We have an up-and-coming champion here. Hailie Deegan is already growing up to become one of the most prominent female drivers in NASCAR. She first made history by competing and winning the NAPA Auto Parts/Idaho 208 race. In fact, Deegan was the first female driver to ever win that race. Let’s not forget to mention that she also has a pretty impressive Instagram channel with over 500,000 followers.
Deegan is the daughter of Brian Deegan, the first freestyle motorcycle rider to ever manage a 360 flip. She is also the only female to have ever won a race in the K&N Pro Series, doing so in both 2018 and 2019. It’s clear that Deegan was groomed from a young age to become a great NASCAR driver.
Tammy Jo Kirk - All-American Challenge Series Contender
Tammy Jo Kirk is not only a well-renowned and accomplished NASCAR driver, but she is also a major motorcycle enthusiast. She began racing her wheels at the young age of nine and fell in love with the game. Despite being very talented, Kirk suffered a great deal of sexism and wasn’t permitted to race in the male-dominated motorcycle competitions.
The frustrated race driver tried her hand at car racing and found a lot more success. Tammy Jo Kirk was immediately picked up by NASCAR, and in 1991 she joined the All-American Challenge Series. Just three years later, she was already crowned as the world’s most popular driver. The talented NASCAR competitor continued on the tracks until 2003 when she decided to hang her helmet.
Jennifer Jo Cobb - Record-Breaking Female NASCAR Driver
Pro NASCAR driver Jennifer Jo Cobb wanted success, and boy, did she get it. She is now known as the world’s top female race driver of all time through. All achieved through years of obsession with the sport. Her first experience racing was in 1991 when her father, Joe Cobb, supported her start in the career. By 2002, she was already competing in racing competitions, leading her to become an official NASCAR driver just two years later
Jo Cobb’s life has pretty much been all about cars, which is why she holds the record for the woman with the highest points in any major NASCAR series. The veteran racing driver also owns her own successful clothing line company, Driver Boutique.
Natalie Sather - Rookie of the Year
From a very young age, Natalie Sather was a star. In 2003 she came third in the Miss North Dakota Teen USA pageant. In high school, she was the captain of the cheerleading squad, and then came NASCAR. Sather got her minute of fame as a NASCAR racer when several media publications started to promote her.
A news outlet called The Heralds article read: "Evergreen Speedway driver shows you can still be feminine and succeed in a male-dominated sport." In 2007, she pretty much blew up. At the time, she was the first female to ever win the American Sprint Car Series. Natalie also won the ASCS Midwest championship and received the Knoxville Raceway Rookie of the Year award.
Louise Smith - "First Lady Of Racing"
When talking about legendary NASCAR racers, the name Louise Smith is always the one to be thrown around. This unbelievable female driver began her career with NASCAR as far back as 1949. A time when it was practically unheard of for women to race cars. Not only did she make that dream come true but she went on to become one of the best race car drivers of all time.
Louise Smith, the second female NASCAR driver in the world, won 38 races in her six-year career at the sport. After a reasonable hiatus, Smith returned to the game in 1971 as a sponsor for other drivers. She even mentored the legendary Ronnie Thomas at the start of his career.