Posted on 07/23/2006 6:08:22 PM PDT by LdSentinal
It's race day at New Hampshire International Speedway, and Lisa Adjutant, a gregarious 36-year-old with nose and lip piercings, plants a wet one on a picture she sketched of Nextel Cup driver Jamie McMurray. It's taped to the inside door of her cramped motor home, and it's the last thing she sees before walking to the track to join 100,000 screaming fans who have gathered for a high dose of speed.
But Adjutant's fanaticism for her spiky-haired idol, the driver of car No. 26, doesn't end with drawing his image.
''Jamie McMurray,'' the girl replies without hesitation.
Adjutant laughs. ''She's been saying it forever. Our cat's name is Jamie McMurray, too. She has racing stripes.''
In NASCAR parlance, Adjutant is a racing chick, and she's not alone. A NASCAR poll shows that women make up 40 percent of the sport's 75 million racing fans. That's up from 36 percent in 1995.
In the Lehigh Valley, nearly 57,000 women are NASCAR fans, compared with 88,000 men, according to a study conducted by Scarborough Research. Locally, the sport is most popular with women between the ages of 45 and 55, but the fastest-growing fan segment nationwide is women 18 to 34, and many of them will be at Pocono Raceway in Monroe County today for the Pennsylvania 500.
So, what's the deal? Why are women being drawn to a sport typically the domain of gear heads and good ol' boys?
''It's the boyfriends and husbands who lure women into the sport, but then they get caught up in the excitement,'' said Liz Allison, author of ''The Girl's Guide to NASCAR'' and host of the radio show, NASCAR Members Live. ''The biggest reason they stay is the drivers. They're young, polished, good-looking and very successful. It's the fighter pilot intrigue.
(Excerpt) Read more at mcall.com ...
That's what every middle-aged woman needs to increase her attractiveness...NOT!
I've had a "heart like a wheel" all my life.. Some things are just innate.
She is quickly turning out to be the Anna Kournikova of auto racing. All sizzle with no steak.
Not sure I know what "no steak" means, but she is a better driver than most of the current NASCAR group. She would be in the top half consistently.
Fast car ping!!
ping
Nice webpage under there - for the guys, lol.
"All sizzle and no steak"
You're from North Carolina... imagine a hot skillet cooking and sizzling like when you are cooking a steak or sausage... but there is never anything in the skillet but grease.
There is all this build up, but you're aren't going to get anything good out of it.
Being in the top half consistently is useless... even in NASCAR. You have to win a race every once in a while to be a serious contender.
Patrick still has won zero IndyCar races. She doesn't finish in the top half of IndyCar consistently, so how would she do it in NASCAR?
I'm not great at creating websites for women....
Ah, you are selling yourself short, I have seen a few wonderful ones - !!
Ready for another 'go round' on this? I don't think so..
"Like my Hot Car, Freepers?"
Fast car bump!
I must be waaay ahead of my time. ;o)
I have my "Need for Speed" T-shirt
purchased at the NASCAR Cafe after
my last turn around the oval.
Children's size large...;o)
Thanks for the ping!
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