There seems to be a recurring theme with female racing drivers that includes them leaving high-paying, respectable positions in-order to become down-and-dirty race car drivers. Tina Gordon (who is not related to legendary NASCAR drivers Jeff Gordon and Robby Gordon), left her successful position as an insurance agency owner by selling the business in order to follow her passion and become a NASCAR race car driver.
Despite her previous success, this was completely new territory for the new racing driver, and she had to build her way up and lift herself up by her bootstraps. Just one year after joining NASCAR, she managed to finish in 20th place in the NASCAR All-Prof Series. The racer has made 16 starts so far and even finished in the top ten once.
Kim Crosby
In 2004, Kim Crosby made perhaps one of the most impressive and amazing career transformations, when she went from a full-time Louisiana school principal into a full-time race driver. She originally started out as a drag racer but found herself transitioning again, this time into a monster truck driver for Monster Jam.
She's undoubtedly the coolest school principal of all time if there ever was one. Crosby is currently semi-retired, but continues to race occasionally and plans to return to NASCAR if the right opportunity happens to come along.
Julia Landauer
Julia Landauer is both an accomplished race car driver and a motivational speaker. She has raced in the popular NASCAR K&N Pro Series West competition and was the highest finishing female ever in 2016. Outside of driving, Landauer uses her outdoorsy champion skills as a contestant on the 26th season of the popular CBS reality show, Survivor.
Like many of her female NASCAR peers, Landauer had shown a knack for racing from a very young age. At just 10 years old little Julia used to compete in go-kart competitions and would bring home the victory more often than not. In 2017, the accomplished racer was named in Forbes magazine's 30 Under 30 list under the category of sports.
Shannon McIntosh
Shannon McIntosh has an impressive career having secured herself a couple of impressive scores and victories. Her two best finishes were both in eighth place: one in the 2011 USF2000 National Championship and another one in the same series.
Outside of racing, McIntosh frequently writes for eBay Motors Blog and has recently been named “Someone to Watch” and a racing Up and Comer by the Tampa Bay Business Journal. We’re definitely looking to see more of what this talented and dedicated driver does with her career, both in terms of racing and in her business ventures. There’s no doubt in our minds that she’ll manage to impress us on both accounts.
Tia Norfleet
Shauntia Latrice "Tia" Norfleet is one of America's most prominent female race car drivers. As the daughter of former NASCAR driver Bobby Norfleet, she had already shown an interest in the racing profession from the age of seven.
Tia says that she began competing in kart racing events at age 14, and by 24 she was already competing in entry-level Bandolero racing competitions. After that, Norfleet became the world's first African-American driver to purchase a NASCAR racing license, but this is where things get a little freaky.