding to support the cause through her IndyCar activities. Pippa is an ambassador for women’s health with several organizations and is active both nationally and locally in her support of Komen.

I am thrilled to be able to represent another group that is committed to helping end breast cancer by partnering with Genetic Technologies,” said Pippa. “It is fantastic to be able to represent such a game-changing product in the women’s health space. I am looking forward to helping raise the profile of BREVAGenplus® through the exposure that comes with IndyCar and the Indianapolis 500.”

By promoting BREVAGenplus® , Pippa hopes to promote and bring awareness to this fantastic risk assessment test and the benefits of early-detection, giving women over the age of 35 the power of informed decisions towards preventative care and treatment plans.

The associate sponsorship agreement between Pippa and Genetic Technologies will consist of apparel representation, participation at BREVAGenplus® oriented events and speaking engagements, social media, print and video campaigns, and related sales support activities. Pippa plans to use this new partnership in her efforts at the 100^th running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 29, 2016.

NMRA racer Nikki Frost

February 22, 2016 // by Kelly Morris

The world of drag racing all started for NMRA driver, Nikki Frost, in the summer of June 2012. Nikki was given a great opportunity from Vortech Superchargers to use her 2013 Ford Mustang GT for their V-3Si kit and SEMA 2012 booth car. Nikki’s new ride would serve as both a race car and her daily driver.

There is no way you can pass an opportunity like that up! I drove my new Mustang with less than 500 miles on it from Philadelphia, PA to Oxnard, CA in July 2012 and I have never looked back.”

With her new Vortech equipped Stang, Nikki worked on establishing herself in the community to honor her commitments to her sponsors.

I focused heavily on showing the car at car shows in 2013 where it was well received. In June 2014, I ran my first sanctioned race at the NMRA All-Female Shootout in Norwalk, OH and was lucky enough to secure the Runner-up spot! This was followed in June 2015 with another NMRA All Female Shootout Runner-up placement. Hopefully my winning streak continues in 2016, but just having the opportunity to race with my husband and our good friends is enough for me.”

Her Mustang has been a SEMA booth car twice, featured in numerous publications, and is the perfect street-strip car for Nikki. She feels beyond blessed for the opportunities that have been presented to her and the experiences are worth everything to her.

Nikki Frost at Frank Hawley School

This February, I had the honor of attend Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School in Gainesville, FL. It was hands down the best choice I’ve made so far with drag racing. He teaches the fundamentals as well as advanced techniques that are essential to being a good drag racer. Huge thanks to Frank Hawley, Jimmy and the crew for providing us with the essentials that we need to be successful, educated drag racers! The experience was invaluable – I would highly recommend this school to any drag racer.”

Q&A with Nikki Frost:

When did you know, that racing was what you wanted to do?

Photo: Ford Racing Nation.com

Racing has always been my heart. It wasn’t until I met my husband that I was introduced to the wonderful world of drag racing. The love affair with the track started and the speeding tickets and street racing stopped! Well, mostly. There is nothing better than the thrill of competition and the adrenaline of lining up at the light and letting it fly.”

When it comes to being a Women in Motorsports, do you feel you’ve made an impact?

The way that I feel that I have made an impact on other women in the Motorsports industry is by being able to succeed with only a dream and my car. I have worked hard for everything that I have and will continue to work hard. Nothing will be handed to you, you have to go out and get it yourself, and I would like to think I have empowered other women to follow their dreams as remote as they may seem at the time. Females in the Motorsports industry are surprisingly supportive of one another. You will have your “haters” which happens no matter what you do but not everyone has to like you. Some of my best friends in the industry have come from my first race which proves that women can build each other up and have a great support system even when in a competitive environment. Every woman that I have met in the Motorsports industry has impacted me in some way and I hope that I have positively impacted others as well.”

Who are your biggest supporters?

My biggest supporter is my husband! He is perfectly content sitting back and helping me race even though he is a racer himself. Without him none of this would be possible. My sponsors are amazing to work with and I am fortunate to not just have business relationships with them but friendships as well. My firm is undeniably supportive and allows me the opportunity to pursue my dreams while still advancing my career. The friends that I have in the car community are second to none, car people are the best people! A huge thanks to everyone that has helped me get to where I am today and continues to support me in my future ventures, I couldn’t do it without you!”

Accomplishments for Nikki Frost

Runner-up finishes in the NMRA All Female Shootout in 2014 and 2015.

Nikki Frost’s Sponsors

First Lady of F1 Maria Filippis

February 22, 2016 // by Taylor Hyatt

Formula 1 recently released the unfortunate news that Maria Teresa de Filippis had passed away on January 8^th, at 89 years of age. The Italian driver was the first woman to start a Formula 1 race which happened in the late 1950’s.

This got me thinking about how little we acknowledge the early generation of female, auto racing pioneers. We are always taking about the girls currently in the news making headlines about what a great season they’re having or what a great year it was for women in the sport which is great, but what about the ladies that made it possible for those articles to be written? Let’s talk about them!

Maria Filippis | The First Lady of F1

Maria Filippis is only one of two women to ever have the opportunity to race in Formula 1 and it’s been over 40 years since Lella Lombardi, the second female to start an F1 race, last start in 1976. When asked about being the minority in the sport by Red Bulletin Filippis had a typical answer for the time.

Of course there was prejudice, along the lines of what’s that woman doing here?”

Maria Filippis wasn’t a stranger to auto racing or competition, especially in Italy. Having driven sports cars previously, with many class wins, and participating in prestigious races such as the Mille Miglia, an endurance road race, dating back to 1927.

Maria took the green flag in three Grand Prix races, driving a Maserati 250F, a very popular car at the time. She managed to place 10^th in her first race in Belgium, but in Portugal and Monza she had to pull the car in early due to engine failure.

Unfortunately, after having an awful accident herself, colliding with a light pole, and seeing her Porsche team boss, and friend, Jean Behra, lose his life in a fatal on-course crash Maria decided the risks of racing were too high. She retired in 1959 and never looked back. She was very emotional about the experience in her interview with the Observer in 2006.

That, for me, was the most tragic because it was in a race that I should have been taking part in.”

After many years of marriage and raising children, Maria Fillipis became secretary general of the Club International des Anciens Pilotes de Grand Prix in 1984. In 1997 she became Vice President for retired drivers and most recently, honorary president in 2011.

In the U.S. we had Janet Guthrie and Lynn St. James. In Italy, they had Maria Teresa de Fillipis. Think of the possibilities and how the sport could have changed for women if she would have continued her racing career. Still, we wouldn’t be where we are without her.

The Balance Radio Show – Impact of Women in Racing

February 20, 2016 // by Horsepower & Heels

Horsepower & Heels founder, Erica Ortiz is a guest on sports radio show, “The Balance” to talk with host Tom Marquis about women in racing and their impact on the sport and what Horsepower & Heels is doing to help support that cause.

Listen to Erica explain her take on what are some difficulties women have in racing, the place for traditional gender expectations of women and family and how it plays for racing women, and what roles women are now assuming in the business side of the sport. [Segment begins at the 1:00.00 mark]

Aired: February 20, 2016

A Driving Determination: Women in Engineering

February 18, 2016 // by Horsepower & Heels

Andretti Formula E driver, Simona de Silvestro will be sitting on a special A Driving Determination: Women in Engineering panel to speak about her career journey as part of sponsor TE Connectivity’s Engineering Week festivities.

‘A Driving Determination: Women in Engineering’ Panel

The field of engineering is changing our world every day, and women working in engineering can be powerful role models for young girls pursuing an education and career in science, technology, engineering or math. Through this panel, TE Connectivity (TE) celebrates and recognizes the role women are playing in engineering today, including the unique challenges they face. Each of the six panelists have found success in their chosen fields and will talk about their own journey to finding their passion.

Simona de Silvestro – Driving Determination

Andretti Formula E driver Silvestro will impart her experiences as a five-time Indianapolis 500 participant, and what it is like to be the only current female driver in the Formula E series, the international electric car racing platform.

A Driving Determination: Women in Engineering
Panel Information:

Date: Thursday, February 25th
Time: 11:00AM EST
Register Online for access and more information.