July 31, 2025
Gina Kolevar: Family, Food, and Fast Cars: Building Motorsport Community
Send us a text Gina Culliver shares her journey as the "Nissan Queen" of Whittemore Speedway, starting her racing career at 43 after losing her father and best friend to cancer. Now at 51, she balances her nursing career with her passion for motorsports, community service, and creating a welcoming family atmosphere at Michigan's oldest continuously operated speedway. • Growing up as a "track kid" watching her father race super late models • Starting racing at 43 after her father's passing an...
Gina Culliver shares her journey as the "Nissan Queen" of Whittemore Speedway, starting her racing career at 43 after losing her father and best friend to cancer. Now at 51, she balances her nursing career with her passion for motorsports, community service, and creating a welcoming family atmosphere at Michigan's oldest continuously operated speedway.
• Growing up as a "track kid" watching her father race super late models
• Starting racing at 43 after her father's passing and encouragement from a dying friend
• Creating community by cooking weekly meals for 50+ fellow racers
• Becoming the oldest woman to win a feature race at Whittemore Speedway
• Racing with her father's number 84 and signature blue color scheme
• Dealing with autoimmune disease while continuing to race competitively
• Organizing memorial races with accessible sponsorship options for local businesses
• Promoting youth involvement through mini wedge racing programs
• Finding balance through yoga and maintaining a positive racing mindset
• Displaying her "You just got passed by a grandma" sticker with pride
Visit Whittemore Speedway to see Gina race in her #84 blue and white Nissan Altima, and stay after the races to enjoy her famous Saturday night meals where racers come together as family.
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00:00 - Introducing Gina the Racer
02:48 - Growing Up at the Track
04:34 - Finding Racing Later in Life
09:09 - The Nissan Queen of Whittemore
13:45 - Cooking for the Racing Family
23:05 - Racing Memories and Community Impact
31:06 - Teaching Kids Through Motorsports
37:33 - Closing Thoughts and Appreciation
WEBVTT
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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.
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We're here to celebrate the trailblazers, dreamers and doers shaping the sport we love.
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Each episode we share inspiring stories of females of all ages, from every corner of the motorsports universe, past, present and future.
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It's a journey through the seasons of life filled with heartfelt moments, laughter and a whole lot of horsepower.
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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.
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This is the Women's Motorsports Network podcast, connecting and celebrating women in motorsports, one story at a time.
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Let's hit the track.
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Hello everyone, this is Melinda Russell, with the Women's Motorsports Network podcast, and my guest today is Gina Culliver.
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Now, is that right, gina?
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Did I say it right?
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You said it correctly, okay, you know, sometimes I struggle with last names and I do my best.
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I try to make sure I say it right.
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So, gina, I want to welcome you to the show today and would you start by telling us a little bit about yourself, your family, your pets, so we can get to know you better.
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Sure, sure.
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I am 51 years old, I am a registered nurse and I'm working my dream job.
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I'm a clinical auditor for the state.
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I have two grown children.
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I actually have a daughter that's getting married in two days oh my gosh, exciting.
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Yes, yes, yes.
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And I have a son.
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He's 31.
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And I have three grandkids and keep very busy.
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I have a bulldog named Tucker and he is my racing sidekick.
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He goes everywhere with me, except for the very hot days when he has to stay home, and he's never happy about it.
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No.
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So, yeah, I have always been affiliated with the racing circuit and it's just part of my life and who I am, and so just one of those things you want to check off your bucket list.
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Absolutely so.
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How did you get started in motorsports?
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I grew up at a racetrack.
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My dad raced.
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He raced a super late model which you very rarely see anymore.
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Those are kind of special events up here where I live but he did race that I grew up basically sleeping in the stands as a small child.
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I remember being about three years old and it was a dirt track.
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So you woke up and you were covered in dirt.
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So my dad raced and he passed away from esophageal cancer.
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It has been 14 years and after that my best friend passed away.
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I've actually had two best friends that have passed away from breast cancer and one of them wrote a note and in the note she wrote I want you to do what you've always wanted to do.
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So when I was younger, a girl getting in a race car and racing wasn't commonplace and I was 43 years old at the time and thought, well, I'm going to give it a try.
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So I did, and here I am eight years later still plugging along and racing is.
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You know, my dad always said it's an addiction and I kind of we all laughed at him, but he was so correct it's an addiction.
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So once you get in the car and you get over the fear, of fear and you keep moving, then you know, once you get going you can't wait to get back in.
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So yeah, he's so right, it is so addicting.
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The smells, even the dirt, all those things, it's addicting for sure.
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Yes.
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Yeah, so it's addicting.
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We know you're addicted to it, you admitted that.
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But what is it that keeps you going back every weekend or whatever?
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Because it's expensive, it's hard work, it can be frustrating.
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Why do you keep going back?
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Um?
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a large part of it is family.
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Um, once you get going in and you've established yourself at a track, it's family.
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I can honestly say, um, I stepped away from the racetrack when I, you know, got married and started having kids and stuff and then when I decided to go back, it was like I didn't miss a beat.
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I mean, the people that have been there have always been there.
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I've always been welcomed with open arms.
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The volunteers and the people that are employed by the track have been incredible to me.
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I mean, they've been so good.
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We did kind of hit a little snag in the beginning.
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It got really competitive within my group so I thought, as I'm quite obviously the oldest woman out there, that I would let the mom vibe kick in and so I started cooking meals for everyone and so it's an every Saturday thing now.
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So when the races are done, we all sit and we talk and we break bread and everybody gets along.
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We have a very tight knit group.
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We all get along very well and it's very important to me to keep that unity piece in there.
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And I enjoy going back more for the company of the people I race with than anything.
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I mean, like I said, I won't lie, I love being in the car, but I also like just being able to see everyone.
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They're my family and I miss them when I'm not.
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So and so what track is that that you race at?
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Gina, I race at Whittemore Speedway.
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It is Michigan's oldest continuously operated speedway and I can proudly say I am the oldest woman to ever win a feature race there.
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so oh yeah, yes, so I'm gonna write that down.
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Um, you know, it's interesting, I just interviewed another gal that races there and.
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I learned she has another.
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Really cool.
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You know, whittemore has a lot of really good traditions.
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Yes, she's the the fourth generation woman racer, oh wow at that track um, is it Caitlin?
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her mom, I think she said to her mom did race there.
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Yeah, yeah, so, yeah, so you know, for for a little track kind of in the middle of nowhere, really right?
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Yeah, it's got some some long-standing, very cool traditions.
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Yes, and yeah, awesome.
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So how'd you feel when you won that race?
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it's funny you asked that I've said so frequently I didn't it.
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I was in shock, kind of, when I won it.
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It was one of those nights that I just I won every race.
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I I drove that night.
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I don't know what that I just I won every race.
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I drove that night.
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I don't know what happened.
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I mean not that it's bad, I mean I expect to win.
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But it was just one of those nights where everything felt right and I kind of knew before the race it felt good, I had pole position you can't complain about that Right.
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So I was there and sometimes I make a joke and say I'm pretty sure my dad's taken over the wheel.
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And that probably was one of those nights and I was kind of in shock when it happened.
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Like I guess you know I didn't savor the moment.
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So now I'm kind of hungry for the second one so I can enjoy it a little more and take advantage of it, because the first time I didn't quite like I should have a little more and take advantage of it, because the first time I didn't quite like I should have.
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Yeah, but I I think that's just from, like you said, the shock of it and just not realizing you know what to expect or how to feel, even for sure, yeah, and so now you do, and now you'll enjoy the second one.
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Yes, yes, you see people get out and they're banging their fists on the car and climbing on the roof, and I didn't do any of that and I then I was thinking, well, what the heck it?
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And maybe it's because I'm older, Maybe my emotions are like telling me don't climb on a car.
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Yeah, better to keep your feet on the ground, for sure, yeah, so, um, tell me about your car.
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What do you drive?
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What color is it?
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What number is it?
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All those things.
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I have a.
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It's a stock car, it's a front wheel drive.
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I have a Nissan Altima.
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I have been affectionately deemed the Nissan queen at the track because I'm.
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There was another girl that was racing a Nissan and she moved up.
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She's moved up in the world.
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So I'm the only one driving the Nissan F-E-Mail, so I'm the Nissan queen.
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I often say queens are old.
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That's the only reason they gave me the title.
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It's the Ultima.
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It's white and blue.
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It's a particular shade of blue that my dad always had on his car, so it's important to me to keep that shade.
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In the beginning we actually went and changed the paint scheme on our car every week.
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I've had a Minion car, I've had a Dukes of Hazzard car, I have had a Batman car.
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I have had so many different types of cars, but when I got to the shade of blue I couldn't leave it.
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My heart was there.
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I knew what it meant, I knew what it symbolized, and so I haven't stepped away from that.
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This year I did.
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This is my eighth season of getting in a car and I've always wanted to have the chrome numbers, which isn't anything special, but I got them this year.
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So I'm really excited that I got my car with my special my dad his car the favorite was those two, so I think that's probably the attachment to it.
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Yeah, and what number are you?
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84.
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And was that your dad's number?
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It was yes.
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I knew that.
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I mean, I didn't know, know it, but I, I, in my heart, I knew it because that's, that's a typical thing, that we'd pick those numbers.
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Yeah, yeah, for sure.
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Awesome.
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So you've been racing for eight years.
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Yes, how much longer are you going to race?
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It's funny you say that I've kind of been taking it year by year.
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I actually got diagnosed with autoimmune disease and I have rheumatism.
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So there are good days and bad days, but this year has been pretty phenomenal.
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I haven't had any days that the next day I thought, oh my goodness, I can't move, or anything like that.
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Now my dog, on the other hand, he needs a few days to recuperate.
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But for me I've done pretty well.
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I keep feeling this good.
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Like I said, I really enjoy getting in the car.
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I don't see myself leaving now that I'm here.
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But obviously time will tell.
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We just take the day as it goes goes.
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I do put myself in time out on occasion and say I'm taking a week or two off, but it's more the emotion, the, the passion that you get caught up in it.
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And this year has been a struggle like mechanically for me with my car.
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I just cannot seem to get it tuned in the way we need to, and so I did put myself in timeout one week and that was all it took for me to be ready to get back in.
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So yeah, so do you have somebody that helps you work on your car?
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I have lots of somebody's that helped me.
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When I started off, the very first night I was there, I had about three or four drivers that came up and they befriended me and they have not left my side.
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They have been there the whole way along.
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I can call them anytime, day or night, and they help.
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I obviously have the car owner is what I call him who maintains things, and when we started I don't think he even knew how to do an oil change.
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So we've progressed a long way.
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I'm still learning as we go, but I have basically one of my best friends that passed away.
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Her son races as well and he's kind of my adopted go-to and I promised to always be there for him and he's done the same for me.
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He actually my car got totaled in one of the races.
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Somebody just ran into me in the right place and bent the frame and he literally built me an identical car.
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So I have to remind myself sometimes that it's a different car because I forget.
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Yeah, what a wonderful young man.
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Yes, he's incredible.
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He's incredible.
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I have made the most phenomenal friends and family out of this experience.
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And that's the thing that you'll take with you.
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No matter whether you race for a lot of years or not many years, or whatever, you'll still have all those friendships.
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They don't go away.
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Yeah, for sure.
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And a lot of my dad's friends come and check in on me and make sure I'm okay too.
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That's nice.
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Yeah, it's nice to have that support.
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Yeah, so you know you said sometimes you know the dog needs more recuperation than you do, but how do you find like balance?
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Or you know, take good care of yourself and we still have laundry and groceries and all those things to do and then and race.
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So how do you combine all that so that you're kind of in balance, or hopefully you're in balance?
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You're going to laugh at me.
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I joke and tell everybody I have OCD.
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I am extremely particular.
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Fridays are shopping days.
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That means whatever I'm cooking on Saturday, I'm getting that food ready.
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I like to bake.
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I bake a lot of cupcakes.
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I'm also the vice president of the Chamber of Commerce for Whittemore.
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So, yeah, I cook for bingo on Monday nights.
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That's kind of my thing, that's my getaway and that's kind of my Saturday race routine is that I get up and I cook because it allows me to not think about anything else.
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I'd rather worry about burning food than whether or not my car is going to do well and how I'm going to do.
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You allow yourself that moment to get anxious and you feed off of it, so I have to do whatever it takes.
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I also go to yoga three nights a week.
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That's very helpful.
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So it probably, honestly, is very helpful.
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It's very relaxing for you, isn't it?
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Yes, yes, I do attribute that very largely to being able to be what I need to be as far as like to stay in the car and stay comfortable.
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Yeah, yeah.
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So, gina, what do you cook and how many people do you feed on a Saturday?
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Oh um.
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I usually cook for about 50.
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Last week was enchiladas and Mexican rice, and then they're on a cookie kick because it's been so hot that we can't do anything else.
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But um, yeah, it varies.
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I let them pick the menu.
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I kind of laugh at bingo because, like when I cook for them as well, because somebody asked me a question like how do you know what to cook for people and I said these are all comfort food.
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People, like everybody around here, I never cook anything that the track is serving or anything like that.
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I don't feel like that'd be fair, but, um, yeah, I cook them.
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You know, some of these, some of the people that come racing, this is the only cooked meal they get in a week, and when it's the end of the year, that's one of the things they say, like I'm going to miss this.
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So, um, yeah, it's I.
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I bet you find it hard to believe Like I.
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Some of them call me mama bear, mama G or whatever.
00:15:31.734 --> 00:15:33.337
So, um, it's part of the fun of getting into this when you're older.
00:15:33.357 --> 00:15:35.102
Um, this year has not been favorable.
00:15:35.102 --> 00:15:44.998
I have not won a race yet, and usually I'm pretty good with heat races and stuff like that, so it's it's starting to weigh on me a little bit, but hopefully we'll get the demons worked out of the car and figure it out.
00:15:45.057 --> 00:15:46.801
So yeah, oh, I hope so.
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And you know, stay positive, which I feel like you are a positive person because you're you're very giving.
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Not everybody would want to cook for 50 people Plus bingo.
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I don't know how many are at bingo, but you know that's a, that's a lot to take on.
00:16:01.312 --> 00:16:06.062
So I'm sure that not only are you appreciated, but you must be a really good cook.
00:16:10.789 --> 00:16:11.150
I'm getting better.
00:16:11.150 --> 00:16:11.292
Well, I.
00:16:11.292 --> 00:16:12.898
To me it's commonplace, it's what I've had my whole entire life.
00:16:12.898 --> 00:16:14.443
But yeah, I told them pretty okay at it.
00:16:14.543 --> 00:16:18.937
So well, and everybody doesn't grow up that way, right, you know?
00:16:18.937 --> 00:16:26.517
And so for people who haven't grown up in a lifestyle where home cooking is kind of the norm, then that's a big deal.
00:16:27.037 --> 00:16:38.894
It is, it is and, like I said, I, you know, one of my friends posted on social media yesterday like some kids are the lucky kids that get to grow up in the racetrack.
00:16:38.894 --> 00:16:53.017
You know, in that scene and I'm one of the lucky kids I got to do that you know, my Saturdays were a bunch of guys out in the garage and a race car engine revving and someone grooving the tires and, you know, fixing last week's dent.
00:16:53.017 --> 00:16:55.302
You know, we have enough time to get that in, let's do it.
00:16:55.302 --> 00:17:02.793
And my dad hopped in his car and literally drove it down the street because it was two blocks away to the racetrack and that's what I grew up with.
00:17:02.793 --> 00:17:07.942
I mean, that was very commonplace for me and you know, to go to the racetrack and walk in.
00:17:07.942 --> 00:17:13.871
They knew who you were, they knew who you belong to, you could run wherever you wanted and yeah it was safe it was.
00:17:13.971 --> 00:17:17.863
It was very safe, and that is one thing I will say I do.
00:17:17.863 --> 00:17:22.953
I still feel like they can kind of have that atmosphere at Whittemore.
00:17:22.953 --> 00:17:29.162
It is small but it's so worth it to be able to have that peace of mind with your family and your kids being there.
00:17:29.162 --> 00:17:33.453
Now my kids are all adults, but yeah, you know, it's for those that aren't.
00:17:33.453 --> 00:17:34.116
It's nice.
00:17:34.557 --> 00:17:35.339
Yeah, for sure.
00:17:35.339 --> 00:17:44.801
So have you ever had anybody come up to you at the track and say you know, my little girl or my little boy, whatever would like to get into racing.
00:17:44.801 --> 00:17:47.415
What would you say to them?
00:17:48.471 --> 00:17:48.912
I have.
00:17:48.912 --> 00:17:54.453
I encourage everybody to do everything and I'm a prime example that it's never too late to try.
00:17:54.453 --> 00:18:02.778
You know, when I started this, one of the things was some of the drivers were like, well, they didn't feel appreciated.
00:18:02.778 --> 00:18:06.875
We're front wheel drives, we're considered the economy class, right.
00:18:06.875 --> 00:18:18.795
And I laughed because most of the people in my class are not beginners and the ones now that are in the you know the bigger classes, the, and they're winning are the ones that have started out with me.
00:18:18.795 --> 00:18:21.982
So you know, it's incredible to watch people grow.
00:18:23.310 --> 00:18:25.753
You never get too young or too old to try.
00:18:25.753 --> 00:18:27.336
If, if you want to do it, you need to do it.
00:18:27.336 --> 00:18:30.919
And you got to check things off of that bucket list.
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