Women's Motorsports Network Podcast & Let's Talk Racing LIVE
Women's Motorsports Network Podcast shares the stories of women involved in motorsports from around the world. The first episode was in 2018 and new episodes are added each week. Feel free to suggest potential guests to Melinda at melinda@wmnnation.com.
Let's Talk Racing LIVE airs on Wednesdays at 7pm EASTERN TIME on the Women's Motorsports Network-A Media Company Facebook Page.
https://www.facebook.com/womensmotorsportsnetworkandpodcast
Melinda Russell
Women's Motorsports Network Podcast & Let's Talk Racing LIVE
Wrenches, Wins, and Wisconsin: The Kennedy Swan Story
Kennedy Swan shares her journey from go-kart racing at age 5 to becoming the only female driver in her modified dirt track division as she builds her racing career while balancing college, work, and maintaining her self-discipline.
• Started in motorsports at age 5 when her father chose to invest his sponsor money in her go-kart instead of his own racing
• Races dirt track modified cars as the only female among 300 competitors in her sanction
• Made history as the youngest driver and only female to win the Punky Manor championship in its 41-year history
• Does all her own mechanical work on her race car, handling everything from routine maintenance to major repairs
• Named a 2023 Hoosier Hero, selected as one of 12 racers from 2,000 participants across the United States
• Known for her signature French braids, which have become part of her racing identity
• Balances racing with college studies in business management and work to fund her racing career
• Matured faster than peers due to the discipline, dedication, and responsibilities required by motorsports
• Weathering a challenging season with mechanical issues but maintaining a positive outlook
• Passionate about inspiring more girls to enter motorsports and prove they can succeed in male-dominated fields
Follow Kennedy's racing journey on Facebook at 18S Racing, where you can watch live streams of her races, see her results, and find information about her racing merchandise.
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/womensmotorsportsnetworkandpodcast
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LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melindarussell/
TIKTOK: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melindarussell/
X: https://x.com/IWMANation
FACEBOOK Personal Page: https://www.facebook.com/melinda.ann.russell
Welcome to the Women's Motorsports Network podcast, the show that puts the spotlight on the incredible women who fuel the world of motorsports, from drivers to crew members, engineers to fans and everyone in between. We're here to celebrate the trailblazers, dreamers and doers shaping the sport we love. Each episode we share inspiring stories of females of all ages, from every corner of the motorsports universe past, present and future. It's a journey through the seasons of life filled with heartfelt moments, laughter and a whole lot of horsepower. So, whether you're a lifelong fan, a racer yourself or simply curious about the extraordinary women behind the wheel, settle in, relax and enjoy a fun and uplifting ride with us.
Speaker 1:This is the Women's Motorsports Network podcast, connecting and celebrating women in motorsports. One story at a time. Let's hit the track. Hello everyone, this is Melinda Russell with the Women's Motorsports Network podcast, and my guest today is Kennedy Swan. Kennedy, I want to welcome you to the show and, as we always do, we like to get to know a little bit more about you before we find out about your racing career. So why don't you share who is Kennedy Swan and tell us a little bit about yourself?
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, Thank you for having me. So yes, I'm Kennedy Swan. I'm 18 years old. I currently just graduated high school. I'm going to CVTC, which is a technical college in Chippewa. Well, it's in Eau Claire, but I live in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. It's about 15 minutes where I'm at. I'm going for business and management to really help on the racing side of things. You know, behind the scenes, how to manage all that. That's what I. That's why I wanted to get into it. I am in a family of five, and my dad, mom and I have two younger siblings and my brother. He also is racing and trying to follow in my footsteps. So that's pretty cool. But yeah, that's where I am, that's how old I am.
Speaker 1:I am and yeah, so your brothers are younger than you.
Speaker 2:I have a brother and a sister oh, a brother and a sister but yes, they both are they're both younger and your brother.
Speaker 1:How old is he? And he's getting into racing. He's 11. Okay, all right, so he looks up to you, doesn't he?
Speaker 2:yes.
Speaker 1:And how old is your sister? She's 13. Okay, all right, maybe not as much, looks up to you Are you best. Are you best friends?
Speaker 2:Well, no, we're pretty close, but she's not really into the race and things. She's more of a dance and other types of stuff.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, that's good for your mom. She's kind of got a good balance there with all kinds of things going on, so that that's. That's a good thing. Yeah, so, kennedy, how did you get involved in motorsports? Who got you interested?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so my dad did. He raced back before I was born and then, probably till I was about four years old. Five years old, he raced Waseda Modified and Waseda B Mod just around locally where I live. When I was about five years old he had the opportunity to take his sponsor money for his car and go and race that year, or put it towards a go-kart and start with me racing. So he chose that route and so he bought me a go-kart with his leftover sponsor money and we went over to Thunder Hill in Menomonee, wisconsin. It's just a go-kart track which has grown huge now.
Speaker 2:But um it and I went over there and since, well, the first time I went out I was scared. I wouldn't get in it. I was scared. It was too loud for me. I'd kick, I'd scream, I'd cry and then ended up. What happening was? My dad wanted to shake down the cart, so we had somebody else get into it. Just, you know, make sure it stays together. Well, I kicked and screamed even more because somebody else was in my go-kart. I was so frustrated. I still remember that.
Speaker 2:But ever since that I went back out the weekend later to practice and I've been head over heels since. I mean, it's been full throttle and since, you know, I wasn't even my dad likes to say he didn't know if I was just stupid or that brave to go that fast right away, and you know, right away in the first corner. But, um, yeah, and then during the winter I actually ice race too, so I take four wheelers out on ice and I started doing that that winter too and it just kind of like put together like this is something that I'm really passionate about, and so I raced go karts, starting at five, and then I slowly moved up from a rookie cage to a junior wing to a 125 250. Uh, it's like a sprint car, looking like it's. It looks like a sprint car but like a down version of that and then when I was 13, I decided to hop into the b-mod and race.
Speaker 2:It was so to b-mod and, uh, that was a huge jump, but I was very successful my first year. And you know these types of cars there. I like them way better than the go-karts or sprint cars and yeah. So then when I was three years later so I was 16 when I moved into the modified and so now I've been racing that since- and do you like it the best of everything? Yes, very much yes.
Speaker 1:I figured as much yeah, for sure, then that's fun. So do you still race anything on ice?
Speaker 2:yes, I do so. I race a 450 TRX Honda on ice so, like you, like, some classes that we have are studs, like studded classes, which you can run studs in your tires, but the one I run is a rubber class, so I don't have that.
Speaker 1:Okay, and do you love that? That sounds like a lot of fun.
Speaker 2:It is. It is a lot of fun. Um, I do it. It's usually January and February. Every Saturday it's a NWIRC. Is the club that I race for my dad's the president of it. Um, we go around. You know uh, upper Wisconsin. I actually do go up to Michigan a couple times, not with my uh club, but just to go up and race up there, and you know uh, win some money so so where do you go in Michigan to race?
Speaker 1:uh, oh, I can't um that's okay, you'll think of it right now, oh, when it?
Speaker 2:comes back to me, I will, it's yeah, yeah I will. It's no, it's a great track up there and it's awesome up there too, but I'll think about it.
Speaker 1:I totally forgot I'm sure, I'm sure you'll think of it. So, yeah, that that's very cool. What? What's the? What is the one thing? If you, if you had to pick one or maybe two things that you love about racing, you know what is that? Because you could be doing a lot of other things on the weekend, but you're at the racetrack. So why? Why is that?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So there's a lot of times, like you know, I'm racing every weekend and you know I'm missing out on things. You know, like I went to prom one time I have never been to a homecoming like I'm out racing and it's like it's the, it's the adrenaline that it gives me, like when I get in that car, it's like no other feeling and like I'm so I'm very passionate about it Because I know, you know I put in the time, I put in the effort, you know I can be good. And that's one thing. And the other side of it would be like I'm able to inspire other kids, and especially younger girls, especially in a male dominant sport that you know I'm a girl and I'm succeeding in it. I like you know, especially girls to see that like you can go out and you can do these things, even if it is male dominant, like that's not going to stop you and you're going to be very successful at it if you put the work in. So like it's. It's those two things that really keep me going for this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I like what you said, because once you get in the cart or the car or whatever, you're racing. It doesn't matter if you're a boy or girl, it doesn't matter if you're a boy or girl, you know you're. You're on a way, more level playing field than you would be if you were playing football or basketball or some other sport, right, yeah? So what does race day look like for you, kennedy? So you know, you get up in the morning, some people eat a big breakfast, some people don't eat till the end of the day, some people wear the same shirt or the same socks. What's your race day look like?
Speaker 2:yeah, so, depending on what day, like, there's some days I race Thursday, friday, saturday, sunday, or some days I might just race Friday, but yeah, it all depends. Usually, um, I end up loading the car the night before, so that way in the morning I I get up and I like to go to work and get a couple hours, and so I'll go to work for a couple hours, then I'll come home. If the car isn't loaded, I'll load the car up, load all the tires, everything that we need, double check everything, and then I wait for my dad to come home from work and we'll hop in the trailer. I mean, I don't really have anything. Actually that's a lie. I wear French braids.
Speaker 2:I have been racing since the age of five and I know, at least in the big cars. So the last five years I have never gone to race without my French braids. So just two French braids down there. So I always get that done in the morning by my aunt or my cousin, whichever one, and I've never not raced without them. I don't know what it is, I like them and then everyone knows me by them. Like when they see like the pigtails, they know, oh, that's Kennedy swan. So like that's really the only thing that I like do religiously. Otherwise, you know that's really it, but those braids are just something. There's something about those braids.
Speaker 1:That's interesting because that's you know, not very many girls have told me that particular thing. Sometimes they have a special thing on their dash or they wear the same shirt or something, and some don't do anything but, um, I like that because that's kind of your, your sign. You know that. That's who you are. So and your hair is really long, so that keeps it out of the way and probably keeps it cleaner too yes, like it, it sucks.
Speaker 2:I've never not raced with braids in, but I have put my helmet on before without them and my helmet's actually too big without them and it just your hair gets in the way and I have such long hair. It's so much easier and like I can go out in public. I could go to the racetrack and people might not even recognize me unless I have my braids, like that's how crazy, it is.
Speaker 1:That's fun. Yeah, that's fun. Do you wear bows in them at all at the bottom or anything, or just braid them?
Speaker 2:No, I don't. I don't wear bows in them.
Speaker 1:Okay, no, I didn't know how much of a girly girl you were. You know you can still be a girly girl and race, so I was not sure about the break about the bows. So so, do you eat? Do you eat a big breakfast? Do you eat later? What? What's your eating plan?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so, um, in the morning I usually eat, you know I'll just like a normal breakfast, either cereal, or I'll make a protein shake in the morning to just take with me to work. And then I get really busy during the day, whether it's at the racetrack, and sometimes I'll eat like I'm very. I have a very high metabolism, so I do eat like a lot, like every like two hours, like I need food, otherwise I get in pain, because that's how much my metabolism is just so high. But on race day it's different. Sometimes I won't eat for like numerous hours just because I'm just so busy and focused, and also sometimes I just get nervous, so like I just can't eat, but like it's only on like race days. Otherwise, during the week I have to eat like every two hours, but during race days it's different.
Speaker 2:I think it's just the nerves built up, so yeah, yeah, I think that's probably part of it for sure.
Speaker 1:So you work and you just did. You just graduate from high school.
Speaker 2:Yes, I did. I just graduated from Chi High.
Speaker 1:OK, so you'll be going to school, probably, and you're working and you're, you know, raising and you're doing all those things. How does McKinney, how does Kennedy, take care of Kennedy?
Speaker 2:How does Kennedy take care of Kennedy, making sure she's got good sleep and all that? Or is that kind of your mom's job to make sure you're doing what you should do? And physical health? I'm very like I need to do this to do this. You know I go to the gym when I have the free time, which gets busy, but I try and go there to keep, you know, my physical health good and mental health. You know. I know that I shouldn't be staying up till three in the morning, knowing I got to get up for work at six and then I got to go race Like I'm very good about that. But yeah, my mom behind the scenes she's always making sure, you know there's food on the table meals plan. You know we're going gone for a whole weekend and we have the camper you know the campers packed with a whole bunch of food. My mom is the rock behind the scenes, so I can't thank her enough for all that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's nice to hear that for sure. So who works?
Speaker 2:on the car. That would be me. Um, I do all the mechanical work on the car, whether it's just, you know, non-bolting lubing, you know your air filters, or you know, when you break things, change the entire rod, your uppers, your lowers, whatever it is, I do it. Um, my dad, he'll help me if I need it, but otherwise I don't really ask him for help and I like to just do it on my own. He is the tire guy, so basically he'll we have a sight machine, he'll put them on, they'll sight the tires and then he'll grind them and then, if we need to flip them, take the rims off. I'll do that too. But he's the tire guy, he's very picky about the tires. I let him do that, he lets me do that, and that's just the way we work, because otherwise we bet we butt heads and then it's just not good yeah, so how did you learn to do all those things on your car?
Speaker 2:yeah. So obviously, right away I didn't know like anything, especially with the b mod or modified, so he was a big help in that teaching me. But I also had a pit guy. His name is William, he races now himself, but before the first three years he helped me and he showed me everything and he still helps me till this day and he actually works at SSR race cars, which is my chassis builder. So like he's able to like tell me, like this is this, this goes where this does this. It's really helpful actually. So yeah, but he's still around and does that. But yeah, he taught me a lot yeah, that was.
Speaker 1:That was good, and I love hearing that you do the work on the car. I mean, you know some girls just with the circumstances it doesn't work out for them to do it, but you're going to be so much better of a driver if you know what's making the car go and and what. Oh, this doesn't feel right and you're going to know right away.
Speaker 2:I like being able to like. You know, oh wait, the car's too tight, I need to loosen up. Well, I know what I can do and I can do it myself. You know my dad, I mean he's going to be around, but he's not going to be around forever, and I mean I'm 18. You know, I'm eventually going to have to move out. Take my own car. You know it's better that. I know girls well, they don't work on their cars, they have to have someone else do it. Well, that's not true, because I'm here to prove that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that too. That's good. Good for you, Kennedy. So everybody has a bad night. What do you do when you have a bad luck or a bad night at the racetrack?
Speaker 2:How do you handle that? Yeah, no, I've been experiencing those a lot. This year has been really rough for us. We've already went through a whole car, three front stubs. We've had to take weekends off.
Speaker 2:I've had a really bad year so far and it's been hard, like mentally, to be like I don't like there's some days where like I don't want to go racing because I'm just going to get wrecked. And there's no, and I have to stay up all night and fix that, just to go out the next day and get wrecked again mentally. It is very, very hard and can be very draining. But I know that if I keep pushing and be like you know what I'm gonna. Still, I'm gonna stay up, I'm gonna fix this, I'm gonna go back out there, I'm gonna keep trying. I'm not gonna give up.
Speaker 2:The things do eventually come to you and you can get a little bit of good luck out of it, and you know you make your own luck. So it's hard. I mean some nights, you know I just I don't want to be talked to, you know like I just need me by myself. And then the next morning I'm like all right, we gotta get this back on, we're gonna go out there and we're trying to do better. It's this, especially since it's only like. I mean, you have guys behind you, but you're the only one in that car, so you can only blame yourself, like it's not a team sport, it's just you, so I.
Speaker 2:It's a very it can be very hard, but there's there's multiple ways to you know, help with that, and I've been able to figure that out, especially this year.
Speaker 1:It's been a learning year, so yeah, yeah, because I know in the past you've had a lot of success yes, and this year it just went downhill and I mean, but everyone's going to have those years.
Speaker 2:You know you're going to have, you know, five really good years. Then you're going to have that bad year again. You know this is my first time really experiencing like a bad year, so, but I'm learning a lot from it, though, and so hopefully I could put that together for next year and be like you know I'm strong. You know I stayed through it, I didn't give up and I kept pushing.
Speaker 1:Well, and I, and I think you learn. Unfortunately, you learn a lot of things when you have to go through adversity, for sure, and so that's part of life, isn't it? Life doesn't go, life doesn't go perfect for any of us, and you have to learn how to handle it. So what are some things maybe you've learned from being involved in motor sports that maybe you wouldn't have learned by this age?
Speaker 2:I would say I've matured a lot, a lot sooner than others, like my, like when I was, you know, 16,. I'm thinking about my future. Like you know, I want to do this for like a career. So, like I know, I got to work. You know I got to work not only in the car, but work and get the money to do this as a career, where a lot of those kids didn't have a job.
Speaker 2:Like I think about the people at my high school. You know they go out and party and you know they have fun and I'm just like that is fun and it's good to be like that, but at the same time I'm not, you know, I think I have a. I have grown to have a lot of self-discipline, discipline. So it's like you know they can go out and party. Well, I'm going to either go racing or I'm going to take the day and I'm going to go work. I'm going to, you know, build up my savings so that I can actually afford this.
Speaker 2:You know, not when I'm 40, 50, but when, you know, late 20s, 30s, definitely self-discipline, and I've been able to like with the racing community. It's like a family around here and so I've been able to like I used to be very shy so I wouldn't talk to anyone. But now I'm thrown out of that bubble and I'll go out. You know I'll talk to people and I know what to say and how to say it, especially with sponsors and stuff like that. I just I feel like I've grown really mature in the earlier ages than other people yeah, I find that to be pretty much the rule for girls in motorsports.
Speaker 1:They mature much, much more quickly than kids who are not involved, because it does take a lot of money, it takes a lot of discipline, it takes a lot of hard work and you're thrown into that when you're 10, 12 years old, you know, or younger, and you learn as you grow. So I can believe that's true. So what about marketing partners? Do you have any? How do you get them you know? Do you want to mention who they are? Anything along that line?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so a lot of my marketing partners are a lot of family friends of my dad. My dad he knows a lot of people, but there's also some where know we've. You know we post on social media and you know they've contacted us or we've heard about them and we go up and talk to them and I just tell them you know, this is what I do, this is when I do it, how I do it, and you know I'd like you to be a part and you know some people say you know no, like they don't, they can't, or which you mean you got to go up there and you're going to, like God, be confident. And if they tell you no, they tell you no. And if they tell you yes, then that's great. But yeah, I have about I think I have about 28 sponsors on my car and I can go through them If that's up to you.
Speaker 2:I'll, I'll name my it's. It's important to name them off. Yeah, they, they're very important. They're not just sponsors to me, they're part of a family. So, yeah, I'd like to name all my sponsors.
Speaker 1:Yeah, go ahead.
Speaker 2:Okay, superior Choice, credit Union. Meg Stainless, greenwood Equipment, greenwood Concrete, excavating, snow Away. Ht Automotive, collin Brothers, towing Shooter, guy Photography, ssr Racecars, southwest Chevrolet, interstate Batteries, hooker Design and Photography, powder Plus, augur Electric, cornell Lake Campground Drifters, trucking, polish Enterprise, jake's Gym, town Inn, dave Michaels Materials, Tim's Automotive Machine, ace Media, montney Farms, airtech, sports, augur Express, brad's Affordables, anderson Enterprise and Clearview Auto Glass. So those are my sponsors on the car. And then there's a whole bunch of people behind me that you know help me to get to where I am today and like I mean, this isn't just a one person job, it's, I mean you can, but it's very hard. So, like my dad, my mom, my sister, landon, Aaron, will, and then you know my friends, you know any help that I can get.
Speaker 1:I appreciate it all. Yeah, it takes. It takes a whole village if you really want to do well yeah yeah, you can't race. You one person cannot have a race team as a one person. It just does not work. You've got to have other hands to help for sure. Yeah, so do you think motorsports is a good sport for you or other women to be involved in, and would you recommend it to other little girls that want to get started?
Speaker 2:Yes, for sure. I mean, if this is something, this is the motorsports especially. It's amazing, Like, no matter what racing motorsport you're in, they're going to have a family, Like I have, like it's like a family there and they're all very welcoming Some not not as much, because you know you're a girl and they don't like getting beat by girls.
Speaker 2:So you know some are like you know snobby and don't like that. But the, the other men who are like you know what you're doing, something good, those are the. Those are the people you know that are like the with the arms open and welcoming. But yeah, for sure I would love to see more girls in motorsports like I'm the only with soda modified. That's a girl like there's 300 of us in my sanction and I'm the only girl, and so it'd be so cool to see more girls come in and do like this stuff. I mean, you're not going to be great right away, but you know, after time and hard work, which I feel, like us girls, there's some of us that really have that passion it would be really cool to see. But no, I really hope I can see some more in the future.
Speaker 1:I'm surprised there's not more than just you out of 300 there.
Speaker 2:So that's just my class, but, like the b mods, I think there's a couple more, maybe like five, six. That's still not a lot, and there's like 700 of those, if there's not many. But no, it sucks to see, like you know, there's not many girls out there, but it's hard, it's really hard, it's hard work, so I could, I could understand why yeah, yeah, and they have to have somebody behind them to help and encourage them to.
Speaker 1:You know, I mean boys do too, but, um, and if they don't have that it's, it's makes it harder. Your, your whole family has to buy into it, pretty much really yeah yeah, so are you a role model, do you think for other girls? Do they look up to you and say, if she can do it, I can do it?
Speaker 2:Yes, I've had, you know, multiple girls, or just fans in general, general. Come up to me, you know, after a race in the pits and just like, tell me, like you're my biggest fan, I want to be like you one day. I want to race, race car, you know, and I sit there and I tell them, yeah, you will do that, you know I would. I want to see that, like, you go, do that, you can. You can do anything you put your mind to and it's really cool. That's definitely one of my favorite parts. You know, whether, whether I go out and I win or I say dead last.
Speaker 1:I still have fans come up to me and tell me you have any advice or have you gotten any advice that kind of sticks with you.
Speaker 2:That's a good question, um, I guess. I guess not really anything related to you know me being a girl in the sport. It's just more of the like, the hard work aspect. Because you know me being a girl in the sport. It's just more of the like, the hard work aspect, because you know you win races in the garage by working on your car.
Speaker 2:It's not you just show up to the racetrack and race. So like definitely, which I learned from my dad, and my dad always tells me that you know, hard work is what's going to get you somewhere in life, and that's what sticks with me and that's why I am the way I am and why I put so much work into things I love.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I just it's funny you said that about the work is you know, the races are won in the garage. I just had somebody tell me that almost exact wording yesterday in an interview, and it really is true. It's. It's so, so true. You can't wait till you get to the racetrack and worry about what's going on with your car. Yeah Right, so what is your favorite memory? Or do you have a couple good memories that you want to share?
Speaker 2:For sure, definitely one of my biggest wins that I had. I was a 2021 Punky Manor champion and I ended up winning it, but I won it at my home track. So being able to win, you know, a huge race and I was the only girl who's ever won that 41 years and the youngest driver to only win that. I was 14 years old and you know it's something different. Not only winning that big race, but at your home track you have like all like the crowd went nuts. They know who you are and you know they were cheering for me. It was awesome. One of my favorite memories. I still get goosebumps when I talk about it.
Speaker 1:That was definitely one of my biggest and favorite memories I've had yeah, yeah, that's a, that's a big deal and that's one of those things you'll never, ever forget, and you may hold those records for a long time.
Speaker 2:So far still am, so far yes, yeah.
Speaker 1:Have you ever had anything happen that you know like? Have you? You haven't rolled a car or anything terrible like that, right?
Speaker 2:I have rolled a car, actually my third year in the B model. That's in Superior, at Gondig Bluff Speedway, and there's a car on my inside and a car on my outside and the car from the inside wanted to race dirty and he pushed me up and there was a car on my outside and we both locked tires and we both ended up flipping barrel, rolling like six, seven times down the front stretch. Car was destroyed. I was, I was just in like shock, like this is like never. I mean these cars are, but you know the size of an actual vehicle. You don't expect them to flip, but they do and it was. Oh, I hate, I didn't like that at all no, I guess not.
Speaker 1:But you didn't get hurt just sore, probably bumps and bruises, yeah just just sore.
Speaker 2:You know the equipment in there, like my helmet, my hands, my belts, they I'm safe in there.
Speaker 1:So yes, I was, I was all right yeah, yeah, but the body doesn't like barrel rolling, no it doesn't Not at all, and so have you won any awards or any other besides that race? Have you gotten anything else that you want to share about? Like you know what you've won?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so in 2023, I was the WSOTA Modified Rookie of the Year, so I was a rookie going into the mod and I ended up winning that, so that was also pretty cool. 2025, I became a Hoosier Hero, so this is one of the shirts that they ended up giving me, so that was awesome. That was really cool to see. There was 2,000 participants and they narrowed down to the top 12 and I was able, and these were all over the united states and I was able to be chosen for one of them and it's really cool.
Speaker 2:There's 12 of them, but they're all completely different. Motorsports, one's drag racing, you know, sprint cars, my type of cars, like pavement all over and they're all over the uh us. So we all got to meet down at pri and indiana I believe yeah, and so it was so cool to go through all that and I got to, you know, take pictures, get interviews, do autographs, all that down there.
Speaker 1:That was really cool so yeah, I, I knew that I was trying to lead you, lead you there, kennedy, just in case you didn't mention it. Yeah, you know, it's funny, I've I've interviewed Lizzie recently oh, little Lizzie yeah little Lizzie.
Speaker 1:She's cute as can be. I interviewed her recently and also um, oh gosh, I always forget her name. She lives in California. I she's gonna kill me because I did this the last time, anyway. So I've interviewed several of the women that were chosen for that, which was really cool. I met you actually at PRI that weekend, but that was really nice to watch all those women get that recognition from Hoosier. That was a big deal. That was a really big, really big deal that you were one of those to win. What about social media? How? How do you use it? How can we follow you to keep track of um? You know your racing, where you're racing, how you did all those things.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so our number one platform would definitely be Facebook. Um, usually my mom or my dad will go live for every heat race and every feature that I'm at, and we'll always post, you know the week of, like, hey, we're going to this racetrack, this racetrack, etc. It's called 18S Racing and we post all our lives. You know where we're going to be, where I finish, and you can also contact us for you know, apparel, shirts, t-shirts, etc.
Speaker 1:Okay, it us for you know apparel shirts, t-shirts, etc. Okay, it's 18 s's and sam, yes, racing. Okay for swan s's and swan, yes, okay, awesome. And do you think, uh, do you think facebook helps maybe with your, you know, people getting to know who you are and maybe even some sponsorships, does that help you? Yeah, when you're out there.
Speaker 2:Yes, for sure. I mean, social media has gotten huge these days. You know, especially you know I have a lot. I have a lot of followers, so being able to you know when they're not there, you know they're able to watch me, or you know sponsors like to see that they're being posted.
Speaker 1:So like when I, after every race, I go through and I say thank you to all my sponsors, they like to see that and get their name out there Also. It's really big these days and it's very helpful. Yeah, I agree, as long as you stay positive, social media can be a huge help and it's a great way for people like me who live in Michigan that I can follow you and when you're in Wisconsin or somebody who's in California, and it just it just makes us all a little more connected, I think, which is great.
Speaker 2:Yes, I agree.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So, kennedy, is there anything we haven't talked about that we should, that I completely overlooked about you or your story.
Speaker 2:I don't think so. I think we've covered a lot, most of it.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right. And so when is your next race?
Speaker 2:It will be Thursday in Ashland, Wisconsin.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right. How far do you have to travel to go to a racetrack?
Speaker 2:It all varies. So, like my local track, menominee is about 30 minutes from me, rice Lake gets an hour from me, but like we like to go, we ended up going to Canada this Wednesday. That's about six hours from me. Um Fergus Falls, that's about four hours. We we traveled a decent amount, but like we could go further. South Dakota, north Dakota yeah, over there, but yeah, no, I got to go up to Canada Wednesday and that was really cool. It was, you know, going to a different country to race.
Speaker 1:That was cool yeah, and you didn't have any trouble going across with your car or anything no, which we were scared about which?
Speaker 2:um, because my dad, he wasn't good kid growing up and he has a lot of duis. They, the border patrol, doesn't like those, but they ended up not even asking us about it. I, I, I drove us through. So okay he could stay in the passenger seat. You know, I did the talking and, nope, they didn't ask anything and we went right through maybe five minutes and that was it that's good yeah so you're going to be surprised.
Speaker 1:I've been to Menominee, wisconsin, oh you have. So I have a really good friend that lives on a lake up there and he was in a business that I still use. I am in a company called Send Out Cars. I'm a distributor for them. Now it's called Promptings, but it's a gift, it's a greeting card and gifting business, and he was also involved in it for a long time and I actually was going through Wisconsin for some other things and stopped and we had coffee and sat and visited. So I've been to downtown Menominee and, yeah, so everybody can't say that because you know it's not a town that everybody's been to, but it's a really cool, cool little town for sure.
Speaker 2:Yes, and the racetrackacks right in town. So if you do end up coming back, you should stop down.
Speaker 1:Okay, I'm going to remember that and I'll be in touch if I do, so that you know that I'm headed your way to to watch, Cause that's that's always kind of one of my goals. I'd love to be able to to travel and see more of the women that I've interviewed actually watch them race. So you know, I have a big bucket list. It's just whether it's ever going to get accomplished or not. So right, Well, well, Kennedy, thank you for being on the show today. Is there any last words or anything at all that you want to share before we?
Speaker 2:go. Thank you so much for having me and I just want to make sure, like that, the girls know that, no matter what they choose to do, whether it's a male dominant sport or not, that they can do it if they just put in the work for it, and I really hope to see a lot more girls in these motorsports.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I do too. Thank you for that. I really appreciate that. So hang on right there and we're going to end the recording and then I'll give you some last instructions. That's it for this episode of the women's motorsports network podcast. We hope you've been inspired by the stories I shared today and feel more connected to the amazing community of women in motorsports. Remember, whether you're behind the wheel, in the pits or cheering from the stands, your story matters and together we're driving change and celebrating every milestone. If you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to subscribe, leave us a review and share it with someone who loves motorsports as much as you do, and don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram for updates, behind-the-scenes content and more incredible stories. So until next time, stay inspired, stay connected and keep racing through life. This is the Women's Motorsports Network podcast, where every woman's story is worth celebrating.