"Young girls can see us": Female NASCAR engineer on how modern-day rendition of the sport "is not as scary"

Historically, NASCAR has been a male-dominated sport where male drivers have prevailed, and often they are the ones to fill the vast majority of driving and crew roles. Lately, the sport has been making efforts to ensure that there are equal opportunities and chances for all genders in the sport.

Andie Preacher, a female vehicle systems engineer at NASCAR, emphasized the sport's efforts in promoting visibility and representation. In an interview shared on X (formerly Twitter), she said:

"NASCAR has done a great job because we're putting ourselves out there where these young girls can see us. They're like, 'I want to be in racing,' and they see all these women in racing; it's not as scary of a thing for them."

After discovering the dynamic nature of the sport, Preacher started her career in NASCAR to overcome the challenges and be part of the evolution of the sport.

"I was looking for a new challenge, and NASCAR had just released the next gen, so it's a different way of looking at racing in general, this kind of revitalization of stock cars, and I was super interested in that," said Preacher.

The young engineer shared her thoughts on the change in industry norms, saying:

"You wouldn't necessarily think that these kinds of industries where it is male-dominated they would be pushing their women to be out on the frontline, going and asking all these questions."

Andie Preacher, however, stressed how important it is for women to hold prominent positions and added:

"Young female students, if they want to be an engineer, they can come in, and you've got five female engineers sitting here working on the project."

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NASCAR driver Toni Breidinger holds Kart Racing Event for young female drivers

Recently, Xfinity Series driver Toni Breidinger teamed up with her twin sister Annie who is a car engineer for original equipment manufacturers, to motivate upcoming female racers to engage in kart racing at the Phoenix Kart Racing Association.

The event, which was organized to celebrate International Women's Day, involved Breidinger telling her story and giving advice to 12 young female racers. She also donated $100,000 to the Women's Sports Foundation.

Toni Breidinger stressed the importance of representation and mentorship in motorsports. She said (via NASCAR.com):

“I truly believe seeing is believing, so being able to get involved and hopefully inspire the next generation of women in motorsports is really special to me.”

She added:

“I started my racing journey in Go Karts, so I know what it’s like to be in these girls’ position. I’m excited to share with them what I’ve learned on my journey so far and help them along with theirs.”