Farmington friends aiming to make history at Indy 500
Only female-led team in NTT IndyCar Series looks to qualify for big race
Beth Paretta always loved cars. Her best friend Stacey Bakaj, though not as enthusiastic, was always along for the ride.
It’s been that way for the 40-plus years of their friendship. When Paretta was young, her dad had a 1930 Model A Ford he used to drive and bring to car shows. He and her older brother restored a vintage truck in their garage. She and Bakaj, who met in kindergarten at East Farms Elementary School in Farmington, were always allowed to hang out and watch.
This weekend, the two friends are together again, this time on the biggest stage of motor sports as part of the same racing team looking to qualify for the Indianapolis 500.
Paretta is the owner of Paretta Autosport, the only female-led team in the NTT IndyCar Series and the first team under the Indy
Car series’ new “Race for Equality and Change.” The program, spearheaded by IndyCar and Indianapolis Speedway owner Roger Penske aims to diversify the ranks of owners, drivers, workers and supports diverse businesses. .
Bakaj, who has worked in the design industry for years, is Paretta Autosport’s art designer. She works on the livery, which encompasses the look of the car, the team, the website and making sure the sponsors get the most bang for their buck.
With driver Simona de Silvestro, Paretta Autosport looks like a good bet to make the 33-car field for the 105th Indianapolis 500.
“I just kind of went along with [the car thing],” Bakaj said. “I never really latched onto it at the time. I think I’m kind of coming around now.”
Lifelong friends
A year after Paretta was born, her brother, Michael, was diagnosed with leukemia at age 12. The truck project was a labor of love. Her brother died at age 17, when Beth was in first grade.
“My father and my brother always very kindly included me, instead of shooing me away, partly because of the family dynamic and what we were going through and understanding life is precious,” Paretta said. “Obviously at the time, I didn’t have the perspective I do now and you realize what kindness they showed at that time.”
Paretta and Bakaj were 4 years old when they met, part of a large group of friends who went to each other’s birthday parties and had play dates together.
“Neither Stacey nor I have a sister so I think we are that person in each other’s lives,” Paretta said.
As Paretta grew older, she watched auto racing on TV and read auto magazines. Bakaj got her driver’s license first and would drive Paretta to Farmington High School every day. Paretta got a Volkswagen Beetle, Bakaj’s favorite car.
“There was a part of me that appreciates the vintage piece of things, going back to your dad’s truck. I loved vintage things,” Bakaj said.
They went their separate ways after graduating from Farmington High School — Paretta to Boston University and Bakaj to Roger Williams — but they still saw each other a lot and kept a tradition alive of going to Bakaj’s house on Christmas night.
Bakaj, who ended up getting a degree from the Massachusetts College of Art, married and had a family and was immersed in the design world, while Paretta made her way up the ladder in the performance car industry. She had the idea for a female race team in 2016 but it didn’t work out. Bakaj knew all about it because they talked all the time.
Last fall, there was a renewed effort to put together a female race team after Penske bought the speedway and launched the diversity initiative. Paretta had worked with Penske and had a good relationship with him.
In November, Penske told her he wanted to unveil the team in January. Paretta’s regular design team couldn’t turn it around that quickly.
“Beth called me up one day and said, ‘Hey can I get your help on something?’ ” Bakaj said.
“I desperately needed you,” Paretta said.
“It was really good timing because I was freelancing at the time,” Bakaj said.
“She knows all about this race team idea,” Paretta said. “It’s a female-forward team which is unique. The impetus for that was working for a car company and realizing that motorsport is kind of a treasure trove — there’s a lot of different things happening on the track that could be interesting, that could hopefully spark the interest for STEM education for young women, and education leads to careers. That was sort of the foundation.
“I called her. I said, ‘You can say no, but could you do this?’ She said, ‘Yeah, I’ll take a stab at it.’ And I can honestly tell you — she won’t tell you — she has nailed it. Everything we’ve asked her to do has been fantastic.”
Showcasing opportunities for women
Paretta, who lives just outside of Detroit, has worked in the motorsports industry for years, including stints with Volkswagen, Aston Martin and Fiat Chrysler, where she was the head of the automaker’s performance division. She also raced at Lime Rock in Salisbury, which she considers her home track.
“What I love about racing is that it’s very much a meritocracy,” Paretta said. “It’s against the clock. You’re either going to be good or you’re not. You kind of have to be the best of the best to be at the pro level, regardless of gender, race, color, creed. You have to deliver in order to stay there.
“We don’t have to have a men’s league and a women’s league — we can be on the same team. I don’t want to necessarily have the ‘Ladies’ Team.’ I would like there to be ladies on all the other teams.”
Almost three-quarters of the 28-member Paretta team is female, including spotters, the aerodynamic engineer and some of the crew and mechanics.
“Obviously, being majority female is a message we’re sending to women and young girls watching us,” said Andra Buzatu, 23, one of the team’s mechanics who became a mechanic four years ago in the Coast Guard. “The whole point is that it’s not an unattainable goal. If women are interested in doing this, you can do it. It’s not like we just have our foot in the door. It’s like we’ve kicked down the door and now the door is open.
“Having a woman here and a woman there is not really getting the exposure that I wish I had seen when I was younger.”
Bakaj, who has 6-year-old twin daughters, talks to them often of Paretta and her role with the racing team.
“When I point out some of the things I’ve done or videos where Beth is in them, I hope to instill this in my girls as well,” she said. “I’m really using Beth as a role model.”
In the biggest moment of her life, Paretta is happy to have her friend by her side.
“There’s these moments I’m like, I can’t believe this is happening,” Paretta said. “But none of it would matter if I didn’t have my people with me on the journey.
“I couldn’t do it without her. I’m climbing the biggest mountain of my life so it’s nice to have somebody with me.”
“I’m happy to be a part of it,” Bakaj said.