Daytona Beach, FL (February 9, 2010) I can’t believe Daytona has come and gone already. I know things have been crazy over the off season around the shop, but nothing compares to the unbelievably hectic Daytona ARCA week. Last year was stressful with all the normal daily activities, but this year after adding on all the “Danica Mania” frenzy it was double the head ache. Don’t judge this weeks column already and think I’m Anti-Danica, because I’m not, in fact after meeting her she is a very nice person and we get along fine.GoDaddy.com. I didn’t want the under dog stories of women racers to be over looked by a commercialized figure. I hoped she was doing this because she had a love for NASCAR and wasn’t just doing it because she could and knew she would get a lot of media from it.ElectrifyingCareers.com Chevy on Saturday. I also want to thank a broadcaster that referred to me as “Ol’ what’s her name” because he helped make my skin a little thicker and now pushed me harder to make sure that he and everyone else will NOT forget my name! To all the girls out there who are trying to make it in this world of racing, all I can say is dig deep and keep on keepin’ on!

Since my whole race week was filled with “DANICA” questions, I feel like I really need to get it all off my chest and move forward. As soon as I heard that she was thinking about crossing over to stock cars, I was pretty unsure of my feelings towards it. I mean lets face it there are more female drivers who struggle to find half decent opportunities vs. Danica’s fortunate partnership with

With all those emotions I realized that it was making me a better racer. I spent more time at the shop studying these cars and learning to read wind tunnel notes, chassis dyno numbers, and pull down rig notes. I wanted to be the “the racer” not “the girl”. When It came time for the test and I saw all the cameras, TV crews, newspapers, and magazines I knew that we were in for a long drawn out Daytona race event. Everyone on my team kept a level head and made sure we focused 100% on us and our goal. The hype was around the #7 garage and left the #15 garage working hard. We were the black horse.

When it came time for practice we jumped inside the top 10 quickly and maintained a good time all throughout the testing session. The hype was still around the GoDaddy pits. It was about that time when I realized that it didn’t matter how well we did, we will not be able to get the spotlight shed on our team, which my guys deserved. It made me think, there were five other women in the field, and we all are hanging on shoe strings to make it in this sport financially. Take me out of the picture and look at Leilani Munter. She has struggle for the past three years to get in a car and race competitively. She found a sponsor and got in a good piece of equipment and not once did she get acknowledge about it. It just bothers me that so many people asked us women what it is going to take for women to be successful in this sport and it’s simple, let the rest of the world know that there are more women out there capable of being great drivers.

I noticed I had an anger being built up toward Danica and was totally frustrated about her being there. I felt like I was racing in the DANICA 200 instead of the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200. We have struggled for 3 years to run a full season in ARCA and finally are with a good time and was a threat all week long and never once got good recognition for it. For a struggling driver it truly hurt my feelings. It wasn’t until after the race and talking to Danica that I realized I liked her as a person and it was the media that I was unhappy with. The whole DANICA MANIA was influencing my opinion on her. For that I truly apologize, but as for the media and everyone else, please realize that she is the same as the rest of us out there under a helmet and strapped into a car. I think her off track brand and image is speaking louder than her on track performance, but let it stay off track people. Open your eyes and realize for the majority of the ARCA race TWO women were proving a point. WE DESERVED TO BE HERE!

For myself and the whole Venturini Motorsports team I want to thank everyone who support the #15

I want to thank Tony Eury Jr, Kelly Earnhardt, and Danica Patrick for taking the time after the race to invite me into their hauler and talk about the race. I grew a new respect for that whole program. That right there meant a lot to me and I won’t ever forget it. Can’t wait to race against you all again!