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Fox Sports list of top female driver 2012

Thursday, March 21, 2013 2:30:13 PM

http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/lists/Top-Female-drivers-in-racing-today#tab=photo-title=Sloan+Henderson&photo=31106274

One struggles for a up and coming female NASCAR racer

Thursday, March 21, 2013 2:14:20 PM

Causes and effect of being humble by Steve Henderson Being humble is a good quality 95% of the time, but in contrast what if you need a little arrogance and prideful to make it to the top of your game? What if pride could get you hurt or killed? Should you compress your feeling of joy? These are some of the dilemmas I had to contemplate with my daughter, excelling, and kicking ass in a male sport of auto racing. On one hand some pride and expressed joy in racers accomplishment are anticipated and accepted as part of the victory celebration, but what if it could cause female racers lives to be in danger? I choose to tell Sloan to be meek and humble, even dreary. This seem to be the best answer at the time because she earned the respect of the most the male racers even though she was beating 97% of them most the time and 100% of them 10% of the time in spite of being underfunded $3 to 1 by a few teams. In fact, some of the competition like Richard Childers grandson’s had quarter million dollar transporters ( Toterhomes, RV with huge two story trailers ) two crew chiefs that travel with them. Not on minimize all the resource back in North Carolina including the shop where the RCR NASCAR Sprint Cups car was prepared. In a male sport I believed females should not over celebrate; it can cause some of their competitors to get mad, frustrated and out for revenge. One of the concerns male racers have when they leave and go to the bar or home is that their friends say, “Did you get beat again by that girl again.” In 2013 we would like to think there is equality but the fact is most guys just don’t like losing to a girl on race day. My decision-to have Sloan be humble I feel, was protecting her and keeping a hedge of protection around her on race day. I know this as a fact because twice other competitors’ fathers have paid, hired guns, (other racer to join the race to take her out of compaction so their son or driver could win the championship. Another cause and effect of not being humble is, if a guy got offend because of her celebrating, he could simply wreck our car and cost us several thousand dollars to fix it and she would have to miss the next NASCAR whelen race. These types of aggressive actions (trying to wreck her) in the lower divisions had a reverse effect because it taught her to learn how to save the race car that was in a spin heading straight for the wall at devastating speed. . Most of the competitors swore she had a form of traction control on the cars but that simple was true the years of competitors trying to wreck her taught her unbelievable car control. Sloan told me to not get in a fight with the kid’s dads because it was just making her a better racer. These skills were proven in the NASCAR Whelan series 28 events, at two separate venues, with just one car; unlike most of our competitor that brought a back-up cars to each race In contrast top competitors for the Ohio State NASCAR Whelen Championship had up to three cars to her having just one. So wrecking her only car was not an option and racing to win was more challenging for Sloan than most male drivers. Finally, the cause and effect of this decision to tell her to be humble reversely affected her self-esteem as an individual. As her dad I did not realize how my decision was hurting her, by not letting her enjoy the feeling of winning! To this day she cannot understand how amazing her accomplishment was. Still, she struggles with confidence outside the race car. This diminished confidence didn’t show on TV or radio interviews, in the corporate office but till recently she was petrified to talk on the phone to anybody except reporters. The fact that economy sucked made it nearly impossible to get a great corporate sponsor(like Danica corporate sponsorship) and she took that rejection personally. Life is full of cause and effect choices and without a crystal ball we are forced to give life one’s best shot. Sometime you win sometime you lose. Steve "Dad" Henderson

Daytona Journal article

Thursday, March 01, 2012 8:12:51 AM

Getting to the race takes a walk in the woods for young driver By LACEY McLAUGHLIN, Staff writer send an email to lacey.mclaughlin@news-jrnl.com February 16, 2012 12:25 AM Posted in: ARCA ARCA driver Sloan Henderson in the garage with her No. 29 Dodge Charger at Daytona International Speedway on Wednesday. (N-J | Jim Tiller) Driver Sloan Henderson has been able to raise money to get to this year's ARCA qualifying by selling timber from her family's property. (Photo | Sloan Henderson) Just a few weeks before Sloan Henderson was set to qualify for last year's Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 ARCA race at Daytona International Speedway, she received news the financial backing from her sponsorships had fallen through. Unable to come up with several thousand dollars on her own, she returned to her home in Dayton, Ohio, wondering if she would ever race again. "It was a huge downer," said the 19-year-old, who will practice today and attempt to qualify Friday for the 2012 Slick Mist 200. "We have constantly heard 'no' from companies and last year when it seemed like my dreams were coming true, it was taken away from me a few weeks before the race was suppose to happen." But this year, Henderson discovered money does grow on trees. After hunting on her grandparent's property in Ohio, Sloan's sponsor Terry Wells suggested cutting down 55 walnut trees and selling them to a local lumber mill. For days Sloan, her father Steve Henderson and Wells cut down the 100-foot trees with a 30-pound chainsaw and moved them despite freezing temperatures and snow. "The trees are 150 years old, so we aren't going to have a chance like this in another 150 years," Steve said. The timber brought in $23,500 toward Sloan's fundraising goal of $65,000. But if she was going to make it to the first ACRA race of the season and gain the attention of the media and potential sponsors, timber alone wouldn't cut it. To raise additional funds, Sloan called on the help of her fans with Sloan's Crusaders. Through her website, sloanhenderson.com, fans can become sponsors for as little as $1 and have their name placed on her No. 29 Dodge Charger. So far, Sloan's Crusaders has helped raised more than $30,000. "We are looking for grass-roots sponsors instead of corporations," Steve said. "It's a fan-funded sports car." Steve Henderson also sold six acres of his family's 30-acre farm to pay for the car and crew for Saturday's race -- the engine alone costs $20,000, he said. Sloan Henderson started racing at the age of 12 after an accident on her horse, Rocky, left her with a broken jaw. Her father said he was looking for a hobby for his daughter that didn't involve an animal with a "mind of its own." A former tractor-trailer driver, he remembered how his daughter liked to spend hours turning doughnuts on a four-wheeler when she was a child, and thought racing would be a sport she could excel at. Sloan would eventually go on to break track records at the Columbus Motor Speedway in Columbus, Ohio, and win the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Rookie of the Year Award for Ohio in 2009. Despite her love for racing, the financial setback in 2011 had Sloan beginning to picture her life without the sport. "We were literally done racing until three months ago," said Steve. "We were starting to plan our lives outside racing, when she spent a semester in college and then came back and we decided to give it another shot." About that time, Sloan reached out to Sprint Cup Series driver Brian Keselowski, who was billed as an underdog when he qualified for the Daytona 500 in 2011. He also owns the newly formed Brian Keselowski Motorsports team and was looking for a driver for this year's ARCA series. In December, Sloan tested with Keselowski's team at Daytona International Speedway and finished eighth out of 53 drivers, with an average speed of 181mph. Her results showed promise, as Sloan has never competed in a race with speeds more than 90 mph. "She jumped in and drove like she had been doing it for 100 years," Keselowski said. Sloan's fundraising efforts have brought her to Daytona, but without additional sponsorships it's unlikely that she will compete in other ARCA-series races this year. Like many other drivers before, her performance in the Slick Mist 200 could make or break her career. "It's Cinderella's shot at the ball," Steve said. Sloan is one of three female drivers who will attempt to qualify and compete in Saturday's race. And though her long blonde hair will likely help her marketability, Sloan said she hopes her Christian faith and racing talent will set her apart from other drivers. "I don't want to push Christianity on anyone, I just want to stand up for the things that I believe in," she said. "I believe that this is where God wants me to be and he wants me to be an example for others," she said. Steve Henderson acknowledged that it will be tough for his daughter to beat seven-time Slick Mist 200 winner Bobby Gerhart, but he has faith that Sloan will succeed. He pointed to NASCAR driver Danica Patrick, who placed sixth in the same race in 2010 and has become one of the most high-profile women in auto racing. "Sloan doesn't have to win," he said. "If she can do one spot better than what Danica did, I think that's going to be press worthy."

Franklin Driver Lands One-race ARCA Deal-Middletown Journal

Saturday, January 14, 2012 12:51:52 PM

Franklin driver lands one-race ARCA deal Henderson will drive for Brian Keselowski Motorsports By John Bombatch, Staff Writer 2:46 AM Saturday, January 14, 2012 FRANKLIN — It may have involved a little driving — and some fallen trees — but the start to the 2012 auto racing season is looking pretty good for Sloan Henderson. On Monday, the Brian Keselowski Motorsports racing operation in Huntersville, N.C., announced Henderson would be their driver when the team races in the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 ARCA Series stock car race Feb. 18 at Daytona International Speedway. Henderson, of Franklin, turned some heads in mid-December during a test at the famed 2.5-mile racing facility, clocking the eighth quickest time (out of 51) during an open test. Henderson’s fastest lap of 49.461 seconds, 181.962 mph was tops among a half-dozen drivers who were vying for the Keselowski Motorsports seat. Before the test, Keselowski had told Sloan that he didn’t expect the team to be in the top 10. “We had problems the first time I went out, because I couldn’t reach the gas pedal all the way to the floor,” Henderson explained. “Once we figured that out, I went out for my second run and he told me I was eighth fastest. That was a great opportunity for me. I wasn’t expecting to do that well.” Henderson plans a trip to North Carolina to talk to some perspective sponsors later this month. But for now, the deal with BKM is for the Daytona race only. Henderson, 19, said it costs roughly $70,000 to field a car for the Daytona race. Most of that money comes from sponsorships, but that hasn’t stopped her family from finding unique ways to raise some of the money. Henderson has been helping in the logging and power washing of an estimated $30,000 in trees that are being harvested from her grandparents’ property in Camden. “We’ve been out there in the cold for the past couple days. It’s hard work. Yesterday, we were out there high-water pressuring the trees in the snow,” she said. “You’re all wet and freezing. I just kept telling myself ‘Daytona! Daytona! Daytona!’ ”

Henderson to Drive for Keselowski at Daytona

Saturday, January 14, 2012 11:53:54 AM

Henderson to Drive for Keselowski at Daytona (HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. - January 12, 2012) - Brian Keselowski Motorsports has announced that Sloan Henderson will drive the No. 29 Dodge in the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 at Daytona International Speedway. "This offseason has been anything but an offseason," Keselowski said in a team press release. "We worked really hard to put things together and kick off this new venture. We really look forward to working with Sloan and will do everything in our efforts to help her launch her racing career in the right direction. I was very happy with her performance during our testing session and I am confident that she will put her best efforts into our team as well for a great outcome." Keselowski, owner and driver of the K-Automotive Motorsports No. 92 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team, is now the proud owner of Brian Keselowski Motorsports (BKM), fielding race cars in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards (No. 29 and No. 92) and in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and West (car numbers TBA) with new up-and-coming drivers, providing them their start into stock car racing. K-Automotive Motorsports will continue to be the primary company for Keselowski's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series efforts in the future. Said Henderson: "I'm truly blessed to have this opportunity to work with BKM and run in the ARCA Racing Series Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 at Daytona International Speedway. After a great test session with the team, I'm excited about the possibility and feel comfortable that we can do very well." Henderson, 19, is a freshman at Wright State University in Fairborn, Ohio, near Dayton. To read more about her and Brian Keselowski Motorsports, click below to access the team's full press release in the Team News section of ARCARacing.com at ARCA Nation. Brian Keselowski Racing Announces Henderson as Daytona Driver The Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 on February 18 will open ARCA's 60th Anniversary Season. SPEED and ARCARacing.com will carry live coverage from the historic 2.5-mile oval. « Back to News