Women in drag racing

“I have to ask you what you make of the woman driver stereotypes.”

Sherrie Bodnarchuk laughs heartily.

I am someone who perpetuates that stereotype (see this past blog); Bodnarchuk defies it. She’s a funny car driver, and she’s heard every joke in the book. She doesn’t care; she loves to drive.

I met Bodnarchuk at the Saskatchewan International Raceway in September. I was intrigued by the number of women drivers, firstly, and by their desire, secondly, to talk about their sport in order to encourage more women to get involved.

Jodi Lant, who serves on the executive of the Saskatchewan Drag Racing Assoc. started driving in 2011 after her husband, Tom, bought her a car. “I think he just wanted the car,” she laughed. She took it as a challenge to get behind the wheel and master the control of the vehicle.

Seventeen-year-old Teryn McBain has been a driver since she was a child and has won some championships. These are just a few of Saskatchewan’s accomplished women drivers.

Bodnarchuk says it best when she says, “For the most part, no one thinks about it much anymore if you are a woman driver. You’ve got a good car. And you’re a driver.”