Never Underestimate a Vegetarian Hippie Chick with a Race
Car
The Sporting News: Leilani Münter
Fifty Most Beautiful People in Racing - October 2009
Author: Jeff Droke
(August 15, 2009)
On any given weekend, the button-downed drivers of both the
NASCAR and ARCA circuits are busy providing a countless
number of interviews to the media. The press representatives
of each race team are also busy creating an endless stream
of statements for both broadcast and written media outlets.
A common thread runs through both driver interviews and
press representatives’ statements - avoid controversy at any
cost.
During NASCAR’s early years, there were a few drivers that
didn’t avoid controversy. Among them were union organizers
Curtis Turner and Tim Flock in the sixties and independent
driver advocate James Hylton in the early seventies. During
the seventies, corporate dollars had poured into the sport
and drivers had to become spokesmen for their sponsors.
Drivers had to focus on promoting their sponsor and in turn
avoid any activism or controversy. Hylton’s vocal objections
to the 1972 Winston Cup Winners Circle Plan and its negative
effect on independent owner operators would basically be the
last stand for driver activism.
Fate would have it that in 2009, stock car racing’s last
maverick, James Hylton, would help introduce another driver
to the sport that would also not be afraid to take a stand
on important issues, Leilani Münter. In 2006, Münter created
a section on her racing website dedicated to environmental
news and also maintains a blog where she writes about green
initiatives. The enthusiastic Münter is prepared to help
transform NASCAR to a more eco-friendly sport by using
biofuels and recycled tires. In 2007 Münter made the
commitment to adopt an acre of endangered tropical
rainforest for protection from the World Land Trust to
offset her carbon footprint for each of her races.
Münter tested with Hylton Motorsports for participation in
the February 2009 ARCA RE/MAX Series Lucas Slick Oil Mist
200 at Daytona International Speedway. The team went to
Daytona with a short track 2005 Ford Taurus equipped with a
well-worn motor. The determined Münter proceeded to run a
50.125 second (179.551 mph) lap around the 2.5 mile
legendary superspeedway. The lap would have been good enough
to qualify Münter in 16th position for the February 7th
event but unfortunately lack of sponsorship funds kept
Münter from attempting the race.
Leilani Münter has been racing since 2001 and last year
became the fourth woman in history to race in the Indy Pro
Series, the development league of IndyCar. Prior to running
in the Indy Pro Series, she spent six years in stock car
racing, earning 19 top-ten finishes and 9 top-five finishes
in 39 starts. In 2004, Münter also sat the record at Texas
Motor Speedway for the highest finish for a female driver at
the 1.5 mile speedway with a fourth place finish. In 2007,
Leilani moved into the Indy Pro Series and the open wheel
community quickly took notice when she qualified fifth and
had a very impressive run in her debut at Kentucky Speedway.
This performance earned her praise from the IndyCar garage,
including four-time Indy 500 Champion Rick Mears who stated,
"Leilani did a great job, I am looking forward to seeing her
race some more."
During her career, Münter has been able to successfully
achieve acclaim from both her on track and off track
actives. While she is known to those in motorsports as an up
and coming young driver, she is also known to the
environmentally conscious as a committed advocate. This was
exemplified to me in July 2009, when my 17 year daughter and
I visited a Lucky Brand Jeans store in Honolulu. While in
the store, I noticed a poster of Münter and informed the two
store workers that I was friends with her. The two sales
associates, both females in their early twenties, stated
that they were big fans of Münter and admired her for her
efforts to protect the environment. While they were not
quite as familiar with her racing accomplishments, they did
understand that she was a driver that was not afraid to
speak her mind on an issue that many young people find very
important. As Münter has stated in numerous interviews
“never underestimate a vegetarian hippie chick with a race
car”.
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