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New Feature: AIM High Book

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A few months back, I had the wonderful honor of being interviewed by book author Laura Contreras-Rowe for a book project she was working on called AIM HIGH: Extraordinary Stories of Hispanic and Latina Women.

The interviewed lasted hours, where I talked about the journey I’ve taken over the course of my racing career and the things and challenges in life that drove me to chase my dreams.

Well, the first edition is back from the printer, and I’ve received my first copy. I’m really excited to be included as one of the 33 hispanic women chosen to share their stories. Venezuelan IRL driver Milka Duno is also featured in the book, so its quite an honor to be included along with her.

The book features stories from a wide variety of different professional backgrounds. All the women featured tell their personal stories, with the overall theme being the powerful message that despite financial challenges, family obligations and horrific environment or events: a young Hispanic or Latina woman can succeed to astounding heights with courage and tenacity.

This is the first book I’ve ever been featured in, and its a tremendous honor to be included in something so memorable and inspirational. The idea that this will be something that will exist to show my family and future generations is very emotional for me.

The book is available on Amazon.

(A small side note to my family and friends: though the story is written in 1st person perspective, it was written by Laura and there may be some details that were slightly skewed from what you may recall)

AIM HIGH: Extraordinary Stories of Hispanic and Latina Women

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Aim High Extraordinary Stories of Hispanic and Latina WomenHorsepower & Heels driver Erica Ortiz is featured in the first edition hardcover book, Aim High: Extraordinary Stories of Hispanic and Latina Women.

 Aim High: Extraordinary Stories of Hispanic and Latina Women is a book that offers hope and inspiration. Author Laura Contreras-Rowe traveled the country meeting and interviewing inspirational and amazing Hispanic and Latina women.   This book features 33 thought-provoking positive role models from all over the country and from different professional backgrounds to tell their story, delivering a powerful message that despite financial challenges, family obligations and horrific environment or events: a young Hispanic or Latina woman can succeed to astounding heights with courage and tenacity.

Horsepower & Heels driver Erica Ortiz had the honor of being recognized in the book.

May 2010 International Latino Book Awards
1st Place in Best Gift Book
2nd Place in Best Cover Design
Honorable Mention/3rd Place for The Mariposa Award for Best First Time Book

2010 IPPY-Independent Publishers Book Award
Gold/1st Place in Best Non-Fiction Multicultural Juvenile/Youth/Young Adult

Aim High: Extraordinary Stories of Hispanic and Latina Women

(Amazon Affiliate Link)

Publisher: Laura Contreras Rowe, Inc; 1st edition (2009)
ISBN-10: 0984246304
ISBN-13: 978-0984246304

Top Gun to Top Fuel: Mixing my two favorite things

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Top GunMy parents may not have ever guessed that I’d grow up to be a total hopeless gearhead Drag Racer, but I think they had some idea that I wasn’t a “normal” little girl.

While most kids dreamed of growing up to become veterinarians and doctors, I was awe-inspired at the tender age of 6 by what would be a classic 80’s Hollywood movie… oh yes, wait for it…. Top Gun. [cue Danger Zone music] I very clearly remember watching it with my family one night, and even though I was a restless 6 year old, was absolutely transfixed by what I saw. My dad was a career Air Force officer, and had retired from the Air Force before I was born. Perhaps my love of aircraft and speed came subconsciously from him, but I don’t think they expected what came out of my 6 year old mouth after watching Maverick and the rest of the characters lighting up the sky in those F-14’s.
And no, it wasn’t the Volleyball scene, or a actually still relevant at the time and hot Tom Cruise, I had zero desire to be a Kelly McGillis lusting after some flyboy (though admittedly, I DO have a thing for men in flight suits as an adult). Top Gun was Navy, but whatever, I had decided at age six I wanted to be an Air Force Fighter Pilot.My dream was rather crushed when my dad told me (at the time) that women were not permitted by the military to be combat pilots (something that changed in 1993). It wasn’t because he didn’t want to encourage me, I’m pretty sure it was also his dream growing up, and his eyesight was the disqualifying factor for him, so he didn’t want me to be disappointed by the rule in place. Talk about a crushing blow… but instead of becoming an Ace Pilot, I later would settle on becoming a pilot of a different sorts… a drag racing pilot.

Maybe its not a screaming jet with supersonic speed and all kinds of fun G’s, but drag racing at 200mph is still pretty thrilling. (Here’s to hoping I get my chance in a Top Fuel Dragster and get to that 300mph thrill) And now the Air Force has figured out how to get the average person to merge these passions together with their latest recruitment tool: The Mustang X-1.

Designed by the same people responsible for the new gen KITT car (Galpin Autosports), this car has been totally redone for the USAF. On the exterior a radical lowered stance and low profile tires make for the aggressive aircraft-inspired theme complete with carbon fiber body, aerodynamic air intakes, and gull-wing doors. The flight cockpit interior completely replaces the Mustang interior with flight-stick, a touch-screen interfaced control system, and a single driver ejection seat center-mounted setup. GPS and nightvision technology is also found on the high-tech console.

At first, I was rather curious how they were “driving” via a flight-stick, but I read on to discover that there is a hidden regular motorized steering wheel that pops out for the “pilot” to steer with (slight disappointment that its not stick-driven, but whatever). The stick is actually a very nifty shifter for the manual transmission. I was also surprised that the car is only hopped up to 500 hp with cams and exhaust, which by my hotrodder standards does it zero justice… I mean why not twin turbos or something cool!

Alas, its a pretty cool recruitment tool if you ask me… they also have a Charger called the “Vapor”, but the X-1 is definitely the more radical of the two.

Now that I’m grown and have spent the last 10 years chasing my dream of drag racing, I wish I would have had the level of determination applied to pursuing my dream of being a fighter pilot. I had no way of knowing then, but CAN’T just means you have to try a little harder…. Its still on my “Bucket List” to ride in a supersonic jet at some point, to cross off both me and my dad’s dreams together. Or maybe I’ll land a Top Fuel/Air Force sponsor and get to combine both dreams at once. (Keep your fingers crossed folks!) Regardless, I feel pretty lucky to be participating in the land-version of high speed flight in drag racing, because as Goose and Maverick put it oh so well….

“I feel the need…. the need for SPEED!!”

 
 
 
 
Photos: USAF

Ortiz to Air on Houston’s 1560AM The Game

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1560AM the GameHuntsville, AL– Horsepower & Heels driver, Erica Ortiz, will be live on-air with the “Thunder Road” morning show this Sunday, March 1st on Houston, TX’s AM radio station 1560AM “The Game”.

The “Thunder Road” show 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). Erica will join the well-known Houston personalities for their “Driving Divas” segment, a portion of the show dedicated to women in motorsports. Past guests include NHRA Pro Stock driver Erica Enders and Stock Car racer Kristen Bumbera. …

Flashback: 2Fast, 2Funny

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Its campfire story time, so I thought I’d share one of my more comical stories from my past.

**Names/Locations may have been changed to protect the not-so-innocent.**

This Flashback story takes us back to 2003…

The-Fast-and_FuriousI built my first project car, a 1992 LX Coupe that was once a FL highway trooper car from the ground up. Took it down to the metal, rebuilt a short block, and rounded up old odds and ends parts from across the shop to assemble it. Stuck a single turbo on the thing, and made it the ultimate street sleeper. The car had dark tint, no rollbar, and stock wheels with Nitto radials on back. An automatic and quiet as can be, it was completely unassuming. I built it with the intention of smoking Z06 Corvettes of that day… they loved to play from a roll.

One weekend, I got bored as I traveled out of Orlando for the weekend, and decided to check out the local race scene in another town. I pulled up for their midnight drag at the track (street racing style grudge night) and got out of my car in my heeled sandals and mini-skirt, to the curious stare of the local crowd. After a few minutes on the fence, I walked up and introduced myself. Well, that’s only half-true. I walked up and in a sugar-sweet voice, proceeded to put on an Emmy Winning performance.

You see, I was “new” in town. The car? It was my “boyfriend’s”. He just happened to be out of town this particular weekend, and I had decided to take the car out for a “spin”.

[Me]: “Hi, guys!”
[Local Track Guy]: “Uhh, hi.”
[Me]: “I’m a little new here, but ever since I saw that movie on TV, you know… the Fast and the Furious, I wanted to try this. My boyfriend’s out of town, and I’m out playing with his car tonight. What do I have to do to race like that here?”
(crowd snickers)
[Local Track Guy]: “Well, uhh, do you even know how to drag race? I mean, have you done it before?”
[Me]: long pause. “Well, no…. but I saw it on TV and want to learn. What do I need to do?”
[Local Track Guy]: “Forget whatever you saw on TV. That’s not drag racing.”
[Me]: “Oh, really? So you don’t race for money and stuff here? What do you do then?”
[Local Track Guy]: Grins. “Weeelll, we DO still race for money, so you probably don’t want to try that right now seeing how you’ve never done it.”
[Me]: “Oh, that’s okay. How much does it cost and how does it work?”

Round One

The local track guy proceeds to tell me all about arranged “grudge” matches and how they pair two cars together for money, and race for the winnings. Sometimes, they negotiate for head starts they call “spotting a car length”, or they get to leave first, which they refer to as getting the “hit”. After carefully nodding during his explanations, I set in for the kill:

[Me]: “So who wants to race me, then?”
[Local Track Guy]: “What does that thing have done to it? Is it stock?”
[Me]: “I don’t know. Its my boyfriend’s car. Its pretty old, so I guess so.”
(Local track guys talk among themselves for a minute before one steps out)
[Camaro Boy]: “I’ll take your money… err…I mean, I’ll race you.”
[Me]: “Well, since its my first time, how much of a head start are you going to give me? I am just a girl trying to learn, you know.”
[Camaro Boy]: laughing cockily. “Pffft, I’ll give you a car and the hit.”.

So I lined up with a blue Ls1 Camaro, who proceeded to give me my 2 car spot and the head start. I was supposed to nod when I was ready, and then as soon as he nodded he was set, I could leave whenever I wanted. After a very good show of “barely being able to do a burnout”, I gave the signal and looked back for the nod. No sooner than I get it, and with my door still partially open (I can’t see out with windows tinted black), did I roll into the throttle. I left pretty good on him, so I didn’t ever really need to go to the floor with it. I kept the win to a few car lengths at the stripe, and proceeded to round the return to claim my cash.

My Camaro buddy was complaining he wasn’t ready (then why did you nod, fool?) and wanted to re-run, but using the starter and not getting any head start. By now, they were wondering what this muffled, quiet little car was capable of doing. It left quicker than expected, and didn’t sound stock. Surely this sleeper with an automatic wasn’t THAT fast??

Round Two

We lined up again, this time straight heads up. I cleaned off the tires, and staged up. I had been leaving at idle so they didn’t hear the turbo too much before, though I think they had figured it out by now. So I tried to bring it up a little and took off. Admittedly, I was a bit late on this run, so I had to run her out a bit to chase him down, but ultimately, I had passed him at the stripe with a little change to spare.

Again, I return to claim my cash, met with lots of commotion and some real hard attempts to peek inside the car. It was getting late, and these guys were all stirred up. But before they’d let me leave, they wanted a Rd. 3 with a different car, double or nothing. This time its with a whistling fox body mustang that I know at least has a blower on it with exhaust and the rest of the goodies. I agree to line up, knowing I’d have to run it this time. I mean, I’m there to have fun, right???

Round Three

We leave, and spin pretty good off the launch, which actually worries me for a few seconds. But I start to reel the mustang back in, and was able to pass him pretty good before the finish. Knowing I was done for the night, I stayed in it hard and actually ended up with a sizeable lead at the stripe.

I come around to collect my cash.

[Me]: “This is FUN!!!!!” Snatches money. “I didn’t know it’d be this easy! Thanks guys, but I gotta get going!”
(dumbfounded crowd starts asking to see the engine)
[Mustang Guy]: “You passed me like I was sitting still. I was doing 110 mph! Pop the hood on that thing.”

Smiling, I walk over and pop the hood. The guy lifts the hood up and gasps at the turbo, intake and all the other toys. The crowd starts complaining and asking if my boyfriend knew I was driving the car. I just started smiling and laughing, when I hear a guy walking up yelling from the back.

[Guy in Crowd]: “Man, don’t ya’ll know who that chick is? She drives a damn 8 second drag radial car. “

The crowd starts yelling, some laughing and others visibly pissed off. They start telling me to get the heck out of there, that I was one sneeky little bugger. (putting it nicely)
By this point, I am quickly closing my hood. My work there was done, and $200 to the good, it was time for me to go!!!

The morale of this story…. objects may appear slower than they really are.


Fun Ford Weekend Heartland Nationals 2006

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Topeka, KS–

Switching to new larger 88mm turbos before the race with no test time made it a tough learning curve for the weekend. Erica hauled the Horsepower & Heels Thunderbird from Alabama all the way to Topeka alone, as her normal crew were out testing a Pro Mod in Valdosta, GA.

Dennis Lugo flew in from Orlando to assist Erica over the weekend. The pair sorted through some tough timing issues before qualifying #4 with a 6.88 @ 203mph. That pass provided Erica’s best career 1/8th mile ET of a 4.44, but timing retard stayed on in high gear resulting in a less than average top half.

This paired Erica first round with David Schorr again.  Though Erica took the advantage at the tree with a 0.032 to his 0.103 light, she lost traction down track and Schorr went around.  Erica did move into the #2 position in the 2006 points championship entering the final race of the season in Ennis, TX.

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Photo Credits:  Gabe Wittig

Not alone, and really not all that different

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[Driving Force Episode #5- Ashley’s Licensing Test Runs]

Yea, I know. There’s a big difference between a 1800 hp twin turbo doorslammer running 6 sec/200+ mph passes and a 7000 hp flopper running 4 sec/300+mph passes, but I’ve got to thank A&E and the Forces for showing what I suspect a vast majority of the women who dare navigate the 1/4 mile experience while learning to pilot these high powered “beasts” (to quote John). Let me reminisce…

I did not come from the racing pedigree that Ashley, Brittany, Courtney were born and raised in, in fact I hardly knew what drag racing was when I turned 16. My parents can hardly change a tire, and certainly were not race fans, but somehow I had a passion for speed and hot cars that would become more prominent as I graduated high school. So, when I purchased my first car: a 1990 5.0 Mustang GT, I was thrilled with the possibilities, and even more facinated with the world of information and aftermarket available out there on the domestic scene. Later that summer, I would venture to my hometown dragstrip for the first time. I didn’t know anything about how drag racing worked, but being a competitor at heart, and an adrenaline junkie, I knew I had to try it.

My first pass in late 1998 was a 15.30. A year later it was a 13.20. By 2000, I drove my first power adder car, a supercharged street coupe, to an 11.20. And before the end of 2001, I obtained my 9 second NHRA license in a twin turbo mustang. Fast forward through my first 8 second pass in 02, and my championship first runner up in 03, to my switch to the PRO 5.0 category and obtaining my Advanced ET license in the 6’s at 200mph today. Now, none of this is in the same ballpark as driving a top alcohol dragster over 200 mph before age 23, and licensing in your very own funny car to boot. But what I found so refreshing about this episode of Driving Force is how well myself and I’m sure many other women can relate to her experiences.

There is something about the way men and women learn and adapt to new experiences and new situations. My close friends (Hi Deby!) have had a good laugh over the antics and the battles that Dan & I have weathered through the process of getting me acclimated with the new car, and while they are funny to me now, they weren’t so funny then.

You see, there is what I call a sensitivity chip missing in men. A COMMONSENSE-ITIVITY chip that aids in the walk of a fine line between brave and ignorant. There is a point where you must accept fate & have the faith where your senses fail you. Guys have that blind faith. Faith in their machines, faith in their destiny, fate in their ABILITIES. Nevermind that the idea of losing vision while traveling at over 300 mph is not only terrifying and insane, but to have the blind faith to stay in the throttle that first pass is jarring. Us women, we feel. We analyze. We THINK. Much to the chargin of men, we often overthink, and overcomplicate. But as Ashley pointed out, all of the things– the thoughts, the feelings, the nerves, and the pressure come flooding over our brains, and as she delicately pointed out, the only thing stopping her is herself. She knows it, her team knows it. I also know this, and so does Dan. We all concur 100%.

Its definitely proven true the old adage… “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus” although at times I swore Dan was from somewhere beyond Pluto. A planet with some coined race related name like Dragtopia or something where the people are born dropping clutches and wheeling pro mods. But somehow, we made it through it and truthfully, I know and appreciate that Dan means well and only the best for me (as John does for his daughters). …Even if Dan “definitely doesn’t have a career as a motivational speaker.”

Bristol FFW Thunder Valley Nationals, Eliminations Round 1

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Erica Ortiz from Horsepower & Heels Racing, takes on Chuck Samuels in Round 1 of  Pro 5.0 eliminations at the 2006 Fun Ford Weekend Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, TN.   Erica leaves first, but is out-powered by Samuels who takes the win.   Ortiz runs a career-best ET of 6.85 @ 207 mph to Samuels’ 6.57 @ 216 mph.

Watch the video from the Round 1 match-up below.