My name is Cassie Gannis, I am 20 years old and I race in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West. This is my first time blogging so please be patient with me and I hope you love what I write about. I truly am honored that Female Racing News has asked me to do this. I thought I would start with an introduction about myself. It is usually difficult for me to talk about myself but once I start talking about racing you won’t get me to stop.

As a tiny kid I was always watching racing on TV. I never watched cartoons, it was always something involving a car on an over track. As soon as I was old enough to ride a bike, I always wanted to race the other kids in the neighborhood. Although I was swimming competitively and internationally, I bugged my Dad to let me try racing. Seeing my interest in racing my Dad took me to South Mountain Park to watch Quarter Midgets race. So my racing began by hitting the track at age 10! As I began to win races there was no stopping my need for speed and my desire to get back in a racecar. I decided at an early age that racing cars was my life passion and would be my career.

This is probably the boring part of this first blog where I talk about my racing history and accomplishments. My passion for racing has continued into the Bandolero’s, Legends, ASA Speed Trucks, Super Late Models, Late Models and now the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West. By 2008, I was racing Tucson Raceway Park and “The Bullring” at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and placing in the Top 10. My NASCAR experience includes Super Late Model (#7) and Late Model (#56) racing in Tucson, Arizona, Las Vegas, Nevada and Irwindale, California. I was the 2003 Arizona State Champion in Bandoleros and in 2005 was Rookie of the Year in the Legends. One of my personal favorite accomplishments was celebrating my 16th birthday by obtaining my NASCAR license before I got my regular license! Finally an opportunity arose this year where I am racing in the #07 K&N West Series car for Greg Rayl Racing Team (GSR Racing).

Along with racing, my current schedule has me doing co-hosting and guest experiences on radio and web based shows speaking about the K&N Pro Series West and all things NASCAR. I am passionate about community service, I have made it a strong part of my racing endeavors. I am a spokesperson and guest speaker on Teen Driving Safety issues (Boys and Girls Clubs of Arizona Community Safety Days, AAA of Southern California Safety Events, and CHP Designated Driver Program), attend several safety days at military bases in Arizona and California each year, and continue to bring attention to issues of health, safety and education. I also work for Drivetech as a professional racecar driver where I provide NASCAR ride-a-longs for corporate clients for team building exercises but my favorite riders are the ones just trying to get the NASCAR experience. I also teach a “Basic Car Maintenance” class at Community Tires as part of the Driving MBA teen driving safety program. There I usually get more questions from their parents than from the teens. : )

In pursuit of excellence, I graduated from the Lyn St. James Driving Academy and for 3 years I was 1 of 30 top up and coming drivers chosen to compete in the Drive for Diversity Combine in Charlotte, North Carolina.

I’m a firm believer in working to make your dream happen. In school I found that my struggles with reading were because of dyslexia, and then in 2006, I needed to take 8 months off for spinal surgery. Learning to work through these challenges has taught me about perseverance and motivation. Always keep your goals in mind. It’s amazing what will happen. Overcoming both those challenges has been among my proudest moments.