Girl power

WASILLA — In a field dominated by men, women find each other to be the stiffest competition at the North Star Speedway.

Michelle Black was the first woman to enter a Legend car race at the quarter-mile track off of Trunk Road 13 years ago. Asked why she started racing with the boys, she said it was because a man told her she couldn’t.

“I was borrowing my boyfriend’s car to race in the woman’s division,” Black said. “When we broke up, he kept the car and said I would never race again. He no longer races and I’ve won three points championships.”

As to why she keeps doing it, Black said she likes collecting trophies. There are three divisions of Legend racing — semi-pro, pro and masters. Black said she has won the national points championship for Alaska twice in the semi-pro division and once in the pro. She was the first woman to win in either.

This year, there are two other woman in the Legend circuit at North Star. Erika Bills races, is the track manager and Black’s best friend.

“Kelly (Sawyer) and I are working on our relationship,” Black said.

Sawyer said she began racing after watching Mike Thomas dominate the oval. Thomas let Sawyer try his car one day, and soon enough she bought one of her own. Now, she recently returned from the national Legend races in Minnesota. She was one of only seven racers sponsored from Alaska and finished 31st of 685 racers.

“Being an older woman, I’m doing this for fun,” Sawyer said. “I was racing with 12-year-olds who were training to become professionals. Actually, (ex-NASCAR great) Bill Elliott’s son beat me.”

As for the other women racers at North Star, Sawyer said the competition can get a bit heated. Last year, a female driver named Amanda Palma hit Sawyer’s wheel, causing Palma’s car to go airborne and giving Sawyer a spiral fracture down her left arm. Determined to finish the season, she had a splint custom made to fit the steering wheel of her car. She was in tears by the end of most races, but finished second in state points.

Regarding fellow racer Michelle Black, Sawyer also admits they have a checkered history.

“We wouldn’t even speak last year. She slammed me into the wall pretty bad,” Sawyer said. “But things are better now. She was my inspiration at Fir Rondy.”

Sawyer is referring to the race held each year around a frozen track in Anchorage. Sawyer got smashed into the wall on her first practice lap and packed her car to leave. Black, not racing in this year’s event, motivated her to keep going.

“I told her I wouldn’t let her withdraw,” Black said. “I just put the steel pipe up her backbone. She made me very proud.”

There has been a bond between the two ever since. Sawyer joked that she yelled at Black when Black hooked her bumper last week.

“I told her she needed to be doing that to the boys,” Sawyer said.

Black agreed that the misogyny exhibited by many male drivers can create a camaraderie among the women.

“I know they treat us differently. I’ve been told I belong in the kitchen or other areas of the house several times,” Black said. “I don’t fold over and get out of the way. They don’t like that. I think it challenges their manhood.”

Now, as more women start racing, attitudes are starting to change, Black said. Sawyer agreed, but said it takes more to earn respect as a woman driver at a man’s race track.

Last year, when Black’s No. 10 car was trading paint with Sawyer’s No. 63 car and the two were battling each other for first place in the points championship, they left little doubt about their place at the track.

Contact Todd L. Disher at todd.disher@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.