Is driving a racecar a man’s sport? Do women belong on the race track? Visit Full Throttle Motor Speedway and find out for yourself.
A group of ladies, 12 strong, who race regularly at Full Throttle Motor Speedway (FTMS) in Varney have set out to show their fans, their communities and their competitors that ladies do belong on the race track and have every bit as much talent as the men.
Numbers this high have never been recorded at Full Throttle, and these ladies take to the high banks on a weekly basis to race head to head with their male counterparts.
There are no rules governing who is allowed to participate at the speedway, which draws in competitors as young as 10 years old, both male and female.
In the past, there have been special segregated classes for women. The Women on Wheels, Women’s Challenge, and Powder Puff Racing to name a few. These classes allowed women to race against each other.
As the trend of female racecar drivers became more mainstream, tracks across Ontario saw a decline and eventual extinction of such classes and ‘one-off’ events geared specifically to women. Today’s class rosters across the province show that women are equals and there is no need for gender-based racing.
At Full Throttle Motor Speedway, female drivers are represented in five different classes, and their talent and competitive edge are obvious when you watch them race.
Tessa Cremasco (Chesley) is the veteran of the group and has been racing for 14 years. She has many feature wins under her belt as well as having been awarded the “Most Sportsmanlike” and “Most Improved” Driver awards.
Tessa races in the mini stock class and was inspired by her father who also raced for many years. She is joined on the track in the mini stock division by three additional female competitors, which is unprecedented in local short track racing.
Andrea Parsons (Teeswater) also has a strong family history at the track and has been racing for seven years, beginning with the Women’s Challenge races, then fun stock and this year moving up to the mini stock class. She has many feature wins to her credit as well in the fun stock class, and is poised and ready for her first mini stock win of the season with multiple podium finishes to her credit already this year.
Karen Donnelly has also moved from the fun stock class up to the mini stock class this season, it is her third season behind the wheel of a racecar and she has multiple wins to her name in the fun stock class.
Randi Seguin has been at FTMS several times this season, and brings with her with eight years of racing experience from Barrie Speedway, Sunset Speedway, Sauble Speedway and FTMS. Randi has been a fantastic advocate for women racers and is the creator of the “Ladies of the Oval” promotional calendar, which featured two of the female drivers from Full Throttle last year.
Julia Bos (Conn) has been enjoying her rookie year behind the wheel of a fun stock and again family has been the force behind her racing as she has followed her brother Luke’s footsteps.
Miranda Gill (Waterloo) is no stranger to short track racing and has been wheeling for nine years. Beginning in go-karts, she joined the mini truck class at Full Throttle three years ago. She is a force to be reckoned with having won the points championship last season after a shocking number of feature wins in the class.
She is joined on the track in the mini truck division by Aimee Cassidy (Cambridge). The thirteen year old is the youngest member of the “Ladies Go Full Throttle” group. This is her fifth year racing, also with a start in go-karts, graduating to the mini truck class at the age of 11.
Angel Bennett, daughter of track owners Gord and Cheryl Bennett, can also be found behind the wheel of a mini truck. Again Angel has a history of racing go-karts along with mini sprints.
Liz Critchley has been around the high banks many times in the middle and rear cars of the Shake, Rattle n’ Roll train set. This year is her 10th anniversary of racing, and she has inspired three other lady drivers to brave the crazy trains as well.
Madison Newman and Lyn Flood are both enjoying their second season, and a rookie this year Beth Grant has also joined the class. They list their highlights as barrel rolling their cars
Kendra Cassidy (Cambridge) is the only female in the Outlaw Late Model Class at Full Throttle Motor Speedway. Kendra has had an amazing racing career for the past seven years, again beginning with go-karts, graduating to mini trucks where she boasted a host of feature wins, as well as several awards including Most Sportsmanlike, Rookie of the Year & Most Improved Driver.
The step up to the Outlaw Late Model Class this season was huge for Kendra and her talent and skill level have been evident week in and week out on the track.
And so, with a handful of racing events left before the season wraps up and all drivers fighting tooth-and-nail for every last point that they can earn, will these women continue to impress and prove their worth on the high banks?
It’s hard to argue that they don’t belong when you consider their histories and successes.
When the drivers put their helmets on, strap into their racing seats and take to the track for fast-paced, adrenaline-pumping racing action, will you be able to guess which drivers are female and which ones aren’t before the checkered flag drops?
Make your way to Full Throttle Motor Speedway in Varney to find out, where racing action begins at 6pm sharp on Saturday nights.
Submitted by
Jayne Cremasco
