International Women's Day 2010 - Two Top Motorsports Women Lead the Way - Ask Patty

Today is International Women's Day March 8th, 2010 - Equal rights, equal opportunities: Progress for all is the theme for 2010. I wanted to salute two amazing women in honor of this special celebration for women.

While women have been regular fixtures worldwide from the beginning of the automobile era in other forms of motorsports, such as sports-car racing, rallying and Formula 1, NASCAR did not allow women on its tracks, in its garages or pits until NASCAR's modern era began in 1972. At first, only accredited female journalists were permitted. Several years passed before other professional women were allowed to join them.

She dreamed of becoming an astronaut and became a top woman of NASCAR. Dale Earnhardt once told Alba Colon that she wouldn’t last a year working at NASCAR’s highest level: the Cup Series.

He was mistaken.

I had a rare opportunity to meet Alba Colon just before the race at Auto Club Speedway where Danica Patrick completed her 1st NASCAR race in February. No, Danica is not the top woman in NASCAR, Alba Colon is, she is the top female engineer in NASCAR's premium series. As the General Motors Program Manager for Chevrolet, she is the only woman at the top rung in any NASCAR-sanctioned series.

Colon, born Alba Lynnette Colon Rodriguez in 1968 in Salamanca, Spain, began her career with General Motors in 1994 after graduating from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus, as a mechanical engineer. Prior to moving to the United States, Colon was a project engineer for Sterling Pharmaceuticals in Puerto Rico.

Women working in responsible positions in NASCAR racing are a more common sight these days, with a large percentage of the marketing/public relations/communications work force being made up of women. And, of course, there are women competing directly against men on the race track. This is nothing new in motorsports, but for NASCAR Alba Colon is one of today's powerful women in the sport and GM Racing's Chevrolet Program Manager for NASCAR Cup racing in 2001.

She was hired by GM after four years of competing in the Formula SAE program, where she, as team captain, built race cars from the ground up and exhibited them at events held at the Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan (more details below). Her first assignment for GM was as data acquisition engineer for the Oval Track Group (NASCAR Winston Cup, Craftsman Truck, ASA and Busch Grand National). In 1998 she was named NHRA Pro Stock Truck program manager and in 2000 Colon was placed in charge of all of GM Racing's NHRA drag-racing programs, including Funny Car, Top Fuel Dragster, Pro Stock, Pro Stock Truck and Sportsman series.

Was there ever a time that you felt you were taken less seriously because you were a woman?: "I would say when I came here in 1994 it was a little bit different. I feel I'm respected more now than before. I feel welcome. You have to develop some respect from the teams, and they have to value and understand why you are there and what you are trying to do for them and I feel really welcome. I have a great relationship with the team owners and there's a lot of camaraderie and a lot of respect. I really love my job; it's really great."

What has been your biggest career highlight?: The first year I was with GM, we won the driver's championship and the manufacturer's championship with Jeff Gordon. When someone asks me what the highlights of (my) NASCAR career have been, this is definitely one of them. We are a little piece of the team but things like that let you know that we have been working to make things happen and of course we are very proud of that. When the teams say, 'thank you very much' and get that trophy in New York, you feel like, 'Okay, we did it. Now let's go and work for the next year.'

What was your career path:"When I was a college student I built a race car and I was hired after that by GM. When I was in college I was in the Formula SAE program. I was the first team captain for the team from University of Puerto Rico. We built a race car in an engineering competition. We had to design and build the race car and we came to Detroit for the competition and after doing this for four years GM hired me. I believe strongly in that competition and I volunteer my time to it now, to help those kids to get hired someday at GM or in other companies. When I'm not working in my GM Racing office, that's what I do, I volunteer my time."

What kind of car did you build?: "It's like a mini-Indy car. It's a small, open-wheel race car, with a motorcycle engine. You have to build it from the up and you have to come to the competition in Michigan, exhibit the car, race the car, and talk about the cost of the car. It's a great deal; we have a lot of people who have been in these projects who are right now working not only in GM, but on race teams. I know of at least two who now work for RCR and one at DEI."

How does the SAE competition work?: "In the first team we were six people. We built the race car, designed it, raised the money to build it, everything. The competition is held every year at the Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan, where the Lions football team used to play. They have a big parking lot. We build a small race track. We do acceleration, skid pad tests, autocross, endurance competition. I used to be a student doing that and now I represent GM in the competition. I am one of the organizers. We make the rules and we prepare this competition every year. Every year, about 1200 students go to this competition, and all of them get hired. There are people in F1, CART, IRL, NASCAR Winston Cup; there are so many of them. Here in the GM Racing department we have five people who were in that competition when they were students and now work here.

Alba Colon, a Latin-American woman, who dreamed as a young girl of becoming an astronaut, has risen to the top in NASCAR. She has truly proved that if you put your mind to something anything can be achieved. She is one of the most respected engineers in the NASCAR Cup Series garage; male, female or otherwise.

Another top woman in motorsports is Gillian Zucker, president of Auto Club Speedway, the first female president of a track hosting a NASCAR Cup Series event. As president, Zucker oversees all of the Speedway's business units including marketing, public relations, ticketing, accounting and operations.

California Speedway is a two-mile oval located halfway between Los Angeles and Palm Springs and is one of the busiest Motorsports facilities in the world. In addition to two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races that are the largest single-day ticketed sporting events in the state with more than 100,000 people in attendance, the track also promotes racing from the other top NASCAR series' including the Nationwide Series, Craftsman Truck Series and the Grand National Division, West Series. The track also hosts the NHRA, the AMA Superbike Championship, the Southern California Historic Sports Car Festival and a competitive drag racing program on the Auto Club Dragway.

Today, I salute Alba Colon and Gillian Zucker in honor of International Women's Day. They inspire me and strongly represent equal rights, equal opportunities: Progress for all women!

Jody DeVere
President and CEO
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