Tracy from Battleground

RSConvert · May 19, 2010

Read the write up in the AJC's "Living" section about Tracy. Nice write up. Pretty cool what you are doing, teaching women how to drive.

Here's a link to the article: http://www.accessatlanta.com/celebrities-tv/female-race-car-driver-522331.html

AccessAtlanta said:

Female race car driver wants to empower women drivers

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By Carly Felton
For the AJC

Tracy Shayhorn grew up sharing a bedroom with four sisters in a home rife with violence, but she has turned her hardships into a steadfast determination to succeed. One of just a few female race car drivers in the country, Shayhorn wants to empower women by teaching them how to drive a stick shift and communicate knowledgeably with car mechanics.

“I come from a crazy, harsh, ghetto background,” Shayhorn said. “But it has helped me put up with being the rare female in this male-dominated industry that I love.”

Co-owner of Batlground Motorsport Engineering in Smyrna with longtime boyfriend Dan Willie, Shayhorn will lead free monthly Auto Intuition workshops at her shop beginning Aug. 1. Participants will learn about basic car parts and maintenance requirements in layman’s terms.

Shayhorn, 33, got her first taste of the racing industry at age 17 when she started dating a dirt bike racer. He taught her to drive a stick shift in the mud holes of Ocala, Fla., and how to hill-climb in his truck.

After high school, Shayhorn moved to Atlanta and fell in with a fast crowd headed for trouble, she said. She worked as a cocktail waitress at the Gold Club to make ends meet, and while partying at a dance club one night, she met Dan Willie, a DJ and Georgia Tech chemical engineering student who flipped cars for a living.

While on their way to a car show one day, the two ended up street-racing a Toyota Supra — and losing -- but the seed was planted, and Willie began building race cars with Shayhorn as his sidekick.

“Here I was, this tough little gangsta chick looking for people to race my man,” Shayhorn said. “We were the Bonnie and Clyde of street racers, kicking everyone’s [behind] in town.”

Eventually Willie turned pro and began competing in drag races. As his reputation grew, other drivers began asking Willie to work on their cars and Batlground Motorsport Engineering, specializing in customizing performance cars, was born. Nevertheless, Willie had difficulty landing sponsors for his racing career.

“I remember driving home from a race and thinking about how I could change things and make it better because Dan’s upset and he’s my baby,” Shayhorn said. “I thought, ‘Why can’t I drive and maybe make some money?” At first Willie vetoed the idea, but two months later, when they were driving home from a race with little gas in the tank and bald tires, he changed his mind.

Shayhorn began competing in drifting events in which drivers oversteer and propel their cars sideways into turns at full throttle. Sure enough, sponsorships began to roll in.

Eventually Shayhorn and Willie, along with local drifters Andy Sapp and Aaron Sanford, began performing drifting demonstrations around the country, and in 2007, Shayhorn was granted a professional drifting license by Formula Drift, the premier drifting organization. That’s also the year Shayhorn lost her sponsor, so she decided to go back to school and focus on marketing to help her secure sponsorships.

“You can’t deny that Tracy knows what she wants and goes after it with full orce,” said Sapp. “That’s something that demands respect for sure.”

Fast-forward two years and the cable channel SpeedTV came calling, casting Shayhorn in “Bullrun,” a competitive reality show about road rally racing. For the show she partnered with a female in Pennsylvania because she couldn’t find a woman in Georgia who could drive a stick shift and handle a 600-horsepower vehicle. Frustrated by the experience, Shayhorn got Ford Motor Co. to give her a special-edition Ford Fiesta to test-drive for a year and showcase at a show in Las Vegas. In return, she would teach women how to drive a stick shift, lead the Auto Intuition workshops and host a female driving event.

“Tracy has a lot of energy and she’ll be able to get the message out that female drivers are out there,” said Eric Reinker, a program manager at Ford.

“I know how empowering it is to go out there and race, and I want other girls to feel that, too,” Shayhorn said. “Women shouldn’t have to fit into the ‘sugar and spice’ mold and be all ladylike — they can be themselves and be powerful. Look at me: I should be a crack head prostitute, but instead, I’m a rock star racecar driver!”

Although Shayhorn was eliminated from the competition in “Bullrun,” her TV career isn’t over yet. She competes in Discovery Channel’s “Ultimate Car Build Off,” which airs Mondays at 9 p.m. starting June 21.
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Alex · May 19, 2010

I am thinking OT, moving it now.

Weapon · May 19, 2010

can you teach them how to drive without a cell phone

nicad · May 19, 2010

RSConvert said: ↑

Read the write up in the AJC's "Living" section about Tracy. Nice write up. Pretty cool what you are doing, teaching women how to drive.

Edit: Maybe this belongs in the Latest Spin section?
Click to expand...

well at least she'll never run out of students, but it seems a little futile

b reel · May 19, 2010

Weapon said: ↑

can you teach them how to drive without a cell phone
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this was sent via iphone and Wendy Hill

Doug@DBW Motorsports · May 19, 2010

Thats AWESOME!! congrats

Tracy · Jul 2, 2010

Ih thanks guys. Sorry I missed this. Here is the article that was actually on the cover of the Living Section of the AJC, color pic and all! if you wanted to check it out:

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/39356618/Racers-Drive-to-Help-Women

I also started some all woman driving events. We have our first one Ag 15th. If Any of you have women who need to learn to drive a stick, LMK. I have a Ford Fiesta to teach them in for free starting in January. I'm also gonna share it with interested women for rallycross and autocross (also free besides paying their own entry fees). So, they are more than welcome to hit me up about that.

BKiller · Jul 2, 2010

Tracy said: ↑

If Any of you have women who need to learn to drive a stick, LMK.
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:naughty:

Tracy · Jul 3, 2010

I knew that was coming. LOLZ.

sharif@forged · Jul 3, 2010

Tracy said: ↑

]

I also started some all woman driving events. We have our first one Ag 15th. If Any of you have women who need to learn to drive a stick, LMK
Click to expand...

Sandy could use some lessons...badly.

Congrats...looks like a good program!

Tracy · Jul 10, 2010

Well send her on over. Seriously. I think women and men communicate differently, so it will be less intimidating for me to teach the ladies. Not that men are overbearing or anything. LOL. When I was racing every weekend for sponsors and money, Dan wasn't allowed to tell me what to do on the track because he just pissed me off. Everything had to come thru Brandon. That was just a boyfriend/girlfriend frustration been together too long thing.

But seriously, aside from the BG/Forged BS, I would love to teach her.

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Tracy from Battleground

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Tracy from Battleground

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