Erica Ortiz Waves a Checkered Flag

“Honey, do you even know which one is the gas pedal in that thing?”

A simple statement made at a local racetrack when I was just turning 18 years old and checking out drag racing… but it would serve to motivate me for 10 years and counting.

Now, I’m a naturally competitive person by nature, so his little snarky comment did nothing but fuel my fire, but I found it wasn’t something said by some drunken idiot at the track… its something that many people still believe.

I started from the bottom up, I worked on my own racecar, I learned from magazines and a local speed shop.  I kept pushing, and in 2006 I realized my first dream of being a PRO driver.

There are still challenges and ney-sayers.   I was turned down for a driving job I was more qualified for because they felt a “Man could get the job done. A woman just can’t handle the beast.”

But the thing is, the car knows no gender, and I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished on my own, and the fact that I will continue to prove them all wrong.