Sarah Fisher and Hillary Clinton have a certain amount in common. They are both groundbreakers, advancing women's position in areas strongly dominated by men. So it wasn't unfitting that Fisher decided to endorse Clinton.

Today the AP reported on Clinton's visit to Fisher's garage at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where Fisher gave Clinton a team helmet and introduced her around. Of course, today is the Indiana Democratic primary, so we'll see if Clinton needs that helmet (crash and burn?) or if she'll be crossing the finish line first.

For photo, see here. For more information on these pioneering women, see Sarah Fisher's Web site or Hillary Clinton's Web site.

(And please, even if you don't like Clinton, restrain your comments to something relevant.)

In professional drag racing, cars don't just launch down any old street. They need a 1,320-foot strip that is carefully prepared to handle 2,000 pounds of nitromethane-fueled vehicle reaching over 300 mph in mere seconds.

Enter the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Safety Safari. It provides crash rescue and emergency medical assistance if needed, but is also responsible for orchestrating racing competitions and grooming the track.

Robin Crosby has been working national-level events on the Safety Safari since 2000. During the NHRA Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park, I asked about her responsibilities:

"Anything that has to do with track preparation, anything that has to do with the safety of the drivers, racers, crew and our own [NHRA] staff," said Robin. "I [first] started out in the staging lanes....I used to pair up cars, make sure that drivers were in, that [competitive] pairs were correct, that they had all their safety gear on. Gear depends on which classes [of car] are running. Some require gloves, helmets, 5-point harnesses. Others require fire suits; tops and bottoms. Some vehicles require arm restraints, or window nets, or HANS devices [Head And Neck Support]...."

How does she remember all of the rules?

She laughed, "Well, to be totally honest with you, in the wintertime when the Rule Book comes out, (around the first of the year, before [race teams start] testing and tuning in the middle of January) I sit in the bathroom and read a chapter at a time."

The Safety Safari also prepares the track for an NHRA event. A good starting line launch is key to a good drag race, and racing tires are slick, with little grip of their own. Robin and her crew make a sticky track ahead of time with glue-like adhesive and the "tire dragging machine."

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"Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Racing?" "Oprah Winfrey/Harpo Productions Racing?"

Maybe someday we'll see those names in a NASCAR garage, if more women decide to get involved in the business side of racing.  There are already a few owners; Teresa Earnhardt at DEI, Beth Ann Morgenthau at BAM Racing and DeLana Harvick at Kevin Harvick, Inc. are the most prominent. 

The Driving Woman spent a few minutes recently at Texas Motor Speedway with another owner; Lori Morgan, co-owner of the Gaffney, South Carolina-based JD Motorsports team that currently races in the Nationwide (formerly Busch) series.

Unlike many in the sport who grew up with their families at the track, Lori is relatively new to stock car racing.

"I was a farm girl from northeastern Ohio -- Rootstown," she said. "I'd never been to a NASCAR race, didn't really know what it was all about, had no idea what they did.  I was an engineer for Eaton Corporation, a hydraulic engineer, and then a warehouse manager with U.S. Foods and PFG. My kids are all raised and married, I've got six grandchildren; was ready to retire, and then I met Johnny [Davis, the other JD Motorsports owner.]"

Now Lori is immersed in the daily details of running the RaceGirl Chevrolet team that features Johnny's son Kertus Davis as the driver.  

"I work in the office, I keep all the books, I do all the accounting, set up the travel arrangements for everybody," she said. "I'm more of a Mom figure. If they need something, they come to me....for advice, or if they're hungry, it's 'what's Lori cooking?'"

It may not be as splashy and glamorous as the top-tier Sprint Cup, but Lori likes the homier atmosphere in the smaller-scale Nationwide race series.

"I really feel that this garage is more of a family, and I don't know if we'll ever go to that [Sprint] Cup level," she said. "We like it here; there are good people on this side....this seems that it's still got a little bit of the old-time racing. Johnny was a crew chief [for some of the earlier drivers] so we're old-school, and it seems like the old school is still here, and that's what makes racing fun; no matter the sweat and pressures and worries, these people are like family."

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What does it take to race -- not drive, but race -- 1,300 miles through hostile Mexican dessert -- dust storms, broken car parts and all? And what if you were just your average, everyday female automotive journalist -- not an experienced off-roader -- trying to make that trek? Jackie Liu will tell you, in her aptly named article about the Baja 1000, No Sleep 'Til Cabo.

Liu drove a Mitsibishi Montero with some other folks, trying to keep up with DXR Racing's Dan Fresh, who was in a Mitsubishi Raider. Not an easy task, considering they had to drive two days, non-stop. More women are getting into off-road racing than ever before. Think you could handle this, too?

                     

It's been one heck of a year for Funny Car driver Ashley Force.

There was her family's "Driving Force" TV show on A&E, her January decision to drive the 300 mph, nitromethane-powered beasts called Funny Cars, the tragic death in March of racing teammate Eric Medlen and finally, her selection by poll in early September as AOL's "Hottest Athlete" (complete with an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.)

Ms. Force took a few minutes last week during the NHRA Fall Nationals to speak with The Driving Woman about her busy racing life.

Q:  Did you ever think that this year would be as crazy as it has been for you?

A:  "Definitely not! We've made it through this year; next year and the following year will seem so easy.  I think it made us a stronger team together -- I've definitely bonded with my team.  We're so close now, and I think it was because of a lot of those things.  With everything that's happened it definitely made us a close team....and that makes for having a better car, because when you're all working together and happy with each other and motivating each other, then you're just going to do better." 

Q.  Do you ever get any resentment from your team for all this "rock star" stuff? I mean, Jay Leno, wow....

 A.  "From my team, not at all, and I've been really lucky.  I know I've heard stories from other teams and drivers and the struggles they have sometimes, because really, we get all the glory.  When we do badly, we get all that side of it, too.  You know, we're only in the car a total of a few minutes a day.  We have a lot of other stuff we do, but the guys are out there, pouring sweat, from 6 in the morning till 10 at night, not with their families, on the road, working so hard, and then you're the one that gets all the attention [as a driver.]  That's why you'll hear a lot of drivers, we want to talk about our team. Lately, NHRA [and TV programs like NHRA Race Day on ESPN2] have been giving a lot more attention to the crew guys because they play such a big role."

"I have a young group of [team] guys, they're so excited, they've never said one even minor negative thing to me, ever.  Anything that I mess up on, if I have a horrible light [the signal to start a drag race] they're the ones who say, 'That's all right, we'll get 'em next time.'  I've been hearing that all the guys are staying next year, and that's not always common when you get a brand-new team....we'll be so good to go, because we're already in synch....it gives me more confidence and in return, I do better."

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Drag racing seems to have a new "Cha-Cha" in town:  Funny Car driver Ashley Force.

Never mind Ms. Force's very impressive rookie year in the NHRA as a member of her father's legendary John Force Racing team; the really important buzz is that this week, she beat Indy Racing League driver Danica Patrick to reach the finals of the AOL Hottest Women Athletes online contest.

Yep, we've come a long way down the drag strip, baby. The motorsports Hottie Meter is still applied to female drivers even in 2007 (not surprising in a society that says they only visit Hooters "for the wings.")

Back in the day, racing legend Shirley Muldowney used the nickname "Cha Cha" as one more way to bring visibility and publicity to the sport by playing off of her status as the lone woman competing at the drag strip.

It doesn't seem to have slowed her or her pink dragster down on the way to the Motorsports Hall of Fame and multiple Top Fuel championships, but today she's happy to just be Shirley, without all of the verbal hip-swiveling.

I'm OK with va-va-voom in its time and place, and it's not as though the men in motorsports don't have to present a groomed, attractive appearance. It would be nice if, after all these years, we could see a little less emphasis on lip gloss and a little more on female driver development.

TrackCouture first made marks in NASCAR land introducing apparel for women in 2004. Now the Memphis-based company is outfitting motorsports fans in-the-making.  Along with  baby tees, the company makes tees for babies.  With catchy slogans like "I'm Tired" your baby will stop 'em in their tracks. These pieces join the lineup that consists of women's and girls' t-shirts with sparkly NASCAR logos, and other track-inspired phrases like my personal favorite, "Burnouts, Backflips, Fence Climbing and Victory Lane."  You don't even have to be a race fan to wear the "Race Royalty" tank top.



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Force = Mass x Acceleration. It all comes down to physics. Let's start with the bare bolts at the Chrysler Proving Grounds in Chelsea, Michigan, which is also the city where I was born three-and-some decades ago.  Automotive technology is put to the test in its experimental phase at the Proving Grounds. (Full disclosure - my dad worked at those proving grounds, and we attended family picnics there when I was a kid.) A lot has changed since the 1970s and the fuel crises, but in some ways we're still discussing the same issues -- how to go fast and smooth and use less gas. This is an engineer's eternal question. Without spilling embargo beans, announcements drifted in this direction for a program aptly titled "What's New." It's ironic how technology changes everything, but nothing when it comes down to the basic goals of the automobile. Journalists could test out these principles making loops around the track in the existing Chrysler vehicle lineup.

Force = Mass x Acceleration. This principle became crystal clear for me the next day attending an NHRA Supernationals in Englishtown, New Jersey. The last race I witnessed was in Milan, Michigan sometime in the early 1980s. A lot has changed then in the Top Fuel and Funny Car brackets, with cars flying at speeds of 325 miles per hour. Its also exciting to see a woman like 24-year old Ashley Force making the Top Ten in her souped-up Ford Mustang. I saw her speed down the track at 321mph, the youngest and the only woman in her race.  I stood behind the cars as they took off, unleashing G-force in an explosive reaction. Too bad high school physics couldn't be taught at the race track.

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My Pumas are stopping traffic. Foot traffic, car traffic, even bike traffic at Joy Ride, the fly Manhattan art show inspired by the bicycle, featuring the work of Swoon, Shepherd Fairey and Phil Frost design. Cam-phones are snapping my feet kicking up pavement.

When I saw them in the Manhattan window –I had to have them -- birthday cake blue and high-top fly. But what made me stop dead in my tracks was the subtle stamp of approval on the ankle. The Richard Petty swirl and the Dodge girl seal. Quicker than Jeff Gordon, I was trying them on in the Union Square shop, before I glanced at the price tag.

I’ve been hip to Puma’s motor sports-inspired series – I’ve had my Michael Schumacher Ferrari F-1 kicks for some time. I’m no sneaker expert. There’s too many of you out there keeping up with books like Bobbito’s “Where’d You Get Those” and sites like www.hypebeast.com (Rasheed from Run Athletics hipped me to that hotbed of sneakerdom.) Like my cars, I don’t mind getting my shoes dirty. I’ll leave the waxing to the car wash kings and the fashion to the fashionistas. Nothing like scuff marks and a little grease.

Have you ever wanted to be a motorsports mucky-muck?  Maybe a team owner?

Here's your chance....

Erica Enders is the only woman currently competing in the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) drag racing Pro Stock class (although there are 6 other women competing in Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock Motorcycle.)
 
The Enders family is living their long-time dream; to own their team and the cars that they drive.  The problem is money.

Drag racing is an expensive sport -- no surprise when a driver roaring down the quarter mile essentially uses up the car's engine in addition to the fuel burned.  Erica Enders Racing has many corporate sponsors, including Mopar, Lucas Oil and even the Lupe Tortilla Mexican Restaurant chain in Houston, but the chase for supporting cash is never-ending.  When I spoke with dad Gregg Enders during the NHRA Spring Nationals in Houston, he said that this is some of the hardest work he's ever done.

Enders Racing came up with a fundraising and marketing twist: a stock certificate package that makes the buyer an Erica Enders Team Owner. 

It's more of a fan club than ownership, since there are no voting rights and buyers are limited to one share, but the point is raising team visibility.  Enders already has a unique fan demographic -- young girls and women by the thousands who saw the Disney Channel TV movie "Right on Track" about Erica and her sister Courtney's Junior Drag Racing career. 

I've seen many of these pony-tailed enthusiasts at race events in Gainesville, Florida, Houston and Dallas, lined up ten deep next to Erica's trailer and pit while waving cards, T-shirts, even helmets for her autograph.  Since the $50 stock certificate package comes with plenty of team swag like a T-shirt, hat, lanyard and access to special hospitality tents at races, there will probably be plenty of parents who fork over for the gear for birthdays or other holidays.

Enders is well-liked and respected by her fellow drivers -- one said that she is "a win waiting to happen" -- but forging ahead with independent team ownership has had its rough days and trying moments.  Her team's performance has been rather uneven until recently, but she and her father feel that they've persevered and turned a corner.  After a string of DNQs, the team went rounds in Houston and is excited about their progress.

Looks like taking stock is working.

Update 23 April 2007:  This post was featured in the Carnival of Wheels, hosted by GarageBlog.  Head over for a fun read and check out the other entries!