MONROE — A future NASCAR superstar may be racing at Evergreen Speedway this spring and summer.
On Thursday, NASCAR announced the 2009 class of its Drive for Diversity program, and Natalie Sather, one of the 12 drivers selected, will be racing in Evergreen Speedway’s Super Stock late-model division for Total Velocity Motorsports.
“This is probably one of the greatest days of my career,” the 23-year-old said by phone from Charlotte, N.C., where she is taking part in NASCAR’s preseason media tour.
Sather is from Fargo, N.D., and she started racing go-karts at the age of 8 before moving up to sprint cars. She won the American Sprint Car Series Midwest region championship in 2007, becoming the first woman to capture a major ASCS title. In 2008 she was the 360-class rookie of the year at Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway. See below for Sather’s NASCAR-provided biography.
Entering its sixth season, Drive for Diversity is NASCAR’s leading on-track diversity initiative. The program is designed to give young minority and female drivers opportunities to compete with established NASCAR teams at the grassroots level, such as the Whelen All-American Series at Evergreen Speedway.
“We think the Drive for Diversity program is a great thing for our sport,” Knight said. “We want to be part of it for years to come.”
Since 2004, 22 drivers have competed in Drive for Diversity, winning 28 races. The 2009 expansion from eight to 12 drivers comes two years after the program expanded to include teams in the Camping World Series, one level below NASCAR’s three national series: Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Trucks.
More than 200 drivers applied to be part of the 2009 class, and 25 were invited to the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Combine last October at South Boston (Va.) Speedway. Drivers were selected by their team owners based on their on-track performance and off-track interviews.
“In our interview with her, she was focused, not easily distracted,” said Jeff Knight, co-owner of Total Velocity Motorsports. “This young lady is motivated to make it in our sport. That’s what fires us up. We have high hopes for her season.”
Knight, from Monroe, and TVM co-owner Darin Stordahl of Marysville are veteran late-model racers. Knight won his first Super Stock feature race last season at Evergreen Speedway, and Stordahl raced throughout the region as part of the ASA Northwest Tour traveling series.
Sather’s crew chief will be Roger Habich, who raced for 17 years before deciding to take last season off to spend time with his family. TVM had a new car was built by three-time late-model champion John Zaretzke for Sather to drive this season.
“We supply the team, the entire team, and NASCAR helps us (find funding for) her racing experience,” Knight said.
Although Sather will keep her Evergreen winnings, she said she will mostly fund the season from her savings account. She plans on living in Everett and expects to arrive in the area next week to begin preparations for the upcoming racing season.
Natalie Sather is a 23-year-old race car driver from Fargo, N.D. Her father is in the automobile business and she grew up around cars, so it was only natural that she developed a passion for racing. Sather started racing go-karts at the age of nine and was the first female driver to win the Duffy Trophy for the 2001 Grand National Championship on pavement.
In 2002, Sather made the jump to sprint cars and was involved in a serious crash in her fifth race that required several surgeries. Amazingly, she came back later that season to post two top-ten finishes. In the following off-season, Sather went on to compete in the Miss Teen North Dakota USA Pageant where she was voted Miss Congeniality. Sather has since competed in the Miss North Dakota USA Pageant and was second runner-up.
Sather became the first woman to win a major ASCS trophy in 2007 when she won the Midwest Points Championship. The 2008 season was very successful for her since she finished in the top ten in the Knoxville Raceway points standings, also becoming the first woman to receive the 360 Rookie of the Year Award. In 2008, she also had the highest finish by a female in Knoxville Raceway history when she finished in third place, and was a graduate of the Lyn St. James Women in the Winners Circle program.
Due to her achievements in 2008, Sather was invited in October to show her skills at the 2008 Drive for Diversity Testing &Evaluation Combine presented by Sunoco at South Boston (Va.) Speedway. Her efforts at the Combine got her accepted into the 2009 Drive for Diversity class. This season, Sather will be competing in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Wash., for Total Velocity Motorsports.
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