Catchfence

(BROOKLYN, Mich.) - In the ranks of stock car racing, traditionally a male-dominated activity, female participation appears to be on the rise – and that’s a very good thing. That was the message that ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards driver Maryeve Dufault and ARCA official Rachel Zajac delivered to a group of Girl Scouts Friday afternoon at Michigan International Speedway.

Dufault and Zajac appeared before a group of nearly 20 young women from the Jackson, Mich. area – approximately 15 miles from MIS – and spoke about being active and succeeding as women in stock car racing. The mentoring program was part of a fun-filled day at the track for the Girl Scouts, and was arranged by Michigan International Speedway and the United Way in conjunction with ARCA.

Dufault, a 29-year-old ARCA rookie from Sorel, Quebec, is currently 11th in series points and drives the No. 12 Dodge for Tony Marks Racing. She told the girls that her brother and father played major roles in driving her toward racing.

“At a young age I had my older brother, and everything he was doing, I wanted to do it,” Dufault said. “My dad was racing also, so I just got this passion for the sport. It takes a lot of work. There might be a lot of men or boys who don’t want to see you out there. They might try to put you down or push you around sometimes, but this is a sport where you don’t want to give up.”

A Michigan native, the 21-year-old Zajac explained how her desire to be involved in motorsports started in the grandstands behind her at Michigan International Speedway, where her father brought her to see NASCAR and ARCA races as a child. She began her career as a race official working with flagging and scoring at ARCA’s two short track properties, Toledo Speedway and Flat Rock Speedway, and this year ascended to a role traveling to every race on the ARCA Racing Series schedule. She currently handles templates in the inspection line and works on pit road.

“This is actually my home track. I’m from Michigan, so my dad used to bring me to MIS,” Zajac said to the girls. “I saw the officials, and I said, ‘That’s what I want to do.’ There were people along the way who were kind of discouraging, but you have to block that out of your mind, and if you have a dream, go for it.”

The girls had already prepared questions for Dufault and Zajac, and jumped at the opportunity to find out more about their guest speakers. They asked about the speeds Dufault drives, expressing surprise when learning that she had just driven a qualifying lap at 182.449 mph. One girl asked whether Dufault had any difficulty adjusting to a regular street car.

“Oh, yeah! You’ve got to realize that sometimes you want to go fast and you can’t,” said the driver, bringing much laughter.

One asked about the money Zajac makes as a race official; she responded with a key lesson that she’s not in racing for the money, but because she’s driven by passion. Asked where she’d be working during the race, Zajac responded that she’d be on pit road next to two Venturini Motorsports cars – and by chance, Dufault’s No. 12. The driver responded favorably, and said, “Girl power!”

“From the tower, they can always pick me out,” said Zajac. “Just look for the ponytail.”

Dufault and Zajac stayed after the question-and-answer session to pose for pictures. On the way out, the girls had the chance to meet several other ARCA Racing Series drivers – “the boy drivers,” they said – for autographs.

Both women walked away from the event hoping they had made a difference. Each spoke just before the start of the RainEater Wiper Blades 200.

“I think it’s great to have Girl Scouts come over and for them to ask questions,” said Dufault. “They’re kind of learning more and more that it’s possible to be a race car driver as a female. Meeting all of them and hearing all of their questions was interesting. To be able to give them some answers was a great thing.

“I think they were a little bit worried about (safety) but it was good to tell them that it’s pretty safe out there and they were surprised. The funniest was the girl who asked if we have to go to the bathroom (during the race).”

Zajac responded similarly.

“I grew up a Girl Scout so it was really a fun experience for me, because I know what it’s like to be in that position and have a role model, to have someone to look up to,” she said. “To be able to teach them what it’s like to work in a male-dominated sport, I just had a lot of fun with it. They were all really sweet girls.”

The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards returns to action Saturday, June 25 in the Winchester ARCA 200 presented by Federated Auto Parts at Winchester Speedway in Indiana. The event is scheduled as the ninth of 19 on the 2011 ARCA Racing Series schedule; the ARCA Truck Series will join the ARCA Racing Series at the track.

ARCA Racing Series practice begins at 1:45 p.m., and will last for 90 minutes. Menards Pole Qualifying presented by Ansell begins at 4:45 p.m., and the 200-lap, 100-mile race will take place at 8 p.m. ARCARacing.com will feature live timing and scoring coverage of all events.

The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards features 19 events at 16 tracks on its 2011 schedule. The series has crowned an ARCA national champion each year since its inaugural season in 1953, and has toured over 200 race tracks in 28 states since its inception. The series tests the abilities of drivers and race teams over the most diverse schedule of stock car racing events in the world, annually visiting tracks ranging from 0.4 mile to 2.66 miles in length, on both paved and dirt surfaces as well as a left- and right-turn road course.

Founded by John Marcum in 1953 in Toledo, Ohio, the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is recognized among the leading sanctioning bodies in the country. Closing in on completing its sixth decade after hundreds of thousands of miles of racing, ARCA administers over 100 race events each season in two professional touring series and local weekly events.

- Automobile Racing Club of America Press Release