My interest in racing started at a very young age. My dad was a drag racer & my parents used to take me to the track before I could even walk. Most of my earliest memories were at the drag strip or at my dad's auto shop. I used to get paid 50 cents a week to sweep the shop floors, clean parts & answer the phone. As I got older, I was promoted to simple body work. Then, when my familiarity with parts grew from cleaning them (sometimes it was impossible to get that safety-kleen smell off), I started helping my dad fix things.

My first project car was a '65 Mustang straight 6 cyl (in the picture w/me & the win light). My dad had bought it from a rental car company back in the 70's and had stored it away in a friend's barn. We pulled it out & rebuilt the engine & redid a lot of the interior that had been ruined from years of sitting. As soon as we got the engine running, I started racing it. Talk about slow! But I think the best way to become good at racing *is* to start out slow... or small. You learn the tree, how to dial, the feel of the track & how to time yourself & pace yourself against your opponent.

I paid $500 for the car & paid for my dad's help & use of his tools/garage by helping him out in the shop. In 1995 I competed in my first national event in her. It was the Ford MotorSports Nationals in MapleGrove, PA. I only made it 2 rounds & was the 2nd slowest car there, but what a blast! And in my defense, I did have an ear infection. There were also only 2 other girl racers there, one was a Harley rider. I was surprised. I think my smalltime home track has more female drivers.

I decided to move to Orlando in 1996. The body work wasn't finished on Sally (my '65), so dad insisted that I leave it in Virginia so it could be garage kept & out of the Florida sun & humidity. I agreed, and whenever I visited home, I would take her back out on the track. Then, last summer, due to financial difficulties my family was facing, my dad sold Sally for $4500. At least it was to a family friend & even though it wasn't my *ideal* Mustang ('69 Boss), I miss her a great deal.

I had the opportunity to race other driver's cars that were pretty quick. My home track in VA was only 1/8 mile rather than 1/4 so my ET's look entirely faster in comparison. I am now a speed junky.

Now I have a 2000 Mercury Cougar I4 that's my get around town car. It's a 5-speed with sluggish fuel injection and a rev-limiter & hydraulic clutch. Impossible to run similar ET's in (for me anyhow). I'm waiting for the $$ to start rolling in (HAHA! <- dig the sarcastic laugh) so I can get a *new* drag car & maybe some nifty sponsorship. I'm a damn good racer, just don't have a viable outlet for it.

I've also considered road racing because, well, straight line is cool & all, but sometimes corners are a must. I haven't really looked into it because I don't think the Cougar (at it's current state) is the ideal road course car. If I had the European version with AWD, that'd be a different story. Then I could save up & boost up the engine (it's that nifty I4 vtech engine you can boost the hell out of) and have a blast. *BUT* I think I may have problems being so short & not very strong. I'll try it anyhow.

Until I get my act together & get back behind the wheel, I've been addicted to F1, cart racing, trans am series & AMA racing. Of course I'm a Schumacher fan, not because he always wins, but I think he's a great driver (reason he's on top). I think Kimi Raikonnen has immense talent as well, looking to see him moving up in points this season.

K, done w/my book on racing. I guess it's turned out more like a journal entry... :)