IWMA Nation NewsInternational Women’s Motorsports Association
March 2018
Racing Is NOT for Sissies!Stories from Twelve Women
Ohio’s Shonda Harbin sharesher passion for racing
“Racing is a Lifestyle” - Ashton Owens in Her Own Words
Women’s Lifestyleby: Breanne Nardecchia
Page 32-33
Motorsports Marketing by: Ernie Sutton
Page 16
Kylee Griffitts Story by: M. Russell
Page 22
From the Race Director By: Melinda Russell
International Women’sMotorsports Association
website: www.iwmanation.comemail: [email protected]
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International Women’sMotorsports Association
Melinda RussellEditor
Breanne NardecchiaWomen’s Lifestyle Editor
Michael WoodContributing Photographer
MW Motorsports Marketing
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IWMA Nation
The opinions expressed in this publica-tion reflet those of the individual author
and are not necessarily the view of IWMA, its management, staff and busi-ness clients. Advertisers are responsible
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Volume 2 No. 3March 2018
The Line Up
ABOUT and FOR Females of ANY age,Involved in ANY Capacity
with ANY Type of Motorsports,Now or in the Past.
From the Race Director Page 3Shonda Harbin Page 4Samantha Lieberman Page 6Madison Kinzer Page 8Ashton Owens Page 10MiKara Johanson Page 14Sponsorship Marketing Page 16Janea Gustin Page 18Sarah & Summer Fields Page 20Kylee Griffitts Page 22Lexy Kastner Page 24Manda Manolis Page 26Aria Nosek Page 28Renea Matousek Page 30Women’s Lifestyle Page 32
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PublicationRelease Date is
changing from the15th of the month
to the 5th.
Please submit anystory ideas orsuggestions to
through FacebookMessages at
International Women’s MotorsportsAssociation.
WORK FROM HOME SALES POSITION AVAILABLE* Must be knowledgable about all types of motorsports* Excellent telephone skills * Excellent Social Media skills* Excellent communication skills * Organized* Creative thinker * Friendly and Outgoing Personality* Graphic Design experience helpful but not necessary* Sales experience helpful but not necessary
Commission Based - Flexible HoursContact Melinda at [email protected]
with resume and references
March came in like a lion here in Michigan, so we are hoping it will go out like a lamb. Racing in our area is only about 50 days away, but those first few nights will most likely require
a sweatshirt, coat and blanket for the fans!My Facebook feed is filling up every
day with new events happening all over the country and even a few internationally. I’m sharing as many as I can to International Women’s Motorsports Association’s page to keep you all up to date. I’m working on a summer schedule to visit as many tracks as possible to meet as many of our women in motorsports as possible.
There are many exciting things happening so I will share a few with you.
Decals have arrived and were sent out to our Founder’s Club Members, along with their membership card. Our members also receive discounts on merchandise (soon to be in our store), events sponsored by IWMA Nation, as well as the new Motor-sports Workshops that we are planning.
The first set of 4 workshops will be ready to start April 11. Registration forms will be available on our website next week. The workshops will held via Zoom (download it free to your phone, tablet or computer). They will be held from 1-2 pm est April 11, 18, 25, and May 2. If that time does not work for you, they will be recorded for you. The first set of workshops will be
about Sponsorship Marketing; Acquiring and Keeping your Marketing Partners. Other topics we will be covering in our workshops are: Careers in Motorsports, Effective Team Marketing, Using Social Media to Your Ad-vantage and much more. If you have a topic you would like included in our workshops, please email me at [email protected].
Check out the Women’s Lifestyle page this month with items for your St. Patrick’s Day parties.
Internet Radio shows are the rage and gearing up as race season has arrived. I invite you to tune in on Tuesday from 7-8pm to “Dirty Girls: A race show for the women of dirt track racing” on Dirt Track Racing Network., www.dtracingnetwork.com. If you would like to be a guest on our show, please let me know!
On Wednesdays, from 7-8 pm, tune in for the Women’s Motorsports Network show. This radio show will interview all kinds of people involved in motorsports, but mainly focusing on women involved in motorsports in any capacity.
And finally, on Wednesday, from 8-9pm, listen in to Midwest Compact TouringSeries Weekly radio show. Each week Iinterview a woman who races a front wheeldrive, 4 or 6 cylinder car, and Compact SeriesOwners Michael Wood and Drew Jach inter-view 2-3 other guests on the show. You canfind it at www.midwestcompacts.com.
As always, feel free to contact us if you would like to be featured in our maga-zine or on the radio, or if you know someone who should.
RACE TRACK TRIVIA:The “track” that started it all was actually a road course that was part road (Route A1A) and part beach. The original route
allowed for 3.2 mile laps, and then in the late 1940’s, a 4.1 mile route that included a 2-mile straightaway was config-ured. The course, a rugged run with sandy turns and deep
ruts, was NASCAR’s signature race site until Daytona Interna-tional Speedway made it’s debut in 1959.
We asked Shonda Harbin to share her racing story with us in her own words.My name is Shonda Harbin. I am 23 years old. I have an associates degree in high performance au-tomotive from the University of Northwestern Ohio. I am pursuing my bachelor’s degree in business administration with a minor in au-tomotive management. My favorite hobbies are racing, and riding four wheelers. I am an only child and my parents are my best friends. I am getting married in August. One thing I would include is to all those young racers that you can do anything you put your mind too. To those young ladies who are feeling doubted everyone will have doubts but you can do it. IWMA: What do you do for a job and what do your co-workers think of your racing? I work at Sears Auto Center as the Auto Center Manager, I manage the Auto Center. I love my job and everything about it. My cowork-ers think it is awesome that I race. They will actually come out and support me and help me work on the car. IWMA: Where do you go to school and what do your friends think about your racing?I have been in college since 2012, and since my college has its own racetrack and race team they think its awesome. IWMA: What is your long-term goal for your job career?
My long term job goal is to own my own shop. I love running shops and I would love to open and run a productive shop of my own. IWMA: Tell us your racing story; how did you get started?Well how my racing got started is my great grandfather actually raced the first ever race at Flat Rock Speedway. He started 5 gener-ations of racing in our family. My dad raced before me. They always joke that my first word wasn’t mommy or daddy it was daddy I wanna race. So my dad got me my first go cart and I raced my first race the weekend after I turned 6 years old. I raced go carts until I was 12. I won rookie of the year and 4 back to back championships
and 3 back to back jr. grand championships with the Ford Thunderbird Kart Club. When I turned 12 we decided it was time to go to a regular car, so we did some research and the only place that would allow me to race at 12 was Sandusky Speedway. We drove two hours every Saturday just for me to be able to race. We raced out there in the FWD cars. I did not have very good luck in those but I still have some lifetime friends made out of it. At 15 we decided it was time to move up and closer to home and back to my roots. I started racing a street stock out at Flatrock Speedway. I won rookie of the year and fin-ished 7th in the championship points. I raced half of the following season at Flatrock. I then was offered a ride in a MCR Dwarf car which the first year in that I won rookie of the year. I grew so much in that class. I was racing with some of the best of the best in those dwarf cars and they taught me so much. That same year I was presented an
award at the Michigan Automotive Racing Fan Club for rookie of the year. That same year I had also started racing a street stock out at Springport Mo-tor Speedway which I had also received rookie of the year in the c main. I continued to race out at Spring-port Motor Speedway on and off for a few
more years while I was in college down in Lima. In 2016 I climbed behind the wheel of a dirt modified down in Waynesfield, Ohio. I have been racing the dirt modified ever since. IWMA: Who are your marketing partners? I currently do not have any marketing partners but I am always looking! IWMA: Who inspired you to start racing? I grew up cheering from the grandstands “go daddy go.” So my dad has always been the one who inspires me to race. This has always been a family ordeal. My parents are my biggest support system and are always there for me. I am so thankful for them for always being so supportive. IWMA: Who helps you with your car? My daddy has always been the crew chief, my fiancé works very hard on my car also and makes sure its always on the track and ready to go. I have many other friends that are always willing to help. Although they don’t help on the car I have family that never misses a race and I couldn’t do it without them, my mom, my aunt Kathy, and my aunt Jean. IWMA: What is your best finish and when? My best finish would be my last race when we took the dirt car to the asphalt track. I started second row. I ended up under running my qualifying time and being put to the back. I worked my way back up to the front and when we took the checkered I was door to door
Young Ladies Get Great Advice from Shonda Harbin with the leader. It came down to the final turn. I ended up finishing second but that was one of my favorite races. IWMA: Where do you race? Waynesfield Raceway Park. IWMA: What kind of racecar do you have? Dirt Modified. IWMA: What class do you run in? UMP modified class. IWMA: Do you have any kind of racing story about a win or a wreck that would be interesting to others?I actually totaled one of my favorite racecars last year at The Super Shoe in Kalamazoo. I hit the wall so hard that it bent my seat. Thanks to the awesome safety equipment I was not even hurt one bit. IWMA: What is your goal for your racing career? My goal used to be Nascar but now it’s just to keep it a family tradi-tion and enjoy doing it every weekend. IWMA: Do you have any race day things you always do or wear? My dad and I actually have a hand shake that we do every time before I go out on the track. We have been doing this handshake since I was 6 years old and I’ve never hit the track without doing the handshake with my daddy. Thank you for sharing your story with us Shonda! We love being able to celebrate your women by sharing their stories! Good luck this season.
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