Kim Crosby spent 15 years in the NHRA and IHRA leagues before segueing into oval track racing. She got her first taste of a stock car in 2000 and was hooked.
Crosby spent time perfecting her oval track skills while serving as a Principal at Slidell Junior High School in Louisiana. In 2004, she resigned from that job to pursue her dream: racing full time.
Following her graduation from the Buck Baker Racing School, she was asked to return as an instructor. Crosby finally got a chance to show her skills when she made her Busch Series debut at Talladega Superspeedway in April 2004 where she finished in the top 20.
The Frankfurt Motor Show (in Frankfurt, Germany, of course) has been around for some 110 years, and its typically been dominated by men – but truly, what event or part of the automotive industry hasn’t?
Well no more folks. A leading women’s magazine, Brigitte, has partnered with the show in order to reach out to more women. The magazine, which has 3.2 million readers, will help the event staff set up a lounge for women called “Women can’t park.” Hmmm…
The lounge is featuring celebrity speakers and even the editors form Brigitte. There will be discussion groups and cars will be brought into the lounge expressly for the women. Apparently the show is more aware of women’s influence on auto buying, selling, and driving. The idea behind the discussions in the lounge is to talk about the cars without being overly serious, and, in the Brigitte editor’s words, “without breathing in exhaust fumes.”
Even the president of Germany’s auto association called women “an important consumer segment” and we say, where have you all been? Women have been in the forefront (if not hidden) for years now. Manufacturers and industry personnel are just now realizing it. Well, bravo of course!
Volkswagen is also supporting the lounge and will supplement the couches, chairs, food, drinks, and skin care products with a sampling of VW vehicles. VW is sponsoring “cultural and culinary highlights” and a cosmetics program for anyone who wants a “touch up” while attending the large show. Heck, I’ll just say it out loud – Women like spas and makeup, but that doesn’t mean we don’t also like our cars!
Results of vehicle check-up events during
Car Care Aware Fairs across the country in
April and October 2006 revealed that nearly
nine out of 10 vehicles need service or
parts, underscoring the huge untapped DIY
and DIFM sales opportunities for the
automotive aftermarket, the Car Care Council
reported today. The unsatisfactory condition
of vehicles also reinforces the continued
need for consumer education about the
benefits of regular vehicle care,
maintenance and repair.
An analysis of nearly 1,000 vehicle
inspection forms, submitted from event
coordinators in 16 states, show that 88
percent of the vehicles checked during
National Car Care Month in April and Fall
Car Care Month in October needed parts
replacement, service or fluids. The top
problem areas were motor oil, Windshield
wipers, air filters, belts and hoses and
lights.
“Vehicle check-up events are typically
the focus of Car Care Aware Fairs sponsored
by repair shops, parts stores, distributors
in cooperation with local vocational
schools, media, civic groups and others,”
said Rich White, executive director, Car
Care Council. “While these events are free
to consumers and serve as
community-relations builders, most
aftermarket businesses who participate
experience an increase in sales and
customers as a result.”
When checking lubricants and fluids, the
three top failure rates were: low, overfull
or dirty motor oil at 30 percent, inadequate
washer fluid levels at 28 percent, and low,
leaky or dirty coolant at 28 percent.
Transmission, brake, power steering and
clutch fluids were also checked and had
failure rates of 26 percent and below.
Approximately 15 percent of vehicles had
front windshield wiper failures and 9
percent needed service to rear wipers.
At least one belt was reported as
unsatisfactory in 22 percent of the vehicles
inspected and 14 percent required at least
one new hose. New air filters were needed in
25 percent of the vehicles, while 8 percent
needed new PVC filters. The “check engine”
light was on in 8 percent of the vehicles.
Battery cables, clamps and terminals
needed maintenance in 17 percent of the
vehicles inspected, while 9 percent of the
batteries were not properly held down.
Eleven percent had either a green, dark or
clear/yellow charge indicator light.
Improperly inflated tires were found on
20 percent of the cars and 11 percent had
worn tread and were in need of replacement.
The leading failure rates for vehicle
lights/vision were: license plate lights at
18 percent, brake lights at 10 percent and
side markers at 8 percent.
The Car Care Council is the source of
information for the “Be Car Care Aware”
consumer education campaign promoting the
benefits of regular vehicle care,
maintenance and repair to consumers. For
more information, visit
www.carcare.org.
I’m a born skeptic. What do you expect? I’m originally from the Show-Me state. We don’t believe what we’re told. We must be shown. So when I heard about interior car toxins and a product that claims to reduce them, I had to do my own research.
Last year, the Ecology Center released a study about car interior toxins. Besides carbon monoxide emissions, I wasn’t sure what they meant by that. But after reading a bit of their press release I found out. Their report says that PBDEs, chemicals used for fire retardants, and phthalates, used to soften plastics and part of that “new car smell” people seem to love, are found inside your car. And guess what? The chemicals are clinging to the dust in your interior and clamoring for space on your windshield — in the form of that film you can’t quite get rid of unless you’re parked “just so” in the sunlight and are willing to climb around the inside of your car like a monkey to get every nook and cranny sparkling clean.
CCNS - Picture yourself driving 500 miles at more than 200 miles an hour, under the most stressful conditions, never knowing what you might have to avoid in the next fraction of a second. That goes with the territory in the NASCAR racing circuit.
Compare this to your own driving. How much time would you need to deal with a road emergency? At 60 miles an hour, that’s 66 feet per second, you’ve already gone about 60 feet since you began reading this sentence.
Would that have given you enough time to stop in a panic situation? It depends not only upon your state of mind, eyesight and physical condition, says the Car Care Council, the condition of your brakes and your tires play a big part in instant response.
From the time you see the situation and process it in your mind, and then move your foot to the brake pedal and apply pressure to the pedal, precious time has elapsed.
Then, assuming your brakes will be responsive, the steering and tires can help avert the disaster.
How long since you had yours checked, asks the Council? Safe driving is a demanding responsibility.
Get your free copy of the Car Care Guide today!
This first-of-its-kind reference guide for motorists from the Car Care Council is now available to the independent aftermarket. Focus group research revealed that shop owners, counterpersons and technicians would find the guide valuable when discussing recommended maintenance and repair to their customers. Consumers interviewed agreed that they would trust information from a credible third party like the Car Care Council.
The successful “Be Car Care Aware” consumer education campaign has demonstrated motorists’interest in vehicle maintenance information and advice. The 56-page guide covers nine major service occasions and 12 component groups of the vehicle, plus service interval recommendations, a maintenance log and much more.
NEW: The Car Care Guide is also available in Spanish, English-Metric and French. Be sure to specify which version you would like to receive.
For information on ordering the Car Care Guide in large quantities, please call (240) 333-1088.
This week AskPatty.com is taking a trip around the motorsports world to see what's happening with fantabulous females in the racing world. This week we crawled the web to find all the posts and articles floating in the blogosphere about women in motorsports.
Congratulations! NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Peggy Llewellyn won her first NHRA national event at, making the Countdown to One field by the slenderest of margins. She'll join reigning world champ Andrew Hines, Matt Smith, and Chip Ellis for a two-race showdown.
Kim Lopez-Johnson changed the face of NASCAR this weekend at the Smith's Las Vegas 350. She was the lead Official Starter located in the flagstand on the start/finish line. It was a first for NASCAR: Lopez-Johnson became the first female to wave the silks in any NASCAR national series race.
Serenity Sutherlandremembers growing up and asking her father if there were any women competing in auto racing. She didn't think she would be allowed to race because she was a girl. Her Dad told her she could do anything she wanted. Today, Sutherland pilots her family-owned 358 modified at Black Rock Speedway in Dundee. At 23, Sutherland is already in her 11th year of racing in her fourth different class of cars.
Sunoco will climb onboard with RCR Development driver Jessica Helberg and the BMR No. 20 Late Model Team as the primary sponsor for the rest of the 2007 season. Currently, Helberg is ranked third in the NASCAR All-American Whelan Series point standings. She has garnered six top-5's and 12 top-10 finishes.
Jessica Brannam's motto is simple, "I might be small, but I can haul". This 16-year-old is making quite a splash in the racing world; she's won 16 National Championships, 14 Regional Championships and 178 feature race victories. But that's not enough for this feisty teenager, her ultimate goal - Formula One racing.
Ashley Force pulled out of the NHRA Funny Car semi-finals after her father, John Force, sustained a compound fracture of his left ankle, a lacerated right knee, a dislocated left wrist and abrasions on two fingers on s right hand after a collision with Kenny Bernstein last Sunday at the NHRA O'Reilly Fall Nationals in Dallas. Force is expected to make a full recovery.
NASCAR Busch East Series rookie Michelle Theriault made her Dover International Speedway debut this past Friday. While the finish wasn't exactly what Team GLOCK was looking for, Theriault was still happy with the results, "It wasn't the day we were looking for but we persevered with a top-20 finish," Theriault said after the race. "I couldn't get the car to turn the way I needed to and it wound up hurting me all day long. We had a lot of support for the race and I really was hoping to bring in a good finish, but a top-20 finish under all the circumstances we faced is something I'll take." Next up for Theriault: The NASCAR TOYOTA All-Star Showdown at Irwindale Speedway in Irwindale, California on October 19 and 20.
AskPatty.com is a 2007 proud sponsor of the NASCAR No. 112 AskPatty.com Chevrolet driven by the highest ranked professional female race car driver Deborah Renshaw. Watch Deborah in the ARCA/ReMax Series event on October 5th at Talladega Superspeedway broadcast live on Speed. Check out Deborah's website at www.deborahrenshaw.com.
We know you ladies love your cars and we truly enjoy reading what you have to say about your automotive companions. Here's the next installment of our weekly Car Blabber carnival in which we highlight some of our favorite recent car profiles.
Want to blab about your own car and see it featured here? Then venture over to askpatty.com/carblabber to create a profile of your own, and review all the cars you love, love to hate, or just the ones you would love to drive.
Like many Mustang enthusiasts, Beavswoman thinks the best feature of her 1999 Mustang GT is its horsepower, and as a true car gal, she is well prepared with "jumper cables, tools for an emergency." Her current 'Stang is just one in a series of four her family has owned, including the BumbleBee-styled 2005 that her husband loves so much. Thanks for joining us!
SoCalMom calls her 2006 Volvo S60 "Inga," and says with pride, that she "truly is a sexy gal. I love the lacquered wood accents of her interior, including a polished wooden steering wheel, which makes me feel like I’m driving a classic sports car." I like SoCalMom; she keeps her own different stash of "emergency gear" in her trunk.
VelkyMX is a speeder who first fell in love with a Chevy Camaro Z28. She says she traded in her minivan for a 2002 Chevey Tahoe and a VHS player. She claims its best feature is the third-row seats, but laments its poor fuel economy.
Lina is a Driver who has put more than 85,000 miles on her 2002 Toyota Camry, and she says it still drives the same as when she bought it (used with 30,000 miles on the odometer). She appreciates the 30 mpg her Camry averages, but dislikes the poor visibility.
JadeBlue is the Driver of a 1993 Subaru Impreza who thinks its Boxer engine is the best feature of her car, saying it "is a good car with very little maintenance problems for first 10 years." She predicts her car is "probabaly going to go up to 200,000 miles." That's quite a statement of how reliable she thinks her car is!
Lots of thanks to these ladies for sharing their car stories with us. Do you want to blab about how much you love your car? Or would you rather vent about how much you hate it? Then join our network at askpatty.com/carblabber, where you can create your own profile and sing praises, make apologies, or complain about your own vehicle! Register and post your car review on CarBlabber and enter for a chance to win a beautiful Harvey's seat belt bag of your own here: www.askpatty.com/carblabber. Maybe your vehicle will be one of the five we feature in an upcoming edition of our CarBlabber Carnival!
I am in Motown, (Detroit) this week and have two great events to honor and support the careers of women in the automotive industry.
Ever think about a career in the automotive industry? Would you encourage your daughter to look at the automotive industry as a career? There is a shortage of young women choosing the automotive industry and the various exciting, lucrative and interesting career choices.
From professional race car driver, being on a design team on a new vehicle to running your own car dealership, there are so many choices and a BIG demand to hire more qualified women. Sound interesting and exciting? It really is.
I will be presenting Lyn St James, professional race car driver and founder of the Women's in the Winner's Circle Foundation, with a professional achievement award at the Automotive Hall of Fame tonight, in my role as president of the Women's Automotive Association International. I will also be participating Friday at the opening of the 44th annual Northwood University Auto Show to support Tiffany Nabozny the show's 2007 general chair.
Northwood University Senior Tiffany Nabozny is the first female student to chair this 44 year old auto show, she credits the hard work of the students for making the show a success.
"The 2007 International Auto Show has grown to include 100 more
vehicles than last year's show - that's a 25 percent increase in one
year," said Nabozny. "This figure is just further proof of Northwood
students' commitment to successfully managing the biggest and the best
outdoor auto show in the country."
Tiffany invited me to take part in the V.I.P. event that will open the show on Friday featuring keynote speaker Dean Eisner, president and C.E.O. of Manheim, and a panel discussion with industry leaders and influencers, including Jamie Power from J.D. Power and Associates; myself, Jody DeVere, President of AskPatty.com and Women's Automotive Association International; Don Reimondo of Affinia Group Inc.; Chip Perry, President and C.E.O. of AutoTrader.com and Darryl Jackson, V.P. of U.S. Sales for Chrysler.
Note: I am so honored to be in such good company on this VIP panel as the only female auto industry representative !
Careers in automotive are not all about getting greasy under your fingernails. Investigate your career options in the automotive sector and encourage your daughters to do the same!
Jody DeVere President www.AskPatty.com www.CarBlabber.com
When interest rates go down, you might think about refinancing your home loan. Did you know you can also refinance your used car loan. Refinancing your used car loan can save you money.
Used Car Loan Refinance: How Much Can it Save?
Some car lenders have finance rates as high as 18%. By simply refinancing your high interest rate used car loan, you can save thousands of dollars over the life of your loan. When you refinance your used car loan, you save in the long run and potentially lower your monthly by hundreds of dollars.
By simply taking a few minutes to fill out our online used car loan refinance form, you can potentially save yourself thousands of dollars. The AskPatty finance center for women will take your refinance application, and provide you with up to four used car loan refinance offers. You get to pick the lowest rate available.
If you were offered a car in exchange for having a baby, would you try to produce a child? I’m not talking about actually trading the baby for the car, but receiving the car as a reward for procreating. Would you do it? Some people in Russia are.
Russia’s population has fallen for the last 17 years. Analysts predict that the population could drop as low as 100 million by 2050. Considering that Russia has about one seventh of the world’s surface, we’re talking about a very sparsely populated country.
But in the Ulyanovsk Region, officials are trying to change all of that. They created a new holiday, ‘Family Unity Day’, to encourage people to try for children. Unofficially people call it a ‘Day of Conception’. And nine months later, successful couples can win a prize including cash, cars, and refrigerators.
So while Russia’s overall population declines, the Ulyanovsk Region birth rate has gone up since 2005. I guess the plan is working for some. Who knew people would need to be awarded prizes and given a holiday in order to convince them to try for kids? With so many other countries suffering from overcrowding, I wonder why they don’t just offer incentives for people to move there? That would seem like a better solution for all involved. Besides, they could still offer a car as an incentive. People have moved for much less.
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Kim Crosby spent 15 years in the NHRA and IHRA leagues before segueing into oval track racing. She got her first taste of a stock car in 2000 and was hooked. 
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