What's your opinion on a girl who seriously races and drifts?

Question

I don't want this to sound like I'd just be doing it because it was cool, but in reality I kind of love cars, and everything about them. I'd pretty much kill to know more. While I don't know much, I'd say I know a lot, for being a girl, that is. My friends always call me a dude for being so into all this. Anyway, one of my friends recently offered to teach me how, and while I've wanted to get into that scene ever since I learned how to drive a little over a year ago, I've been wary because if/when I do go to the track, I'd rather not have all the guys take one look at me and think 'girl plus car equals hot', and just not give me any respect or take me seriously, or just think that a girl driving and racing and drifting is totally wrong, or something negative like that. So what do you think? What's the truth here?

Answer 1

Wow, impressive.

Answer 2

You start off by saying, "I'd pretty much kill to know more," and follow it up with, "I've been wary because if/when I do go to the track, I'd rather not have all the guys take one look at me and think 'girl plus car equals hot."

In my opinion, if you truly would kill to know more then you'd care little about what the guys think.  Have faith in yourself and usually the rest will follow.  And if it doesn't, then who cares, you'll be doing what you love, won't you?

Off track here, your, "I'd kill to know more," reminds me of a singing comedy duo on HBO called the Flight of the Conchords.  The episode has a song called, "If You're Into it," where one of the guys is writing a song about what he'd do for his current girlfriend and he says he's do anything(like climb the highest mountain and swim the widest river, etc...) and the other guy asks him if he'd really do those things and he says, "no, not really."  The other guy follows it up by saying, "well, you wouldn't really do anything then, would you?"  The point is, if you'd do anything, than a bunch of idiots should be a side thought to your true ambitions.

Good Luck

Answer 3

if you really want to do it go for who cares what other people think 20 years ago i wasn't allowed to race a stock car because it was to dangerous for a girl 15 years ago i had men refuse to race against me because i was a girl  10 years ago i had 3 guys come across the middle of the track to hurt me so i would give up and not race anymore today i have beaten most of them, i know more about cars and fixing them than most guys and find it is only the idiots that have a problem with it

Answer 4

Here it is girlie, (myself being a girl as well) as screwed as it is, you're going to have to prove yourself to these idiots. They are very informed idiots mind you, but none the less, you need to prove your worthy of respect. Women have a bad name for driving. And race driving is even worse. I saw Shawna Robbinson wreck without anyone wrecking her. She was all by herself. I wanted to cry b/c that hurt us. I want to race too. I'm turning 34 today. I'm the perfect height for racing which is around 5'6, but not the perfect weight, which is 165. I live up the street from CA. speedway, so if there are any classes being given soon, I might take some. But with the guys I've hung out with that race, even the ones that race remote control cars, women, sadly, will have to prove themselves. My own husband never really backed me up. I whooped his *** in PS1 and 2 at NASCAR. I had to show him how the car set-ups were, especially for Pocono. I feel you. Your scared to fail, but us girlie girls need people like you to race just try it for us. I can't until my baby is older. But I will........ Please let me know how your doing in a bitchy, threatend mans world. By the way, my dad rally raced in three different countries, and my step dad did some racing too. And my mom was a spotter for one of the Andrettis (spelling)

Answer 5

I SAY GO FOR IT!!!

Answer 6

Well, as has been suggested already, the short of it is, if you want to, you need to get out and do it.  As to how you'll be received?

There's no doubt that many guys would kill to have a girl that was also into cars.  A friend has often said he knew he married the perfect woman when she told him they needed larger brakes (on the race car they share on race weekends).  The fact that there are very few women around the paddock will also mean you stand out and will be the potential focus of additional attention.

On the other hand, when you put on the nomex suit and helmet and strap in, it's really not too easy to tell a guy from a girl, and what comes then will be based more on how you drive and conduct yourself on track.

I've had a number of women students at open track events over the years, so there certainly is an interest.  In fact, overall from my experience and talking with other instructors, women generally make better students and make quicker improvements in their driving when starting out... though conversely, those that make the final jump to actual racing never seem to have that competitive drive that the best male drivers have (bit of a double edged sword I think, the openess that allows for that early improvement and good fundamentals oftens means a more conservative approach later... though certainly not in all cases).

The driving is fun, and always a challenge.  Many car clubs as well as groups like SCCA and NASA have Open Track events with instruction available.  Another good option for beginners is autocross, which is fun, has alot of emphisis on car control and driving skills, and has much less potential for something to go wrong.  Lastly, if there are any opportunities for karting in your area, this is a great option for seat time that is less costly than any of the others.

If you want to go racing you'll need to move on from these type of events and do a racing school (Skip Barber, Jim Russell, etc. on the more costly side... SCCA and NASA often run less costly schools where you bring your own racecar).

And some good reading on the arts of driving:  Skip Barber's Going Faster is a great book that covers alot of key info.  Hank Watt's Secrets Of Solo Racing is aimed at Autocross and Time Trials, but covers basic driving technique very well.  Beyond that, Carroll Smith's or the Bentley books are also very good (but I'd hit the above two first).

Good luck.

Answer 7

I believe girls could be just as good race car drivers as men if they wanted to and I think there should be more girls racing cars even if they have to start up a womens series just to get them started then invite the winner of each series into the NASCAR or V8s (depending on where it is) and then eventually there will be more women on the racetrack in amongst the men, just like Herbie Fully Loaded if anyone has seen that movie