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.
Milka Duno - Highest Finish at 24 Hours of Daytona
Milka Duno is proof of hard work over adversity. She was originally born in Venezuela and became an academic after arriving in the United States. She learned Marine Biology, Naval Architecture, Organizational Development, and Maritime Business, and went on to receive a master’s degree in all these!
During her time studying, Milka Duno was also a mildly successful model. This strange mix of professions her a lot of attention. At some point, for some reason, she decided to pursue race car driving and compete in NASCAR. She currently holds the record for the highest finish by a female driver in the 24 Hours of Daytona. Duno also wrote a Latin-English kid’s book titled "Go, Milka, Go!," which won the Best Young Adult Sports/Recreation Book award in 2009. Wow!
Mackena Bell - Xfinity Series Contender
Mackena Bell was also a lucky graduate of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity program even though she only had one official NASCAR race. She too started driving go-karts as a small child, moving up to Legend cars at age fourteen, and then officially racing vehicles by age eighteen. In 2010, she raced in six NASCAR races during their Xfinity Series but failed to finish with a proper score.
Four years later, Bell crashed her car during two races. She only had one top-ten finish in all of her career. Naturally, she didn't return to NASCAR after that and instead moved to race for Rick Ware Racing at the Phoenix International Raceway where she placed 29th. That was her last official race as of November 2014.
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.
Hailie Deegan - A Rising Star
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.