The Trailblazers of Trans Am Racing!

For many of our listeners, when they think about TransAm they might recall three distinct eras in its history, the early days with superstars like Mark Donohue and Roger Penske, or the golden era of the ‘80s with Lyn St. James, Willie T. Ribbs, Hurley Haywood and so many others, or maybe you’re part of the next generation of TransAm that kicked-off with drivers like Tommy Kendall.

Normally an episode of Break/Fix will feature a deep dive into the personal history of our guests. In honor of women’s history month, we’re setting our sights on the future of women in racing. This month will feature panels of some of the fiercest talent from all areas of motorsport. Some names are already familiar to our listeners; welcome back, Cindi Lux! Since Erin Vogel isn’t originally from TransAm, but is part of Road Racing (SRO America), let’s start with her impressions from the outside looking in. Maybe by the end of this conversation we can convince her to jump in a TransAm car?

Crew Chief Eric: [00:00:00] The following episode is brought to you in part by Women in Motorsports North America, a community of professional women and men devoted to supporting opportunities for women across all disciplines of motorsport by creating an inclusive and resourceful environment to foster mentorship, advocacy, education, and growth, thereby ensuring the continued strength and successful future of our sport.

Lauren Goodman: Get ready for an electrifying discussion as we bring together four of the most accomplished women in Trans Am and road racing. Cindy Lux, Michelle Abadie, Amy Reumann, and special guest Erin Vogel for an exclusive panel diving into the highs, the challenges, the lows, and the evolution of women in motorsports.

From the adrenaline filled battles to the precision of road racing, they’ll share their first hand experiences and their insights on what it takes to compete. at the highest levels. Normally, an episode of Break Fix will feature a deep dive into the personal history of our guest, but we’re shaking things up this March.

In honor of Women’s History Month, we’re setting our sights [00:01:00] on the future of women in racing. Whether you’re a diehard racing fan or just love hearing inspiring stories from trailblazers, this month will feature panels of some of the fiercest talent from all areas of motorsport. Some names are already familiar to our listeners.

Welcome back, Cindy Lux, but every one of our panelists today has an open invitation to return for an in depth conversation about her road to success.

Crew Chief Eric: And with that, I’m Crew Chief Eric from the Motoring Podcast Network, along with Lauren Goodman from the REVS Institute. Welcoming everyone to the International Motor Racing Research Center’s Virtual Center Conversation.

Cindy, Michelle, Amy, and Aaron, welcome to the show.

Michele Abbate: Thank you. Bye. Thanks. Thank you. Hi. For

Crew Chief Eric: many of our listeners, you know, depending on what decade you tuned into Trans Am for the first time, you might recall maybe three distinct eras in its history. Early days with superstars like Mark Donohue and the rise of Roger Penske, or the golden era of the 80s with Lynn St.

James, Willie T. Ribbs, Hurley [00:02:00] Haywood, and so many others, or maybe you’re part of the next generation of Trans Am that kicked off with drivers like Tommy Kendall.

Lauren Goodman: But what we’d like to do, since Erin isn’t originally from Trans Am, but is part of road racing, let’s start with her impressions from the outside looking in.

And maybe by the end of the conversation, we might convince her to jump in a Trans Am car. So, we’ll kick off with you, Aaron. As we mentioned, you’re no stranger to road racing and even race at some of the same venues as the rest of our panelists. But, rather than the 700 plus horsepower Trans Am cars, you’re piloting vehicles like the GT4, GT3 classes in the SRO World Challenge.

Can you talk a little bit about why you chose road racing and your impressions of what Trans Am is like?

Erin Vogel: I chose road racing sort of by default just because I started out as a track day enthusiast in Audis and BMWs. So the natural progression, I guess, at that time for me seemed like continuing with those cars that looked familiar.

But I became aware of Trans Am through following Michelle Abate, who also started in a, either a BRZ or an FRS, a GR86. [00:03:00] platform car, which was what I had started out in, and then she took the move into Trans Am. And so I’ve been able to be at some of her races live and watch some of them on TV. And from the outside, it’s a very exciting series.

You know, the noise alone that the cars make is thrilling. And it must be, you know, something that fans just are drawn to. We were out here testing a Button Willow today, and there was a Trans Am car testing on the other track, and the sound is just fantastic.

Crew Chief Eric: Cindy, Amy, Michelle, why Trans Am rather than some other form of racing?

Was it family involvement? Was it opportunity? What drew you into this variant of road racing?

Michele Abbate: As Aaron mentioned, I kind of started in club racing with SCCA. Actually, I started in autocross, worked my way up. But along my journey in club racing, I, I made a connection with a friend of mine who was running a GT one car.

His name’s Tim Adelson. He actually was just walking through the pits and my husband and I were changing a fuel pump on my Scion cause we were having issues and we began to chat and he invited us into his garage and I was looking at his car and I’m like, Oh, [00:04:00] it’s like a NASCAR. Like I knew nothing about it.

I really wrote it off. I was just like, Oh, whatever. Like that’s not a production car. So I’m not really interested. You know, I didn’t know anything about the cars. Long story short, he basically wanted to get me into a GT one car. And along that he put me in a late model. So I was driving a late model and circle track at Irwindale for the NASCAR wheeling series.

He’s like, you could drive it. I’m like, I, well, I’ve never done circle track, so I don’t know if I’m going to be any good at this. You know, and he had all this confidence in me after watching me for a few years. And with that, he built a GT one car for me to campaign at the SCCA national runoffs at Sonoma in 2018.

Along that journey, I just completely fell in love with the two chassis V8 platform. Like I just was like, that is a race car. Like I sold everything I owned to buy my TA2 car at the end of 2018. Cause I was just like, I don’t want to do anything but drive these V8 two chassis cars. I just was obsessed.

Jokingly, I told him that he infected me. Like I am now diseased because I don’t want to drive anything else. [00:05:00] And so in December of 2018, I purchased my TA2 car, which was very old. It was a 2013 TA2 car. I was just going to club race with it. We had to go to Texas to buy it. And so we had a very long drive home.

My husband and I decided, let’s just go do West Coast Trans Am. We’ve got the car. It’s legal. You know, it’s going to cost us a little bit more money, but I felt. So excited about the program. And I had also crewed for Tim Adelson for a few Trans Am events. So I was familiar with the paddock and I was a little intimidated by the TA2 class because there’s so many competitors and they’re so like just aggressive out there.

You know what I mean? And it was, am I really going to go do this type thing? But I just absolutely love TA2. It just makes my heart beat. I just love Trans Am so much.

Cindi Lux: You know, I raced a variety of other series before I kind of dipped my toe in Trans Am back in 2015. There was just a lot of uniqueness with that series at that time.

And what really drew me was it was they’re driving state of the art racetracks. But more importantly, I just love the 100 mile or 90 minutes or 80 minutes, whatever it [00:06:00] may be, distance. Because there’s a lot more strategy than people kind of realize. Trying to figure out more car setup for the long term, etc.

But there’s a little bit different aspects about the Trans Am. But it’s also the community, you know, and I’m sure Michelle and Amy, you know, will attest to this. Aaron, you probably see it in the SRO as well. The paddock, it really is family, you know, somebody has a problem or something happens, everybody truly rallies.

But there was something special about the Trans Am where, I don’t want to say it was blue collar type environment, but it was definitely more family, a little bit more hardcore racing, but they welcomed me with open arms. Plus it was a great way because of the multi class aspect, which is a separate discussion in itself.

It allowed us to basically run some Dodge Vipers for some clients and some folks and so forth, kind of travel around the country as well. So I think it’s very unique. There’s definitely some very unique aspects with Trans Am, much different from others. That’s kind of what keyed me on at first.

Crew Chief Eric: So Amy, for you, it was family.

Amy Ruman: Yes. My experience is a little different because I grew up going to the track, watching my father race in the Trans Am series. [00:07:00] He started in the late 90s, early 2000s, basically as a privateer team against factory teams back then when we had Ford and Chevy and all of them and Tommy Kendall and Paul Giannullosi and Greg Pickett and, and all those guys that my dad got to run against.

So I grew up going there. Witnessing all of that greatness all the time. And I was like, I’m doing this for sure. I just have to get my dad to sidestep and get a chance to get in there. And so my circumstance was a little different. You know, I grew up around racing. You know, we started off as just Corvette autocrossers and then.

One day my dad wanted to buy a GT1 car and got into SCCA. And then from then on it was Trans Am, Trans Am, Trans Am for us. And like Cindy, I drove a lot of different things before I got into Trans Am and GT1. And I second almost pretty much everything she said. It’s a family community. We’re an accessible paddock.

We love [00:08:00] fans. We love the people. We’re at the premier tracks in America. It’s the longest running road racing series in America. With all of that combined, I mean, to me, I drive a ground pounder, fast, loud, hot car. So, I mean, I just love it.

Crew Chief Eric: First, you and Cindy, what made you guys stay with Trans Am? Were you ever tempted to leave and go do maybe a different variant of road racing or a different discipline?

Amy Ruman: I always said if the opportunity presented itself, I wasn’t going to say no, but it had to be the right fit for me. I talked to some Xfinity NASCAR style at the time after I won my championships, but it’s usually comes down to money, getting together that money and getting that to be the right package for me.

I think for me as a female aspect, I just don’t want to run any car because if it’s not the right team or it’s not the right crew, not the right fit. We’re under the microscope. So next thing, you know, Oh, she’s terrible. [00:09:00] Like she can run this, but she can’t run that. And like, I feel like sometimes we’re a little bit more held to a different standard.

And so for me, it had to be the right fit. None of that really ever came together. Plus I just really liked doing it with my family. I mean, we’re a family based team. There’s no one else I’d rather do it with. Personally, and without their support, I would not be where I am today. That’s for sure. I

Michele Abbate: got to race NASCAR truck series race, and it was more of an experience than something that I was striving for.

I just really wanted to do it. And people are always like, Oh, are you going to go to NASCAR next? And it’s like, no, I really just want to race in Trans Am. You know what I mean? And. So I think it’s easy to get pushed in directions where people are trying to assume where you’re going to go next. Even I had to ground myself and be like, you know what?

I don’t have to go do NASCAR. I can still just race Trans

Cindi Lux: Am. You know what I mean? It’s kind of parallel, but somewhat different. My father raised, my two brothers raised way back when, but never in the Trans Am series. I kind of did the deal where I just wanted to try everything. I mean, I’ve done from circle track stuff to dirt [00:10:00] to drag racing snowmobiles in the summer on alfalfa, it’s crazy fields.

Anyway, I mean, just everything just to learn the different aspects. And I think that variety helped me in my career a little bit, but let me just tell you, I mean, as we. Chatted a long time ago and Amy and I have known each other since, gosh, 1999, if not sooner when we actually raced in another series together.

You could have said a sundial by me. I was so bad the first couple of years. I mean, I think I was laughed on, like laughed too when I first started off and I just made a commitment at that time to where, and it wasn’t really a male female thing, but it’s just truly, this is really a cool art. And the race car and the track and that’s it.

And I just need to figure out what it’s going to take to start hauling ass per se. And it was good for me because I grew up in a family, basically on a ranch. And so I was very much hands on in life and just there’s no excuses, but I kind of took a little bit different path, you know, with my family, much different from Amy and Amy.

I laugh about this when we talk about this. My family was very much. Very supportive off the racetrack, but never really encouraged me [00:11:00] to go racing. Um, it wasn’t until I kind of stole my dad’s razor to one of his cars off his dealership thoughts and kind of took it to a driving school and got in trouble.

But anyway, but it was kind of a calling. I kind of did a zigzag, you know, versus maybe Amy was more straightforward a little bit, you know, as long as we end up there, that’s the main thing.

Lauren Goodman: And Michelle, if you could help me and the audience understand a little bit about the way Trans Am currently operates, because there’s a split between.

The national series and the West series, it means a lot of travel from what I understand. So could you talk a little bit about the differences there and why there’s a split?

Michele Abbate: I believe the West coast was kind of brought on. So it was a little more attainable. You know what I mean? There’s a lot of West coast racers that are doing great things, but they can’t afford the national series.

And I was one of those. So the West coast series allowed me to dip my toe into the series that allowed me to compete against 15 cars instead of 50 cars. And just to clarify, TA2 does run separately. So. We have our own race, whereas like Amy and Cindy would be racing together on the track at the same time.

Yeah, so the West Coast was like, I thought of it [00:12:00] as a feeder series to the national series. I just feel that the equipment isn’t really as competitive, I guess, in a way. The talent is obviously not as high, but it’s a great place to start and to get a feel for where you stack up and how you would do in a TA2 class.

And what’s really cool with that is there’s a couple of crossover events where the West guys And girls will run with the National Tour and although you’re scored separately, you do get to see where you stack up in the full field. So that was really cool too for the first couple years I got to kind of have these two races in my season where I got to see where I was at with the National Series, you know what I mean?

And so, whereas the National Tour is You’ve got to have so much funding to run the National Tour and it’s so much more to take on, especially if you want to go for the full season. If I can give you numbers, it’s probably a quarter of the cost to run West Coast as it is to run National Tour. So it’s significantly more affordable and that’s super appealing and I think it’s great for the sport.

And [00:13:00] alongside with that, National Series, as of last year, introduced a couple other championships within TA2 to help make it more attainable for Running national series. So they have like a pick six and then there’s also a program category. If you meet the requirements, you can run in program, which I got to do that last year, which put me on the podium a few times.

So that’s something really cool with Trans Am. I kind of take both sides because I really loved the giant fields of TA2, like running with 40, 50 cars. But at the same time, I’m admittedly a mid pack driver in the full field. So the pro am category allowed me to have the opportunity to earn a podium position, which is great for sponsors and media and things like that.

So I guess if I was a faster driver, I’d say, man, that’s stupid. They have that class, but really with where I’m at with my talent, it’s such a great opportunity to showcase my talent within a pro am class and then have the opportunity to be on the podium, which I did a few times, which was pretty cool.

Crew Chief Eric: So Aaron, back to you, let’s talk a little bit more about comparing and contrasting SRO world challenge to Trans Am in a [00:14:00] way, because both have their feeder series as everybody sort of alluded to either come from SCCA or maybe you come from NASA or one of the other organizations that builds up drivers for club racing, and then you go to the next rung, right?

And that could be SRO. And then from SRO, maybe you feed into IMSA or something like Trans Am with SRO. Where do you set your sights? Are you thinking a different discipline? Is there long term there for you?

Erin Vogel: For a lot of people, the goal from SRO would be, you know, kind of this next step would be IMSA, and then probably the step after that would be WEC, the World Endurance Challenge, you know, over in Europe, and eventually setting your sights on Le Mans.

And sort of a lateral step that’s really fun, I think, that a lot of people are doing these days is another one in Europe that’s doing, like, the Dubai 24 Hours and those 24 hours of snow. Spa and I’m blanking on the name of the series, but running some really great racing over there in, in GT four and GT three cars, but yes, another place to get to SRO from, which is where I’m actually running a team last year.

And this year is at WRL where we’re doing a lot of driver development

Crew Chief Eric: for the listeners. [00:15:00] That are maybe thinking about this and Googling Trans Am right now and try to figure out what have I been missing and how do I get into this? And how do I learn more about it? And we’re talking about feeder series.

So if all of us had to start over again today, what’s the best path to Trans Am? Is it through or is it through NASA and their programs? Because they do have their Thunder class and a bunch of other stuff. That sort of leads up to the big horsepower cars.

Michele Abbate: I used both NASA and SCCA. I never drove an American muscle car in either of those though.

So like that wasn’t the foray. I mean, you can also look at how NASCAR is now doing a lot more road racing than they used to. So you’ll probably get appeal from the local circle track guys that are maybe looking to. Move to Xfinity or trying to make, move into Arca and they want to get some road racing experience.

You’ll see them come to Trans Am. So, I mean, I can only speak from my experience and I did come from NASA and SCCA, but then I had that circle track experience getting me into the two chassis car. So I really feel like you can come from anywhere. I don’t, I [00:16:00] don’t think there’s a specific ladder. And I think that’s, what’s kind of cool about Trans Am is you’ve got kind of all types of drivers that make their way into the series.

Cindi Lux: Yeah, I mean, I would really agree with Michelle, you know, but the thing is, is experience. They just got to get some seat time in other series, whether it’s endurance, whether it’s sprint. I think it’s a pretty tough series to come up from a HPDE program or whatever may be directly into this thing. So there’s so many avenues out there now to get experience, you know, and just get some seat time and just get some valuable coaching and just valuable experience.

You know, there’s, there’s no bad track time. You learn something, whether it’s good, bad or in the different. So. Really no certain best path, per se, to get to the Trans Am. It really is. There’s a variety, but seat time is seat time. And that’s, that’s the key thing is getting some seat time, but don’t come in as a rookie driver, relatively limited racing experience and everything.

Cause you’ll kind of get eaten up and not have fun and not enjoying yourself.

Lauren Goodman: You mentioned the importance of seat time, that nothing can replace seat time when it comes to being a real competitor. You’ve had a lot of storied career in Trans Am. Do you think? [00:17:00] Drivers today are facing the same challenges you were facing getting seat time as when you were starting, or do you think they’re actually new challenges?

Cindi Lux: I think the world has changed and motorsports has changed, you know what I mean? And when I kind of started getting into it, it wasn’t the world of Sims, you know, and Sims are great to a certain extent, but it’s not. Reality, you know, it’s not consequences for stuff in the wall or whatever it may be. But sims do help not only from engineering, not only for driver development, none of that has definitely changed a little bit recently.

I say recently, probably in the last 10 to 12 years, but they still face the exact same thing that I faced, you know, I mean, when I started off. About my first race car. I slept in the tow rig. I was digging tires out of the garbage can when Hoosier or Goodyear was doing their tire changes at the track. I was going through there in the middle of the night trying to dig out tires.

I couldn’t afford anything. You know, I mean, everybody has to start off someplace, you know, yes, it’s expensive, but it’s relative because it was expensive back then as well. And so. I think, you know, many facets, the industry has changed a little bit, but the bottom line is you got to have a desire, you got to have a passion, you know, and you just got to [00:18:00] just keep swinging the bat, as I like to say, and just keep pushing and pushing and pushing and, you know, there’s days where some, and I tell people this, and again, I’m sure everybody, especially, you know, Aaron and Amy and Michelle, the most relaxing time for me is when I put my helmet on and get inside the race car.

I can get away from just for a minute of the business side or the team side, even though I love them, don’t get me wrong, but it’s just, it’s something where you work so hard to get your, yourself seated in that race car for that race weekend, and you just kind of take a deep breath and relax and go out and do a job and stuff.

And so the world has changed a little bit, but the challenge is still faced with. They’re just a little bit different, but I just cannot impress upon it enough is just flat out. Um, seat time is the key for anything, whether it’s dry rain, dirt, endurance, sprint, everything. You learn something, um, all the time.

I just love it.

Crew Chief Eric: So with world challenge, you’re still driving production based cars, but it’s more like things you would identify with off, let’s say the dealership lot or off the showroom floor. We’re talking Porsches, we’re talking BMWs, and in some cases, exotics like Ferraris. [00:19:00] And occasionally you do see, you know, Corvettes and so on as the rules allow for those cars.

How do you feel? In a mixed car environment that GT4 works for you. Let’s talk about balance of performance a little bit.

Erin Vogel: I find it fun. I enjoy racing against cars that have some differences. I’ve done some spec racing as well. I find it interesting to the strategy that I guess is involved in racing a car who’s.

platform behaves differently and whose torque and horsepower is different is always a fun challenge to figure out where is my car maybe a little stronger either in the chassis or the power delivery and where are they at an advantage and how do I work that to my advantage where you know where I was there trying to work it to their advantage as well.

So I find that fun and always a moving target. I think the balance of performance because of how different all the cars can be. I think it makes it fun. You know, they’re trying to make it even like Spec racing. So it should come down to the driver. It doesn’t always, but I think it adds a really fun element for me.

Crew Chief Eric: Pose the question to Aaron about balance of performance, which actually sets us up for a deeper [00:20:00] conversation about the more specifics about Trans Am. As we go along here, Trans Am is really interesting because if we look at Michelle’s car, right, two frame T two livery and all that, and then Cindy’s got the Viper and Amy, you were running Corvettes.

You’re all running together. What was the balance of performance? Or is it like in Trans Am? How did this all get figured out?

Amy Ruman: Don’t take that. Well, at first we were all together as you know, Trans Am had a tick of a lull there for a minute and they brought the resurrected the series back and then they invented the TA2 and the other classes.

So originally it was just the TA classes, what I drive, and then they added those other classes. It was TA2 and three and all that. And then they recategorize them as. XGT and GT and the draw, the TA2 was so large that they split off to their own race group and then paired us in a multi class format, um, similar to like, you know, an IMSA [00:21:00] style and things like that.

So the speed differences are very intense, could be intense at time for all of the parties involved. There’s got a lot to be a lot of paying attention going on because there’s a lot of speed difference.

Crew Chief Eric: Sidney, you got the biggest displacement motor. On track, hands down, how does the Viper still fit into this mix?

Cindi Lux: Yeah, but we got the biggest restrictor. You know, it is kind of what Amy was talking about. You know, every class has a different what I call BOP, but it’s really not. I mean, it’s just like with Michelle’s and Amy’s classes, it’s not a spec, but they really do control it with different manufacturers and different nuances.

But ours is a little bit more like errands. We got so many different manufacturers, so many different models, so many different. I mean, aspects and so forth. So it really just comes down to the data, what it really shows on acceleration traces or longevity or, you know, durability or fall off rate or whatever.

So there’s a little bit of trying to work with the officials and they’ve been really good about it long term, but the, one of the biggest aspects for the BOP for Trans Am, [00:22:00] it’s just not outright speed on one lap. It really is figuring out the speed over the duration of the a hundred miles. That’s to me is the creative part and that’s the challenging part.

That’s the aspect that I truly love is to have a race car there towards the end. To me, I love multi class racing. You know, I might be a minority on that, but to me, it just adds to the challenge and it adds to the complexity of the racing. I did a few ALMS races way back when, and I love the multi aspect because you can almost use it to your advantage and in some cases disadvantage, but to me, it’s just another level of, of challenge.

That’s all.

Crew Chief Eric: Aaron, you mentioned the goal. If you stay on your track is Lamar and for Trans Am, you know, there’s other places that everybody can go and people that are coming from. It’s a very interesting kind of collection of folks. And I’m wondering if there’s been a bridge here in the last couple of years.

Let’s go back to 2023 with the garage 56 car. This demonstration of not only just power and, you know, American ingenuity and all these kinds of things, but it’s a GT three Camaro, a car that they stopped producing that they never really made to begin [00:23:00] with. It’s that 7th generation NASCAR car. It can compete in road racing.

It can compete on the oval. Could it compete in Trans Am? Is it a draw for people to come in to this discipline?

Amy Ruman: I think so. I mean, I think with the likes of different people that we have involved in Trans Am, you know, we have Justin Marks, who’s really almost handpicking like all these different drivers and bringing them into NASCAR or different series, he runs in the TA class with us.

Sometimes you have a lot of these guys that are up and coming younger drivers that You have some people sticking them in to TA2 to get road racing experience so they can drive in NASCAR road races. And it’s almost like everyone’s kind of moving around and trying to get experience where they can, see time.

Our format, like Cindy says, is a unique format because we’re just 100 miles, it’s sprint race, that’s it. You gotta get what you gotta get done now, there’s no pit stops. If you have a problem, [00:24:00] then you’re probably most likely out of it. And that’s the end of it. So it takes all that other element out. And it basically boils down to the driver and the setup and the time.

And so I think a lot of people are really noticing that in the competition level is really tough. And I think you have a mix of newbies. You have a mix of champions. You have people coming back that were involved in the past and now they’re back. So I think it’s almost a rebirth in the last couple years of just this remaking it, but having to change with the times and involving XGTs and TA2s and TA and then collectively bringing all these other people.

Lauren Goodman: Amy, I’m just going to jump on that, correct me if I’m wrong, but you’re twice champion 2015 and 2016.

Amy Ruman: Correct. Yes.

Lauren Goodman: And you were the first woman to win eight out of 12 races in a year.

Amy Ruman: Yes. I was the first woman to win a Trans Am race in the history of [00:25:00] the series.

Lauren Goodman: Well, that’s pretty incredible. I imagine it’s pretty meaningful to have that distinction, you know, wherever you speak.

When you’re talking about the different levels of competition, but you also spoke a little bit about the extra pressure you felt for performance if you really screwed it up. And one of the things you worried about moving to a different series, if it wasn’t a good fit for you is they wouldn’t just say it about.

You as a driver, they might say it about all women as drivers, and I’m wondering if it’s something you still feel or notice that other drivers also take on themselves and feel

Amy Ruman: coming up, you know, I was younger than, and I think there’s so many more doors open now for females and diversity and a lot of different programs, and I think people have more respect for it.

I felt, you know, I just, I just wanted to prove myself that I belong there. Take care. And I just wanted to learn from pretty much everybody who, whoever was around me. I just tried to learn. I don’t focus on the female aspect of it as much as the outer world does. I’m very proud of that. Don’t get me wrong, but [00:26:00] also it’s not my main focus.

Like I’m just there to do a job. I’m there to drive just like everyone else. And I just happened to be a female. To me, you know, my accomplishments, I’m very proud of those. There’s a lot of firsts in my career. So I’m definitely super proud to be carrying that banner, if you will. But at the end of the day, like I’m just there, like everyone else trying to win, trying to get my name out there and have success for my team and my sponsors.

So again, I don’t focus on that. But it does, you know, loom around you because we have to pay attention to those things. Otherwise, sometimes I think we are under the microscope a little bit more than others that had a bad day or a bad race. It’s just not always there, but sometimes it is. But for the most part, I had a pretty good experience with people respecting me.

I mean, sometimes you get a little off color and like a little couple comments here and there. But for the most part, Trans Am community has always seemed to respect me and I can’t say anything really bad about that.

Cindi Lux: Did we address the fact that it was announced this week [00:27:00] that Amy Ruman has been inducted in the inaugural hall of fame for Trans Am, the first group of 18 drivers.

That’s pretty huge. So I just want to say congratulations to my friend. Super proud of you, you know, and it’s well deserved. But I think there’s going to be a big ceremony coming up at Sebring and it’s something where we need to really support her, but all the people. And yeah, it’s a great group of 18 people, not necessarily drivers, but everything, but I just want to say since Amy’s on this show tonight, just congratulations, my friend.

I’m proud of you.

Amy Ruman: Thank you so much. I appreciate it. I was. Super humbled when I got the news on that and just so grateful for my experiences over the last decade. And it just, you know, I, I just think, uh, you know, I have no words in a way to be standing up there with Roger Penske and Jack Roush and Paul Giannullosi and all the others, just.

To be included with the names of people like that is just mind blowing to me, but I’m super grateful and humbled. Thanks, Cindy. I mean, I’ve known her so long. We raced together so long [00:28:00] ago, and it’s just been cool that our friendship has stayed over time, and I appreciate it. Just

Cindi Lux: one

Amy Ruman: thing to

Cindi Lux: remember, there’s a reason why you’re standing up there on the stage when it comes time at Sebring.

I’m just saying, there’s a hardcore reason you’re there, so just remember that. Thank you.

Lauren Goodman: As racing drivers, if there were one aspect of your job Of your work that right now you could get rid of, you could offload it on somebody else. You could hire somebody else to do it. What would it be?

Cindi Lux: I bet you all of us are going to say the exact same thing.

Say at the same time. I’m kind of go out on a limb and saying that it is truly just the hunt for money. It’s just the sponsorship. It’s working, you know, it’s, it’s not only maintaining your relationship with your current sponsors, but it’s putting the feelers out, you know, for the next couple of years to see what’s going on.

And, you know, it’s part of the sport too, which we get. But sometimes it gets difficult to pick up the phone sometimes and do those cold calls or to do whatever, and just trying to do that. So, for me, that would be my, if I could delegate to somebody and give them that wonderful task. That would be my personal 1 agreed.[00:29:00]

Amy Ruman: I second that, but I’m going to say social media. I’m going to hire Michelle to do my social media, bro. It is a whole time like I done spent I take pictures and video upload song. I can’t I’m gonna hire her for my social. I’m done.

Erin Vogel: Yeah, and I’m with Amy on that social media. I’ll farm that out right away.

Amy Ruman: So time consuming for me sometimes. Okay.

Cindi Lux: And it’s almost embarrassing. You don’t want to say I mean, it’s not like the the time sucker. Yeah, I don’t know.

Crew Chief Eric: I

Cindi Lux: know. It’s

Crew Chief Eric: Cindy’s got some pretty funny posts though, I enjoy them. Yeah, well,

Cindi Lux: I’m not going to say I take credit for that, but I don’t know. I do the bloopers, you know, there’s one thing I’ve, I have plenty of blooper reels on my deal and you know, but whatever it is what it is.

Michele Abbate: Amy, I’m happy to help anytime.

Amy Ruman: Well, you’re not busy doing your own thing. Sure.

Crew Chief Eric: I’m glad you guys opened the door for our third segment here, where we’re going to talk a little bit more about the business of racing itself. [00:30:00] And so this is for all of you, but let’s start with Erin again, because she’s been quietly kind of absorbing all this Trans Am data and taking it in and hopefully being influenced by you guys.

When you were starting out, because everybody’s got to start somewhere. And in this case, this conversation is centered around female drivers and Trans Am, like I’ve noticed in sprint racing has a lot of female drivers in it, which is commendable. It’s absolutely amazing. I’m like, wow, wish more disciplines would get with the program.

But when you guys were coming up, who was your inspiration? Who did you look up to male or female drivers and who was your role model? What kept you going and what brought you in outside of, you know, the things that we talked about earlier, family and opportunity and stuff like that.

Erin Vogel: Well, I have an interesting one that is not actually, she was not a sports car racer.

She was a racer though. My dad did some offshore powerboat racing in his youth. He was a navigator for a number of different teams. And for two seasons, he raced with Betty Cook, who won national championships. And they called her the grandmother of offshore powerboat [00:31:00] racing. And, you know, there was always this talk about like, Oh, what is she doing out here?

And, and everything. So I kind of grew up around with this idea of like, Yeah, there aren’t very many of us out there, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do it. And my dad always had that belief that, you know, that we were equally capable. And so I guess that’s kind of family, but not really. But she was kind of my idol as far as growing up and understanding that I could be that if I wanted to be.

Amy Ruman: Mine is my mom and my dad. Mine is just family. Cause I watched my mom, she was autocrossing and, and back then they, they had separate classes. So you had female class and male, but they would post everyone’s time. So you’d look, but you’d look over in the females, half the females were beaten all the males times, the group of people that I were around was, you know, everybody and their wives and coming out and they would.

Go out and do one lap at a time in Tire Town Corvette Club and just watching those different Corvette clubs meet and race like that was basically my mom and dad. [00:32:00] And she would put down fastest time of the day all the time, sometimes overall, sometimes. So I’d have to go with my parents. And then of course, you know, I watched racing growing up, you know, the Indianapolis 500 and all those things and you know, all the big names and stuff, but I would definitely go with my parents.

Cindy, what do you think?

Cindi Lux: Yeah, you know, I’m kind of the same with my family, even though, you know, they’re not able to come up to the track as much anymore and stuff. Um, my dad is 94. He’ll be coming to a couple of our races this year. And, but I think they just really instilled the can do attitude. You know, if you want it bad enough, you’ll figure it out, you know?

And if it takes. Figuring out from the business side, I came from a family of automotive dealerships. Let’s just say when I first started racing and I raced to the same manufacturer that was one of our dealers. And so I thought, you know, just because my name hadn’t be the same on the, the wall of the dealership that I can get free parts on my parts bill account.

Well, the end of the year, um, I got a call from the creditors and my dad turned me into collections because my bill was so high. And at the time I was mortified, I was ticked, I was mad. I’m like, dad, you just turned me into [00:33:00] collections. But I’m just telling you, that was the biggest gift that he gave me.

Don’t take anything for granted. You got to figure it out, like business, um, and so forth. And so, yeah, I just say, you know, my, my family and still the ethics, but you know, the one day that I did pick up the phone and, and actually did reach out to somebody that actually was Janet Guthrie and I was relatively new when she was so accommodating and so helpful.

Again, she didn’t know me from Adam, you know, I mean, I could have been, you know, trying to sell Avon or something on the phone to her or something. I mean, it was just. But she took the time and bottom line, she just flat out flat out said, you got to win and you got to produce and you got to win races to move on in your career.

Now, how do you get there? That’s up to you to figure out whether it’s business, the right cars and so forth. But she says, you just, you need to go win races. You need to work on yourself in the cars to go out there and be successful. And I just kind of took that to heart. And so, you know, time to put my big girl panties on and go figure it out.

Crew Chief Eric: Michelle, how about you?

Michele Abbate: Yeah, that’s an easy and a hard one for me. I got into racing because of my older brother. He was a go karter and I always wanted to be just like my brother. And his name is on my [00:34:00] shirt. Unfortunately, he was killed by a drunk driver in 2023. And so. I’ve lost that, you know, and a man, I, he was my idol.

I loved everything he did. And he was so fast. He was in the first Red Bull F1 driver search when he was 15 years old. He was the youngest driver in that one, multiple championships that go karting worldwide was the first driver to be sponsored by rel, which is a very well known chassis in the go kart world.

And so yeah, my brother, and although he didn’t directly support my racing, he didn’t really like me racing. Cause he felt like I took it away from him and my dad. So it was a struggle when he was here because all I wanted to do was race with my brother, my whole life. I did get to do it two months before he was killed.

And that was really, really cool. And so, yeah, he’s always has been my inspiration and what’s really kind of neat is I recently bought a Mazda Miata that he was racing and I’m now campaigning that car locally at my local racetrack. And so it was one of his favorite cars. That’s really special to me. And it’s kind of neat because I can still chase his lap times to this day in a car [00:35:00] that he raced.

And so. I love my brother and I miss him very much.

Crew Chief Eric: Do you guys ever think about this from the other side of the coin? And what I mean by that is being conscious of the fact that you are in a position of being somebody’s role model right now. My 10 year old daughter’s looking at Amy and Cindy and Michelle and Aaron and going, how do I become a race car driver like them?

This is super cool. I’m going to paraphrase something that Lynn always says from WMNA, which is if you can see it, you can be it. And so you guys are. The see it right now. Let’s say my daughter walked up to you and said, why race? Why do this? Why should I become part of this family? What would you say to her?

Cindi Lux: Ask her, do you like play basketball or do you play tennis or do you play? What sports do you like? In essence, motor sports is a sport. You know, it’s not necessarily a stick and ball sport, but it’s a sport. It’s a team sport. And so. I try to equate it a little bit to that and just kind of say everything is doable.

But I think the biggest thing, you know, Eric, when I’ve gotten to the point lately, probably in the last probably five or [00:36:00] six years of my career is, and I know Aaron and Amy and Michelle are the exact same way, is that you just have to stop and take the time. You see someone over there shy, you know, but they’re looking at your car or they’re watching you get out of the car or they’re just holding their mom’s hand or dad’s hand, you know, but you can tell their eyes are just take the time.

Stop what you’re doing and just go over and just chat, you know, and I just tell people. And again, if I can do this sport, trust me, and it truly is, anybody can do this. It just depends on how bad they want it. But it’s no different from sticking ball. It’s no different than any other sport that these kids are playing at, you know, seven or eight years old now.

Yeah.

Amy Ruman: Takes a lot of hard work and dedication. And, you know, I try to take the time with the fans at the track. And I’ve known some of these kids, I’ve been in it so long now. I hate to say that I’ve seen them grow up, that they’ve been my fans. And then, you know, they’re giving me a beanie baby. I still have a beanie baby strapped in my car, the little green lucky bear that this kid gave me and still in my car today.

And the kids like. 15 or [00:37:00] 18 years old. Now he still comes to the track. Sometimes you have to take the time and appreciate that people are taking the time out to watch you pay attention to you and, you know, enjoy it. And also I just totally, not everybody has to be the driver either. There’s so many opportunities.

Now, on several aspects of the whole team, from engineering to social media now, and, and data, and truck driving, and mechanics, I mean, a lot of girls are involved with that now. I think the opportunities over time have increased for the females to get involved. So I tell them, if you don’t want to be a driver, you know, there’s a lot of other things you can do in motorsports.

There’s a lot of opportunities out there.

Michele Abbate: Just like Amy said, I always even take it a step further, where I just I really think that a lot of times, when I was being raised, no one wanted me to be a race car driver. That was not a viable thing. It was like, be a lawyer, be a doctor, go to school, make a lot of money, and then be a race car driver.

And so, I always take a [00:38:00] step back and I kind of try to tell people, like, no matter what your passion is, like, that’s what you should do. Whatever you love doing, that’s what you should commit all your time to do. I just feel like that’s so important. And sometimes that message can be lost because of the people surrounding you telling you, you should be doing something else, or maybe what you’re doing is a waste of time.

I can count on my fingers, how many people that I loved and were friends of mine that told me like. I could never race in Trans Am, like I was crazy. There’s no way I could do it. And so surrounding yourself with people that believe in you, even maybe when you don’t believe in yourself is super important.

And I think that’s usually the message that I try to share with young fans or people that are trying to do something, whether motorsport or not, when they need that extra push, it’s like, I feel like if you have a passion for something and you really want to do it, why do something else? It’s an honor to always be considered a role model for boys or girls or whomever, but I just wish people would continue to follow the things they love because I think a lot of times they stray from that.

And I think we’d have so much more success in the world if people just followed what they were drawn to, you know, and, [00:39:00] and I’m just so grateful. I’ve been able to kind of chase my dream for so long and be in Trans Am. And I, I think being a role model is just something that. All of us don’t really acknowledge all the time, but we definitely all are.

Amy was a huge one for me. I, I have followed Amy for a really long time. And when I got to like meet her the first time, I was so stoked. And so Trans Am’s just like a great paddock for that too.

Lauren Goodman: Do you think that’s one of the reasons this access that the fans have and are able to talk to you and see you and get encouragement is one of the reasons why that it’s doing such a great job with.

rates of women’s participation?

Michele Abbate: Maybe. I always like the girl dads, too, because the girl dads take their daughters and they come to the races, you know what I mean? So I think that it’s just a culmination of things. Being able to see a woman in every category of the Trans Am races is really great, but you see that as well in other sports, too.

I mean, you can look at ARCA, you can look at NASCAR, you can look at the SRO that Erin does. There’s a ton of women in that, too. So I think it’s just a Things are slowly changing, and it’s, it’s great to see.

Lauren Goodman: And Erin, talking about what series are doing [00:40:00] right, what is SRO doing right? I

Erin Vogel: think they’re making a lot of the same efforts I’ve heard Ladies and Trans Am talk about in terms of drawing fans in, all fans, but they’ve certainly, you know, always made an effort to come interview the women on Pit Lane, especially if we’re doing well, to really highlight that.

You know, I think the outreach is definitely there. Personally, that’s been very important. You know, everybody was talking about mentorship, and it’s something I’ve been incredibly Cognizant of from the very beginning, because I do think that there were very few role models for those of us on this call getting started that were women.

And there was a lot of varying levels of different kinds of talk like, Oh, that’s cute that you want to go racing, you know? And it’s like, well, I don’t know why I can’t be taken seriously just because I have long hair and some other things that are different. But I think it’s been very important for me to make sure that everyone knows that this is their space, whether they’re male or female, old or young.

You know, a lot of times at the track, we would do garage tours and the little boys would come up and touch the car, jump in the car and look in the car, and the girls would hang back in the corner of the garage or the corner of [00:41:00] the tent until I came up to them and said, Hi, I drive this race car. Do you want to come sit in it?

You could tell they didn’t feel like it was their space until someone invited them in. And so that’s always been incredibly important to me to make sure I’m doing my part to invite other women in because I don’t want them to have that voice in their head that, oh, it’s just cute that you think you can do that.

Because it’s so much more than that. We’re so capable. We’re looking at four women here, which fortunately right now is only a drop in the ocean. And the number of women has increased exponentially, I think, in the last couple of years that are in racing across all kinds of disciplines of racing. So, you know, to see four of them here, I think just getting that message out is so incredibly important and social media, as much as I deplore it, really helps with that too.

Lauren Goodman: So I’ve met some of you, uh, women with Drive Summit, and I know some of you work a lot with WMNA. I want to talk generally about if you could offer what your role is in the organization, those of you who work with the group, just to clarify for everybody, but also why increasing participation for women is actually important for motorsport [00:42:00] overall.

Why is it important for growth for everybody?

Erin Vogel: Well, I think it’s a super important fan base. that hasn’t been tapped entirely yet. There are a lot of followers that, when they see someone that looks like them, are a lot maybe more likely to follow along. I’ve had many people comment on my social media that they weren’t interested in racing until they saw me doing it.

And then they thought, Oh, well, maybe there is something here for me. Maybe this is something that’s relevant for me and that I should pay more attention to and maybe even will enjoy. Yeah, I think from that perspective, it’s incredibly important.

Cindi Lux: Yeah, the women organization, the Women in Motorsports North America, you know, is a good organization.

I’ve actually been fortunate enough to be one of the founding board of directors for that organization. And when we first came together and we started talking about this, you know, we were kind of like, well, it’s not just for drivers. That was my biggest thing is I want to make sure this is across the board.

So basically, honestly, it’s just, you know, it’s a group of community of professionals that we’re just trying to open up opportunities for everybody to learn about. And it’s just a matter of education. It’s a [00:43:00] matter of just connecting people. It’s a matter of just, it’s such a variety and such a safe environment.

This organization has absolutely exploded over the last two and a half years. But it’s due to a lot of hard work behind the scenes and it’s only going to get stronger. But the part that I really like about it is not just focusing on drivers. It’s it’s kind of everything that has to do from series to racetracks to TV broadcasting everything.

And it’s not just for females. It’s all inclusive for men as well. And This year at the summit, right before the PRI, our fourth summit, we had over 600 people attend, and it’s huge over the growth over the last couple of years. And the cool thing about it was the increase in men that’s attending promoters, managers, uh, some, some folks that come from Europe that were there, you know, and so it was something to where I’m very proud of.

At first, I was a little bit, I don’t want to say leery, you know, but I was just kind of like, you know, what is this really going to? But the people behind the scenes and the people we have running it right now are really taking it to a different level and really opening it up to, and I mean, even Aaron sees it, you [00:44:00] know, because women is very heavily involved with the SRO very heavily with a lot of other racing organizations as well as Trans Am or SBRA, but they’re now connecting with the universities and racetracks and broadcasting teams.

And so. I’ve learned a lot about my business, you know, not only from the motorsports side, but I’ve had doors open up for me now and other aspects of motorsports that wouldn’t have happened. And so anyway, that’s kind of how my involvement with it and it’s pretty special. It really is.

Michele Abbate: I attended the summit in 23 for the first time when it was at Phoenix and.

Yeah, it was a, it was a great networking event. You know, there was a lot of people involved and a lot of seminars to join. And so they were spreading a lot of information that was really cool. I made some good connections there, but I think it’s great to have several organizations that help bring awareness to women in motor sport and try to help raise funding.

Erin and I are part of shift up now, and it’s an amazing organization that has directly impacted my ability to race in the most competitive equipment that I can get into. So there’s a lot of things changing in our sport, which is. For the [00:45:00] better, I feel. And yeah, it’s, I’m honored to be a part of it on every aspect that I can.

Crew Chief Eric: Cindy, you brought up something that we call here the autosphere, right? All the different jobs and careers and people that it takes to keep this whole circus going. My next question, Actually dovetails off of a question from our crowd. So Joe Schill writes, how would you encourage more young women to get involved with motor sports?

And what are the career paths for those various jobs? And we talk a lot about women in STEM and we do expand that now to steam, right? Science, technology, engineering. Arts and math because art plays a big part in the auto sphere as well. We talked about the newbies of driving age or racing age that want to get into Trans Am and SRO and things like that.

But what about the young ladies or young men out there that want to get into the auto sphere? Again, there’s a million jobs, but what’s a good path to get into motorsport?

Cindi Lux: To be honest with you, it’s you can have such a. Varied background to come into motorsports from engineering to communication to [00:46:00] financial CPAs to, you know, everything.

And so there’s really not a clear, that’s the whole thing that’s happened lately is that it’s not just driving. It’s not just maybe the working on the cars, it’s, it’s blossomed into this whole industry that’s out there. And I don’t wanna say it’s behind the curtain per se, but it’s something to where if.

Honestly, I’ve seen people come in and for attorneys coming in and helping out with contracts with teams or sponsors or, you know, legal issues and stuff. And so there’s really no path per se, you know, is defined and so, but that’s what makes it so cool. It’s so open. It really is. You know, the world of broadcasting right now is fascinating me what’s happening, you know, in that regard, especially live streaming versus on television and this and that and the contracts and certain tire manufacturers have certain blimps flying over at the wrong time.

And, and, you know, it’s just, it’s a conflict of interest on certain, you know, just everything. And so I think that if there’s just an interest and you have a good general business background, you know, or, or just any type of passion, there’s, there’s a role in motorsports for you. I promise you that.

Crew Chief Eric: [00:47:00] Okay. So let’s re.

factored this question a little bit, then it is very wide in terms of depth and breadth, taking social media management off the table. Sorry, Amy, you can’t use that answer again. Let’s just say you needed somebody today to help you on your race team to be successful in the 2025 season. What kind of backgrounds skills or previous careers are you looking for that would be beneficial to help manage your team and make it successful?

Michele Abbate: Mine would be a sports agent. I need someone to help me raise money.

Amy Ruman: Facts. That’s true. I mean, if you’re talking team specific, obviously you check all the boxes with engineering, data, marketing, mechanic, truck driver, tire engineer, and then you go into the other aspects of, you know, you have accounting, legal, sponsorship.

So, I mean, there’s so many. Boxes to check. I mean, it really just takes a whole team and we have the easy part. I get to drive the race car. That’s the easiest job there [00:48:00] is over there compared to some of these other ones. I mean, if I get into an altercation, the guys are the ones sitting there fixing it all night or we have a motor problem, the engine guy is fixing it.

So, it’s so all encompassing as an industry from the team perspective, an owner’s perspective, a driver’s perspective. Everybody has roles. So you, if you know your role, if you’re good at math, if you’re good at engineering, if you’re good at arts and you want to be a graphic artist and design race suits, you could do that.

I mean, there’s so many possibilities. And if you just like a little bit of racing, I’m sure like Cindy said, there is definitely a spot for you in this industry.

Cindi Lux: Yeah, I mean, to me, I would love to work with a retired CEO, you know, or a retired person that thinks outside of the box that maybe is not even in sports possibly, because you’re looking for that advantage of being different.

You’re looking for that advantage of trying to help not only be a good leader, but to give people the tools in your business to do their jobs. And so I live about 4 miles away from Nike [00:49:00] headquarters here in Portland, Oregon. And I’ve worked with a lot of the different folks there. And one of the coolest things about it, when I was starting in motor sports, as I tried to use a lot of their methodology and a lot of their ideas from other sports over there, and I incorporated that into my motor sports.

So I would love to work with someone that had almost no racing experience, but general business experience on how to develop relationships or how to run a company or how to do the financial or whatever. I’m just craving to learn new stuff and to try new ideas to stand out and to make our business.

Lauren Goodman: Looking at the future and the future of a sport being for everybody and for growing, we’re talking men, women, people from lots of different backgrounds. And from your perspective, currently in the sport, is there something crucial or overlooking about widening the talent pool? So that way there are more people coming in at the ground level and coming up through the ranks.

I

Amy Ruman: think the talent pool is getting wider for sure. I mean, younger, younger, younger, younger, if you ask me, like everyone’s coming in is. I mean, Trans Am had a couple, they were [00:50:00] like, one kid was like 13 years old wanting to drive. So I had to put some stops on it and try to go for more 15, 16. But I think the talent pool is just wide open now.

And I think it’s just across Europe, across. The United States. You have karting. I mean, you got circle track. I talked to so many people, they’re like, Oh, I got my grandson. He’s right. You know, circle track. We got him a little quarter midget or whatever, you know, I don’t know all these, but there’s so many series throughout that.

I just think everyone’s coming from everywhere. You can find racing just about everywhere now.

Crew Chief Eric: After 60 years of Trans Am, coming from the early days of Mark Donohue and Roger Penske, like we were talking about up until now and all of its evolution. What are you guys hearing about the future of Trans Am?

How is it evolving? Is it growing? You know, are they going to do like NASCAR did and do a Trans Am event in the UK or somewhere in Europe? What’s going on with Trans Am?

Amy Ruman: I definitely think it’s growing. I mean. TA2 has taken off for [00:51:00] sure. They’re also trying to grow the TA class again. And a lot of the XGT and GT series are allowing different cars.

There’s so many different cars now to come in. We’ve had new ownership and Tony Perella and Motorsports Holdings, and he’s done such a great job with SVRA. And then when he bought Trans Am and just really giving us a social platform to be on live stream and be on TV, on MAV TV. The exposure is so much higher than it used to be.

We have promotion at the track. We have ticket sales you can buy online now. They promote us. The direction, we have a, we have a new president at Andy Lally that just signed with us this year. I’m interested to see how that’s going to go. He’s a great race car driver. I’ve been friends with him. We grew up going through the ranks together and going our separate ways, but we’ve always remained friends.

I’m super excited. I think from a driver’s perspective as the president of Trans Am, I think he could bring a lot of insight to that. So I’m, I’m super [00:52:00] excited to see if they do a lot of different things with that. I know Tony has a new ownership group on board, so I think we may get some more exposure yet as far as hopefully sponsorship for the series goes.

There’s a lot of levels in different directions we’re going. I think 2025 is shaping up to be super

Cindi Lux: interesting. I mean, Amy just pretty much just summed it up. I mean, honestly, it’s only going up. You just got to ride the wave and you just got to be a part of it and so forth. But I think there’s some good people behind the scenes and I think there’s some good people promoting it.

There’s some good people in the technical side. I feel more encouraged. I think there’s a lot more positivity on it and so forth, and so I think it’s really cool.

Crew Chief Eric: Well, since we’re speaking of futures, let’s talk about personal futures, starting with Michelle. So, what’s next?

Michele Abbate: Yeah, that’s a tough one for me.

I do not have enough funding to race in Trans Am. Still. Really working on it. Unfortunately, my title sponsor got bought out by Dr. Pepper. And so with the acquisition happening over the off season, my program is in the air. Unfortunately, Lucas Oil is no [00:53:00] longer supporting me and they were a big part of my program.

And I’ve had a few other of my partners that have been with me for 10 years pull out. So I don’t know what the future is for me. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to commit to a team this year and I am on the hunt for money and I’ve been on the hunt since August of last year in a full time way and it’s just for some reason not coming together for me.

And not to end on a, a bummer note on my program, there’ll be some news that will be announced in the next few weeks that I’m excited about, and it has to do with Dirt Fish Rally. So that’s kind of exciting, kind of a new thing for me, but I’m also heading to Wisconsin to do some ice driving in a couple weeks, so that’ll be fun.

Crew Chief Eric: Cindy, you’re coming off a recovery after a surgery. You’re back in the car this year. What else is lined up for you?

Cindi Lux: Yeah, it’s kind of, you know, maybe Michelle, I kind of went through something last year that maybe what, but it wasn’t, you know, sponsor related, but it was mentally the same thing being out of it, but now we’re back at it.

We’re just hustling right now. We’re trying to go testing here in a couple of weeks up here in the Pacific [00:54:00] Northwest, which we’re trying to deal with weather, but anyway, so we’re pretty excited among that regard. So yeah, we’re going to get back in the seat this year and start rallying up. We’re not, I don’t know if it’s going to be a one, two or three car program just yet.

So we’re trying to figure that out, but in many ways, I’m more excited just again, not only from the competition and the level and so forth, but the social aspect of this scene, everybody I haven’t seen for a little bit. Yeah. I just crave being in the race seat. I just can’t stand it. You know, it’s my happy place.

Crew Chief Eric: Amy, what about you? What’s next?

Amy Ruman: 2025 is going to look a little similar to what I’ve been doing. You know, my long time sponsor, McNichols company will be with us again. Valley Automotive Group out of Ohio, so we’re excited about that. We’ll be running, uh, the McNichols 23 Valley Chevrolet Corvette again.

Made a lot of aero changes. We’ve been lacking in grip, so hopefully we’ll be able to keep up with the Mustangs and the Camaros. So, I think a lot of our aero changes, we got to do the test in January and C bring and had some good results with that. So we’re going to try to do the national program again, try to do one more shot for that title and see if we can [00:55:00] get it going again, but yeah, I’ll be mainly in Trans Am.

Crew Chief Eric: So Aaron, after listening to all of these wonderful stories about Trans Am and what it’s like to be there, is something like Trans Am attractive for you? Does it require you to reboot yourself in order to go from one sanctioning body to the other?

Erin Vogel: I think it would take a reboot. It seems to me, especially if I was to go to TA2 with the tube chassis car, I would imagine that it’s, you know, it’s like learning a whole new beast if there’s so much lighter, so much more horsepower.

I think it would be super fun. And I would love to drive one. I definitely wouldn’t say no if someone asked, but I think it would be a learning experience for sure.

Crew Chief Eric: Do you think Trans Am’s intimidating? It’s filled with almost 60 years of history where like we talked about in the intro, you know, these fire breathing dragons, all this noise and kind of insane, a little bit Wild West.

Do you think that attracts more people to it? Maybe deters people from it going like, I don’t know if I want to play in their sandbox,

Erin Vogel: you know, depending on where you’re racing in the grassroots world and what you’re racing, I think it would have seemed intimidating to me at the time, the step that Michelle took would have [00:56:00] seemed very intimidating.

And I think I would have needed a push, like what she had to try it out. I think now it would seem less intimidating for me having driven some much faster cars than what I drove at that time. I would imagine it. I think that’s what draws the fans in because again, like you talk about, I mean, NASCAR, everybody loves it because it’s this American tradition.

And I think TA2 and Trans Am are, you know, whether it’s the Corvettes and, you know, that still look like a sports car, whether it’s the tube chassis. I think that that good old American muscle and the Viper and all of those cars that have a lot of. fan appeal, I think, and have a lot of history of fan appeal.

Like I said, just the noise that they make is so, to anyone who likes that kind of adrenaline rush that you get, is so attractive because, unfortunately, a lot of our modern sports cars are going turbocharged and losing a lot of that sound. So, I mean, we go to the racetrack now and we’re like, oh, it’s not that loud out here.

And I think that’s a lot of the appeal, personally. So, yeah, I think that Trans Am is, is I love that it still has that tradition, and I think that’s attractive.

Crew Chief Eric: Alright ladies, we’ve reached that part [00:57:00] of the episode where we’d like to invite our guests to share any shoutouts, promotions, or anything else we haven’t covered thus far.

So Michelle, go ahead, take us home.

Michele Abbate: I’m just very thankful for you guys, thanks for having us on and letting us chat a bit about Trans Am and kind of our places in the sport. Congrats to Amy again, and Cindy, good luck to you this year, I’m very excited to watch you guys. And hopefully I’ll be out there, but we’ll have to wait and see, so thank you guys so much.

Amy Ruman: If your audience hasn’t had a chance to check out Trans Am, definitely check it out. They’re on the Facebook, Instagram. They just announced a new live streaming this year with a different company. I think we’ll be on Mav as well. And just take the time, check us out. You can visit my webpage, roomandracing.

com. All the social media platforms, same thing, roomandracing. com. Check out our sponsors, McNichols Company and Valley Automotive Group. Watch out for all the Hall of Fame festivities starting in a couple weeks at Sebring, the Trans Am opener. They’re going to have all of that, so we’re excited to do that, and I [00:58:00] appreciate everybody’s support, and thank you for having us on and giving us this platform.

Cindi Lux: These podcast interviews, whatever we’re calling it these days, they’re always fun when you kind of start talking about certain things. You can kind of share a few stories, but the most important thing is we’re accessible. If anybody has any questions they want to send us, there’s so many ways of hooking up with us these days.

We’re here to help. We’ve been in those shoes as people starting off or, or better yet, just inquiring about certain things, but here to help, we’re here to help each other. It’s a crazy time in the world and most common thing in this motor sports. This is one of the best sports ever, you know, and it’s truly a team sport.

Crew Chief Eric: Before I turn it over to our title sponsor, and we have several sponsors for this new series. our virtual center conversations. I wanted to turn the microphone quickly over to one of our ACO representatives who is also a first in the world of female motorsports. That’s Margie Smith Haas, the first American woman to run the 24 hours of Le Mans.

Margie Smith-Haas: Thank you guys so much. And for the recognition, you know, as, as I mentioned, I didn’t find out about being the first [00:59:00] woman to drive the 24 hours of Le Mans. Till 29 years after I did it because I didn’t do it to be the first. I did it because I just love to race and congratulations, Amy. I’ve watched you guys as I’ve been racing and I won my championship in the American city racing lane, as you probably know, race there at Portland and you know, Cindy, I remember seeing you up in the Portland area and PPG stuff.

I’d always come over and say hi to you, but you know, I just want you all to know how much I am so proud. So proud of what you’ve done and how you strive for your future goals and how you encourage and are a inspiration for the young ones coming up because we were there looking up at some of the people and, you know, what they had to say to us and encourage us again, it’s just, I would have never ever as a school teacher thought that I’d end up being the first woman in North America to win a professional road racing championship that happened in 94.

I was 44 years old. [01:00:00] And so. Yeah. Wasn’t a good time to try to get into higher levels of racing right then. But again, I wish you guys the best and how you encourage all these new drivers. You’re just amazing role models. And I was looking up all your wins and podiums and stuff. And I’m like, Oh my God, you guys are great.

I’m so proud to be. Part of a group such

Crew Chief Eric: as yours. Thank you. With that a word from our title sponsor, the International Motor Racing Research Center.

Kip Zeiter: I just want to take a couple of minutes and thank all of you for taking the time out of your very busy schedules to be part of this. I have found the last hour enlightening, fascinating, interesting, and I hope our viewers did as well.

Amy, again, congratulations on induction into the Hall of Fame, which the Trans Am Hall of Fame is ultimately going to be located in the International Motor Racing Research Center in Watkins Glen. So if any of your listeners or viewers are in Watkins Glen at any time this current season, please stop in and say hi on behalf of all of us and also our [01:01:00] partners at SAH.

We thank you very much for taking the time to do this. I think this has been a wonderful kickoff to what we anticipate are going to be three more presentations dealing with different disciplines of the sport. Thank you very much. We’re indebted to you.

Amy Ruman: Thank you. Thank you.

Crew Chief Eric: And on behalf of everyone here and those listening at home, thank you, ladies.

Lauren Goodman: What an incredible conversation with four of the most inspiring women in motorsports. These powerhouses prove that speed has no gender. Their stories remind us that the road to success isn’t always easy, but with perseverance and love, real love for the sport, anything is possible. So a huge thank you to you for participating.

It was a privilege for me to meet you and y’all inspire the next generations. And

Crew Chief Eric: we

Lauren Goodman: thank you for that, too.

Crew Chief Eric: We hope you enjoyed this presentation and look forward to more Center Conversations throughout the season. Be sure to follow, subscribe, and stay with us for more incredible discussions from the world of motorsports.

And until next time, keep the wheels turning and the throttle [01:02:00] wide open.

Women in Motorsports North America is a not for profit organization that began in 2022. Known as WMNA, it is a community that focuses on advancing, connecting, and enabling with its many partners, including industry executives, drivers, team members, OEM sponsors, racetracks, and more. WMNA welcomes all who share their passion for motorsports.

The Women in Drive Summit continues its mission to bring together motorsports professionals. This unique event offers new pathways for individuals to explore career opportunities, discuss current industry challenges, and provides mentorship and resources for future growth in the industry. If you’d like to stay informed about WMNA and the Women in Drive Summit, be sure to log on to www.

wmna. org. Dot women in motor sports N a dot com, or follow them on social media at women in motor sports N a on Instagram and Facebook.

IMRRC/SAH Promo: This episode is brought to you in part by the [01:03:00] international motor racing research center. Its charter is to collect, share, and preserve the history of motor sports, spanning continents, eras, and race series.

The Center’s collection embodies the speed, drama, and camaraderie of amateur and professional motor racing throughout the world. The Center welcomes serious researchers and casual fans alike to share stories of race drivers, race series, and race cars captured on their shelves and walls, and brought to life through a regular calendar of public lectures and special events.

To learn more about the Center, Visit www. racingarchives. org. This episode is also brought to you by the Society of Automotive Historians. They encourage research into any aspect of automotive history. The SAH actively supports the compilation and preservation of [01:04:00] papers. Organizational records print ephemera and images to safeguard, as well as to broaden and deepen the understanding of motorized wheeled land transportation through the modern age and into the future.

For more information about the SAH, Visit www. autohistory. org.

Crew Chief Eric: We hope you enjoyed another awesome episode of break fix podcasts brought to you by Grand Touring Motorsports. If you’d like to be a guest on the show or get involved, be sure to follow us on all social media platforms at Grand Touring Motorsports. And if you’d like to learn more about the content of this episode, be sure to check out the follow on article at gtmotorsports.

org. We remain a commercial free and no annual fees organization through our sponsors, but also through the generous support of our fans, families, and friends through Patreon. For as little as [01:05:00] 2. 50 a month, you can get access to more behind the scenes action, additional Pit Stop minisodes, and other VIP goodies, as well as keeping our team of creators fed on their strict diet of Fig Newtons, Gumby Bears, and Monster.

So consider signing up for Patreon today at www. patreon. com forward slash GT Motorsports. And remember, without you, none of this would be possible.

Skip ahead if you must… Here’s the highlights from this episode you might be most interested in and their corresponding time stamps.

• 00:00 Meet the Panelists
• 03:25 Why Trans Am?
• 06:51 Family Influence and Personal Stories
• 08:25 Challenges and Opportunities in Racing
• 11:15 Trans Am Series Structure
• 16:50 The Importance of Seat Time
• 19:54 Balance of Performance in Racing
• 29:53 The Business of Racing
• 30:27 Inspirations and Role Models; Encouraging the Next Generation
• 37:11 Women in Motorsports: Opportunities and Challenges
• 50:34 The Future of Trans Am and Personal Goals
• 56:58 Final Thoughts and Shoutouts

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