Featured in Experience Life Magazine, courtsey of ExperienceLifeMag.com
By Laine Bergeson
Leilani Münter is a passionate environmentalist — and a rising star in the motorsports world. It may seem like a paradoxical pairing. But in Münter’s mind, that’s a good thing. She believes that the faster she drives, the easier it will be to sell her environmental message to the sport’s 100 million U.S. fans — a group not widely associated with overt ecological concern.
PENNGROVE, CA (6-19-10) – Following several months on the road, Penngrove’s Alissa Geving enjoyed the opportunity to race close to home last Saturday night as a break permitted her to return to the likes of Petaluma Speedway. The venue was the annual United States Auto Club-CRA Wingless Sprint Car night at the 3/8 mile dirt track located on the Sonoma-Marin County Fairgrounds.
Returning from Western Speedweek in the Pacific Northwest on Wednesday afternoon, Geving’s Chicko Motorsports Team went to work to prepare for two nights of wingless racing with the USAC Series. A last minute decision took the team to Watsonville on Friday night to prep for Saturday’s return to Petaluma Speedway in an event that Geving nearly won the previous year.Read More
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (June 29, 2010) – Jennifer Jo Cobb will make her first Nationwide Series start at Daytona International Speedway in this Friday’s Subway Jalapeno 250. Cobb will be piloting the No. 27 Driver Boutique Ford Mustang in NASCAR’s first race featuring the new car.
Cobb’s team will be working together with Baker Curb Racing at each of the four Nationwide Series events with the new car. The two independent teams decided that they would benefit from sharing resources and personnel as they learned the ins and outs of NASCAR’s latest generation racing machine.
At Daytona International Speedway, Cobb has one Camping World Truck Series start and one ARCA Series start, each this season. Her best finish was 17th-place, which came in the ARCA event after starting 42nd.Read More
Last year she drove in the Viking Rally, a rally for zero emission vehicles in Norway. Leilani drove a hydrogen fuel cell Ford Focus and drank the exhaust at the finish line (the only exhaust from a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle is water and heat) here is some footage:
ARCA driver and environmental activist Leilani Munter, 34, expects to do at least five more ARCA races this year, pending sponsorhip. She was hoping to be back on the track at Pocono Raceway on June 5th, but sponsorship didn’t materialize. According to Munter, it is looking good that she will return to her Mark Gibson Racing Dodge later this year. She says, “I have good race cars waiting for me, just need some corporate support.”
“Tim Cindric of Penske Racing connected Leilani and Mark Gibson Racing
last year; to see if they could put something together with Munter. They were not able to get sponsorship in time to work together in 2009. After keeping in touch throughout the year, Mark Gibson says, “Leilani was able to secure sponsorship from NextEra Energy for the Daytona test in December andGREENandSAVE for the race in February.” Read More
Danica Patrick is returning to the Nationwide Series at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for Saturday’s New England 200, her fourth career start in NASCAR competition.
Patrick made her NASCAR Nationwide Series debut at Daytona in February after finishing sixth in the ARCA race on the 2.5-mile superspeedway. Crashing the No. 7 Go Daddy Chevrolet out of the race at Daytona, Patrick went on to post finishes of 31st at California and 36th at Las Vegas.
In a sport that continues to grow, auto racing also has seen an increase in female drivers. But the sport has yet to see a woman break into the top-tier NASCAR Sprint Cup Series on a regular basis.
While Danica Patrick, perhaps the most well-known of the female drivers, has run in three Nationwide Series this year — at Daytona, Fontana, Calif., and Las Vegas — most women are making their mark in the IndyCar Series and the National Hot Rod Association. That could be about to change.Read More
This week’s FRN FollowFriday is going to the only lady driving a full time schedule in the NASCAR ’s Camping World Truck Series. Jennifer Jo Cobb runs her own clothing company Driver Boutique that her truck is sponsored by.
So make sure to follow @JenJoCobb to stay up to date with the Camping World Truck Series and all her appearances.
Brooklyn, Mich. (June 11, 2010) –Jennifer Jo Cobb’s performance at Michigan International Speedway showed how far her No. 10 Driven team has come this season. Cobb had one of her most competitive showings to date at the wide, sweeping, two-mile oval. She piloted her Ford F-150 to complete 99 of the 100 laps, all the while, earning respect from her NASCAR Camping World Truck Series competitors. Although she has achieved better results this season, her performance en route to a 21
“It felt so good to pass so many trucks in the turns,” said Cobb. “I was more aggressive and our Crew Chief, Steve, had our new truck, Jimi, dialed in just right. If we had a bit more horsepower we would have had a record day.”Read More
