Spring 08
Vol. 15/ No. 1

Lisa Snowden

Move over boys Lisa Snowden is here to stay. Since the ripe old age of 3, Snowden has dreamed of nothing more than hanging with the boys and driving fast. Of course that means hanging with her dad and uncles, and driving her race car on the track.

This 22-year-old self-proclaimed adrenaline junkie hit the competition gas pedal 12 years ago. In her junior dragster she was hitting speeds of 36 mph on the eighth of a mile track. “I started begging to drive a dirt car when I started talking,” the dark-haired 7th-semester nursing student says. “Of course a race car was on my Christmas list every year since I can remember.”

In fact the year Snowden turned 10, she knew her persistence had paid off and her racing career had started when she found a dragster not only under the Christmas tree but filling the entire length of the living room. When most parents are trying to put together bikes or other toys, Snowden's parents, Willie and Becky, took the 12-foot junior dragster apart, carried the pieces into their Kansas City area home and reassembled it.

And for the next seven years Snowden left her competition in the dust. Racing for points in the junior division, she snagged a ticket to the national competition six of those years.

“Lisa raced against 800 competitors at the nationals; two times she made it to the final four and twice to the quarterfinals,” says Willie. “And at this level of competition the drivers are competing for college savings bonds instead of points.”

By 16 she was eyeing her dad's '23 T-Altered. “My dad drove sprint cars and midgets,” says Snowden, “and my grandpa drove roadsters. I grew up around the track and I love every aspect of racing.”

As she aged and gained more experience, Snowden's race car driving career has sped up as well. In fact by the time she was 20, she was driving a super comp dragster in the quarter mile at speeds up to 190 mph.

However, her father has never feared sending her out on the track. “She has so much protective gear — helmet, head roll, safety harnesses — that I believe she is safer on the track than driving back and forth to school on Highway 70.”

This past year Snowden moved to the B-modified competition — an entry-level dirt racing class. Before, the boys just took Snowden in stride; now, the boys are pushing her around.

“Lisa's car has more dents on the sides and back end than it does on the hood,” laughs her ex-race car driving dad, who's definition of fun is spelled W.I.N. “She is the only female racing at Valley Speedway [Grain Valley, Mo]. At Central Missouri Speedway [Warrensburg, Mo] she is the only girl in the modified class, and my biggest pet peeve is when they push her around and she doesn't push back.”

She just shrugs at her dad's comment and points out that this year was more of a learning year for her anyway. Her black car with pink lettering certainly attracts attention – maybe not the kind she wants from her male competitors, but she tries not to let their ribbing both on and off the track bother her.

In fact, her car pays homage to her life-long passion for the sport. She's named all her cars throughout her career and this one is no different. The Black Stallion with Pink Highlights embodies her strength, skill and feminine nature while paying tribute to her two Aikitas, Gasket and Hot Rod, who have since passed away. The soft-spoken student, who has a pierced nose and wears toe rings, named her childhood fish Spark Plug, and currently her family owns Piston, a boxer mastiff mix. “He's a newbie still under construction,” says Willie.

“I call my daughter the hired gun,” says an obviously proud father. “All she has to do is show up and drive the car. Last year she only blew up one motor – that's not too bad for her first year in the modifieds.”

Racing keeps Snowden's life balanced. While she's on the track she puts her stressful college career into perspective. During the week, racing gives her an incentive to study and to stay focused, however, her weekends from May to September are booked at the track.

As Snowden shifts into the final couple of semesters of nursing school, she is contemplating ER or geriatric nursing. She also has set her sights on racing sprint cars — it might be the most expensive, says Snowden, but it's also the fastest.

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