Girl power: Female engineers pushing Indycar teams to wins
Danielle Shepherd grew up in Ohio a racing fan, cheering wildly for Jimmy Vasser in the 180-degree Keyhole turn at Mid-ohio Sports Car Course. It didn’t hit her until she was in college and had ditched her plans to study Spanish and international relations that she realized she might someday work with her favorite driver.
Angela Ashmore tagged along with her father on weekends to Berlin Raceway in Michigan, got hooked on cars and NASCAR and Dale Earnhardt, and set a path to work in racing. She first thought she could be a driver, then her dad honed in on her math and science skills and suggested an engineering career.
Both women now play key roles for the Indycar program at Chip Ganassi Racing. Same for Kate Gundlach at Arrow Mclaren SP and Nicole Rotondo
from Honda Performance Development. The four female engineers are all part of a streak in which women were part of winning Indycar victories the past three races.
Ashmore made her first trip to victory lane alongside Rotondo at Detroit when Marcus Ericsson won his first career Indycar race. The next day, Pato O’ward won for AMSP and Gundlach got to celebrate. Then it was Shepherd in victory lane at Road America with Alex Palou, a two-time winner this season and the Indycar points leader.
The series races Sunday at Mid-ohio — Shepherd’s home track — and it is possible another woman will be celebrating a victory again.
The technical nature of open-wheel racing gives Indycar ample opportunities for women to advance in roles traditionally filled by men. Shepherd took it a step further this season as the first woman to go over the wall when she was tasked with removing the tear off sheets from the aeroscreen on Palou’s car during pit stops.
All believe they have earned their spots and are far more than symbols of diversity on their respective teams.
“I think we’re here because the team has hired good people for the roles because we’re proving that we can be on cars and win,” Shepherd said. “I hope what it says about Ganassi is he’s not necessarily trying to be inclusive, but he’s not trying to be disclusive, either. He’s trying to put the right people in the right roles and have the best team possible because he likes winners whether they’re male or female.”
Shepherd started at KV Racing not long after earning an engineering degree from The College of Wooster and found herself in a team debrief with none other than Vasser, coowner of the now defunct race team.