Celebrating, promoting and supporting female racers and women in motorsports
Competitiveness is a wonderful thing harnessed by strong, capable ladies in the sports world. Many women in motorsports were also athletes in other sports before they began their racing careers.
These sports minded female racers drew on the experiences they gained in other sports to help them in the racing world.
Leave us a comment below with your sport and experiences!
John Force Racing shared a beautiful new video of the Courtney Force and Graham Rahal Wedding that took place beachfront at Rancho Dos Pueblos in Santa Barbara, CA.
Special news for Brazilian Stock Car/ Former Indycar racer Ana Beatriz “Bia” Figueiredo, who walked down the aisle amidst family and friends on Saturday, December 19, 2015.
Bia Figueiredo, a São Paulo native, married Fabio Casaram in a beautiful ceremony. She posted a special message to her new husband, family, friends and fans on Facebook:
Ontem foi um dia muito especial. Rever a família completa e celebrar uma relação de muito amor e respeito. Se sou o que…
Posted by Bia Figueiredo on Sunday, December 20, 2015
Check out this cool 2015 Jetlife video for Larsen Motorsports! Watch Elaine Larsen, Marisha Falk, Kat Moller, and Shea Holbrook tear up the track in their Jet Dragsters!
Video footage by Les Mayhew
We are so excited to announce our first-ever Horsepower & Heels Women of the Year Awards! The aim is to allow 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.
For the first annual awards, we’ve selected seven award categories:
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.
Voting is open now through December 29, 2015 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, 2015 and posted on this website.
Trouble viewing? Click here to submit your vote.
Chix Gear Racewear just announced their Chix Gear Fast 15 team for the 2016 season. The annual contest selects 15 female racers onto the Chix Gear backed Fast 15 team A total of 242 applications were received for the 2016 contest.
It was a very hard decision and there were SO many great applicants. There is an amazing amount of professionalism and talent in this group of 15.” – Chix Gear Racewear
Follow the success of the Chix Gear Fast 15 team all season long on the new Chix Gear Fast 15 team Facebook page, so make sure to “LIKE” that page!
Jenna Johnson – Dirt Late Model, Iowa
McKenna Haase – Sprint Car, Iowa
Tara Longnecker – Bmod, Iowa
Megan Manshack – ATV, Ohio
Lexy VanZandt – BMod, Missouri
Kayli Barker – Asphalt Late Model, Nevada
Shayle Bade – Sprint Car, Nebraska
Brianna Mahon – Monster Truck, Illinois
Savannah Trantham – Sprint Car, Texas
Mandy Chick – Asphalt Late Model – Kansas
Ashley Strickland – Drag Racer, North Carolina
Ashley Capetta – Sprint Car, Pennsylvania
Bri Bandimere – Drag Racer, Colorado
Sarah Burgess – Off Road Truck, California
Skyler Allen – Micro Sprint Car, Kansas
The Motorsports Sisterhood, a community organization formed to nurture the careers of women in motorsport and provide funding to advance and nurture motorsport careers, featured Horsepower & Heels founder, Erica Ortiz as their Woman of the Week.
The interview discusses Erica’s journey in drag racing, the formation and purpose behind Horsepower & Heels and her experiences with sexism in motorsports.
Read the article: http://www.motorsportsisterhood.org/blog/woman-of-the-week-erica-ortiz
Capping a monumental season that saw her first-ever heads-up drag racing competition, first event win, a trip to all 6 event finals and her first National Mustang Racers Association class championship, it is no surprise that drag racing upstart Haley James would be shoe-in for the NMRA’s Rookie of the Year honors.
It seems like just yesterday we flew to Bradenton where I’d let go of that trans-brake for the first time and feel that addicting adrenaline rush that we’re all too familiar with,” said James of her whirlwind season.
At the annual NMRA awards ceremony, held in conjunction with the PRI show in Indianapolis, Haley James would take the stage to claim her Coyote Modified Class Championship recognition for a dominant season in the CM class. James, who scored 3 event wins and appeared in all 6 event finals during the NMRA season, earned the top points total with her fox-bodied turbocharged, Coyote-powered coupe.
She would also receive the coveted special Nitto Class Championship ring, a jewel encrusted drag racing Christmas tree class ring traditionally bestowed onto each NMRA class champion at the close of the season to celebrate the honor.
The Hellion B-Team would continue to rack up trophies in the special award categories. Haley’s father and crew chief, Dwayne James, would receive the Crew Member of the Year award, beating out other nominees Susie Wiker and Bruce Hemminger.
None of this would have been possible without my team and their unequivocal dedication, my dad especially, for not only funding everything but also for being the most bad-ass tuner ever.”
And it would be tough to argue with the selection of NMRA’s new Rookie of the Year Haley James, who claimed the award over nominees Steve Daniels and Ryan Jones.
I never thought I’d see myself in Race Pages, or Drag Illustrated, or standing here, not only with the title of 2015 Coyote Modified Champion, but also 2015 Rookie of the Year.”
2016 plans for #1 Coyote Modified ChampWhat’s next for NMRA Rookie of the Year Haley James? Will she return with the #1 on her window next season to defend her title in Coyote Modified? Or perhaps take her shot at moving up the ranks into another NMRA class?
The future isn’t decided yet. James stated that her and her Hellion teammates are awaiting the outcome and official announcement of 2016 NMRA rule changes before solidifying their 2016 race plans. Could we see the new hot shoe champ return to defend her dominating championship run or perhaps take on a new challenge, moving up and seeking a rookie debut in another class?
Leave a comment below to congratulate NMRA Rookie of the Year Haley James!
Victory Motorcycle driver Angie Smith is eager to return to NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle competition in 2016. The husband-wife power team of Angie and Matt Smith introduced the Victory Motorcycle brand to the NHRA Mellow Yellow drag racing series competition this season, after Victory began looking for a way to get into the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle class in late 2014. They met with a handful of teams before settling on the championship-winning pair.
But pioneering a new build and combination isn’t without its difficulties and challenges, as the team worked hard to develop the new Victory Pro Stock Motorcycle program. Angie struggled early in the season with the aerodynamics of the new smaller fairing on the Victory race-prototypes. At one of the first test sessions with the new bike, the team discovered that the Victory’s smaller fairing pro
duced much higher wind resistance, with Angie’s hand actually blowing off the handlebars on one of her early runs, overpowering her slight build. She kept control and stayed on the bike, but her confidence suffered.
An NHRA-approved midseason adjustment to the bodywork alleviated some of the wind resistance that the team was fighting, also helping to put the Victory more on par to the other manufacturers in the class in performance and speed.
“It took a while to get my confidence back,” she said. “But toward the end of the season, I was doing a lot better. I think in 2016 we’re going to be really, really good.”
As the season progressed, so did the confidence of Angie Smith. She began the season at the bottom of the Pro Stock Motorcycle ladder, with a DNQ at the 4-wide Nationals and 7 total #16 qualifying starts. But midseason, during the Western swing, their tireless efforts would begin to turn around, netting her a #11 qualified position for the Bandimere event and a season-best #8 effort in Maple Grove.
We are 100 percent behind this deal,” Angie said. “There’s no 9-to-5, 40-hour work week. We’ve been putting in all of out time to make this program better because we want to make Victory happy and we want to be happy as racers. We want this partnership with Victory Motorcycles to last a lifetime. We want to get as many people as we can riding Victory Motorcycles. The best way to do that is win because that shows everyone how great these motorcycles are.”
Though she encountered a rocky start in 2015, Smith is no novice to the Pro Stock Motorcycle ranks. Angie is one of just 15 women in NHRA’s 64-year history to claim a national event trophy, and her crew chief/husband Matt says she will be adding to her career total in 2016.
She’s come a long way over the last couple of years,” he said. “The 2015 season was kind of a setback for her, mainly because of how the wind affects her on the Victory. She’ll be a lot better in 2016. We’ve just got to get her some more laps. She’ll be good next year.”
The Women of Racing PRI 2015 march continues on Day 2 of the Performance Racing Industry tradeshow.
All of our favorite female drivers, crew and professionals are working hard to network with new connections, catch up with old friends, and thank their 2015 partners.
Check out what they’ve been sharing on their social media platforms!
Missed Day 1? Check out our Ladies of Racing PRI 2015 Photo Gallery
Have photos you’d like to share? Tag us on Facebook and Twitter #horsepowerandheels [Source: Facebook/Twitter]