Full Throttle

NOTE: What follows is the first of what I hope will be a long series of interviews conducted with various females that are just below NASCAR’s radar. They are for the most part underfunded, but dedicated to making it to the top rung of the stock car ladder.

My roots being in the Mid-West, and specifically ARCA’s brand of racing, the selection of Alli Owens as the first in the series was an easy one and affirmed by her consistent level of performance during her rookie year at the ARCA level.

Alexandra “Alli” Owens background:

A Daytona Beach native she started racing the boys at age 8 when she entered a BMX bicycle race and was quickly signed as a factory rider for Dan’s Competition/Huffy Bikes. After numerous victories and winning the President’s Cup she gave up two wheels for four.

A short encounter with quarter midgets led to the Dirt Pure Stock Division on ½ mile clay oval at Volusia Speedway Park at age 13. That first year she scored two wins, six top five, eight top‑10 finishes and ended the 2003 season sixth out of twenty seven cars in the championship standings.

The following year of 2004 Alli competed in the Mini Stock division at New Smyrna Speedway claiming Rookie-of-the-Year honors along with a third in the final standings. 2005 saw the same success in the Late Model division at New Smyrna, ending the season third in the championship standings and her second consecutive Rookie‑of‑the‑Year award.

Prior to the 2007 season the National Labor Management Cooperation Committee (NLMCC), a joint entity of the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), signed on to be Alli’s primary sponsor. She went on to compete in the NASCAR Whelen All‑American Series at Hickory Motor Speedway and in the Late Model division at Tri‑County Speedway.

That brings you up to the current season where Alli is competing on a ten event ARCA RE/MAX Series schedule with the assistance of Mario Gosselin’s DGM Racing with sponsorship from ElectrifyingCareers.

FT: The 2007 season saw you commute from your Daytona Beach home to compete at Hickory Motor Speedway and Tri-county Motor Speedway with great success. Has that part of your career been put on hold or do you have plans to resume racing at either track during breaks in the ARCA schedule this year?

Alli: “Hickory and Tri-County are among a few of the short tracks that I feel in love with. I would most definitely go back there and toss it around again with the boys, but unfortunately it is just too hard to make that trip this year. So no Hickory or Tri-county for me this race season.”

FT: Alli, you’re currently slated to compete in 10 ARCA RE/REMAX Series events with the Kentucky 150 on July 18th the start of the second half of your ARCA season. You have been limited to only those ARCA events broadcast live on Speed. Was that a requirement of your primary sponsor ElectrifyingCareers.com and do they have plans to increase sponsorship based on your performance?

Alli: “Well first of all racing is something totally new to them. Before we started they couldn’t even tell you what a lug nut is, but now they are all pretty much into the racing and can hold race related conversations. So when we decided to move up from Late Models to ARCA, that was a big jump for both myself and sponsors. We chose to take it slow and do a limited schedule and see how things progressed, Needless to say both parties are extremely happy how things are going and who knows what will happen next year.”

FT: The ARCA Series has a great mix of young drivers such as yourself and veterans like eight-time ARCA champion Frank Kimmel and the legendary James Hylton, have any of the vets taken you aside and become a mentor as you progress through the first season at the ARCA level?

Alli: Frank Kimmel is awesome! He has been great with me and all us “young bucks.” He has helped me learn to relax and just be myself and he is always there when someone needs advice. James Hylton is a wonderful man also.

“I remember he came up to me in Iowa and said he was impressed with how I’m progressing. That meant a lot coming from someone like him who has been around the sport longer than I have been alive. I try to watch and talk to the veterans because you can never learn too much?”

FT: Tell us about your ARCA crew, are they made up of members of the Mario Gosselin owned DGM Racing crew or have some migrated from your own Owens Racing team?

Alli: “The main crew that is always with us is more like family. They all come from the DGM Racing garage. Mario Gosselin (Poppa Goose) has been awesome and without him my transition to ARCA would have been a lot harder. The second man in charge is Bill Davis (Heerow) my Car Chief. He is really cool and we get along like brother and sister and that means a lot because he helps us communicate.”

“Then we have my tire guys, Kevon and Brian. They are fun to around and they do great work. There are more but these are the ones that stick oit the most. Last but not least my over the wall pit guys are all from Richard Childress Racing and they are super. Really funny guys and they believe in my which makes us all work together!”

FT: Talladega looms on the horizon later in the season with the ARCA RE/MAX 250 in October. Your DGM Racing team tested there on two occasions in preps for the the ARCA eventheld during Daytona Speed Weeks. What was learned that can be used in October?

Alli: “That “Dega” is smooth… cruise control smooth! On a more serious note, I learned a lot about aero. We tested a lot of things and gained speed and increased our performance so I really excited to go there hopefully in October.”

FT: Living up in the shadow of Daytona International Speedway has given you a chance to work with local city officials on the Motorsports Daytona Beach Council as a member of their Think Tank. What are your duties as a member of the council?

Alli: “To think!!! Ha-Ha! Actually I’m being serious. They brain storm ideas about events or structures that would bring motorsports back into the area. We have done things like parades and festivals. My duties are to give them the view of someone inside the industry. I enjoy it and really like being a part of it.”

FT: This past week you had a chance to test a new Daytona 500 Experience attraction (See Alli at the “controls” here), the ARCA Driver Development Program simulator, what was that like? You scored the top time right? And when can we expect one to be installed in your home recreation room?

Alli: “I had a blast! I got to race against all the media people and put two of them in the wall because they were blocking me! Ha-Ha!

I’m really happy they put that attraction in there because it is the same program all of us drivers really use to brush up on our skills. Yeah, I had the top score, but I ran out of there after they posted it because my little brother was in line and I wasn’t about to watch him knock me off the charts! Ha-Ha!”

FT: One of your aspirations is to own a development team for females who desire a career in racing, have you had any contact with Lynn St. James for guidance or looked into the possibility of a working relationship her? And secondly, have you joined her Project Podium program?

Alli: “Lyn St. James and I have been close friends since 2004 when I attended her driving development program in Arizona. She has had a lot of input in my career and most likely will for the rest of our lives. She is such a giving person and I learn from her program as far as as how to stay focused and achieve goals. I’m currently not involved with Project Podium as much as I would like to be, but I’m sure we will be doing a lot of talking on July 24th at the Woman’s in Winners Circle luncheon in Indy.”

Alli if you don’t mind I have a couple “fantasy” questions:

FT: I understand one of your favorite modes of personal transportation is a motorcycle, if you were given the chance to have the Teutul’s of Orange County Choppers build you one of their fantastic theme bikes what would the theme be?

Alli: Just to watch Pauly and Paul Sr. test drive a bike with my “Alli Owens Pick Heart” (I sign my name with a pink heart over the ‘I’ in Alli and the heart is also on my car and website) on it would be enough. Ha-Ha!

FT: If your choice was between racing the Daytona 500, the Le Mans 24 hours or the Dakar Rally which would you prefer?

Alli: “Easy question!! I’m a backwoods girl born in a single wide trailer in corn fields. I grew up playing in the mud and being rough and rowdy. Stock car racing was generated from backwood boys runnin’ shine while being chased by the law. NASCAR is based on grass roots racers and working class people who support it.’

“Banging fenders and slinging dirt in the 1/2 mile track in the back yard of Daytona Int’l Speedway is where my career took off. I dreamed day and night about taking the green flag at the Daytona 500 and that is definitely what I would want to do. So without any second thoughts Daytona 500 all the way!!”

NOTE: I’d like to thank Alli for her cooperation with the Half-Vast Staff™ (of one) of Full Throttle for taking timeout from a very busy racing and testing schedule and also her representative Craig Bailey of sportsmediaevents.com for facilitating this interview.

I also encourage all of you to stop be Alli Owens ARCA Nation page to say “hey” and also herteam website.

And finally, here is an excellent video of Alli put together I assume by her current ARCA sponsor.

Technorati Tags: Alli Owens, ARCA RE/MAX Series