the all woman team at moroso

by Craig Wilcox

KML Racing, the only all- woman team entered at the Tire Kingdom Longest Night Race, was composed of six women who had never met before.  They really opened some eyes during the race January 2 and 3 at Moroso Motorsports Park in North Palm Beach, FL.

The team, organized by Donald Kahn of Colrain, MA, was to have consisted of four women driving the number 42 Spec Racer Ford. They wound up with 6sixof the best Spec Racer drivers on their team, at least one of whom had not driven a Spec car before the race!

Sisters Nikki and Amy Ruman made up the nucleus of the team, having driven in the 24-hour race the year before. Their dad, Bob, drives another Kahn entry in the race. Both sisters have extensive experience in SRF’s .  They even share ownership of one.

Team Captain Divina Galica is a former Olympics skier (1964, ’68, ’72 and ’92) who holds the current downhill speed record of over 125 MPH. She began auto racing in the ‘70s, and has had a lot of experience in Sports 2000, Formula 5000, Formula 2, Race Trucks, and various endurance events. She has also run World Sports Cars and is currently an instructor at the Skip Barber Racing School.

Terri Hundertmark is in her first year of racing, having started last March in the Barber Dodge series. She had several credible finishes in the series, and became the Designated Team Representative for dealing with race officials and the media. Terri drives for Racing For Kids , and combined the race with a visit to the Children’s Ward at St. Mary’s Hospital in nearby West Palm Beach. This was her first time in an SRF.

Brenda Johnson is used to competing in her and her husband’s SSC Neon, and has done well throughout the south. This, also, was her first ride in the better handling (and faster) Spec Racer Ford.

Leah Bartlett is a member of the PPG all-woman pace car team,  a Thunder Valley Racing featured driver who competes in the Neon Challenge and SCCA competition.

Divina surprised everyone by turning 1:36’s in practice, even though she was cut short by a black-flag-all due to an accident in the notorious Turn 8. The team qualified well, but suffered somewhat from a loose alternator wire which necessitated a tow-in during Terri’s first stint during the race. This dropped them back to 43rd place, as they also had to pit once to replace the rear deck following a love tap from a heavier competitor.

At about 3 am, in the 13th hour of the race, a cold front with heavy rain, wind and lightening approached from the west. It was Divina’s turn in the (literally) bucket, and, in the rain and the wind, she pushed the car further up the leaderboard, while others were falling back - all the way to 15th overall, 3rd in class.

When Divina got out of the car, her eyes were extremely bloodshot. It seems that she could not see with the visor down, so had pushed it up. The combination of rain, small stones, and wind had played havoc with her eyes. Asked why she had done this, she stated that she could go just as fast on the straight in the rain, she knew where the corners were, so she kept her eyes open until she got into the corner, then closed them while she turned! Regardless of how she did it, she was clearly the fastest thing on the track during the downpour, and really boosted the team’s spirits.

After the race was halted for 55 minutes due to the inclement weather, the track started drying, and the Acura’s, Porsche’s, and Mercedes cars started getting aggressive again. Once more the 42 car suffered a love tap, and had to put the rear deck back on. The rain had also destroyed the radios on all the open cars, thus making pit stops a bit of a surprise.

The Spec Racers were faster through the turns than the heavier sedans, but did not have the top speed on the straights. Terri said that she would make her plans to pass in Turns 2, 6 or 9, only to have the faster car repass her on the straights.

Shortly after 9 am, Brenda took over the car. Coming through Turn 7 a few minutes later, the car received another "love tap", this time from a Porsche 944. This tap was the final straw for the Spec Racer, and the resulting spin and impact with the berm did a good job of trashing the car. Brenda got a strained neck, but credited the inherent strength of the car with preventing further harm to her.

Dispirited, the women all took to cheering on Kahn’s other car, the number 43. This car had suffered some mechanical difficulties during the night, and had fallen well behind, but was still running. At about 11 am, Kahn approached Terri, and asked her if she wanted to take the car to the checkered - and all the women celebrated.

When Kahn turned over the car to Terri, there was an hour and twenty minutes to go in the race. He told her, "The brakes are bad, a tire is going bald, the transmission is shot and you have to short shift, and you might have to make a splash and go." With these cheery words, she was off and gone, determined to have the car finish.

She got a bit lucky - someone else’s misfortune brought out a full course yellow, and she was able to conserve tires, brakes, transmission, and fuel. She finished the 24 hours, and says that she had tears in her eyes at the finish. So did a lot of her fans.

Altogether, an outstanding effort by a group of up and coming  women racers. In 19 hours and 10 minutes, they completed 488 laps (1,098 miles), finishing 41st overall and 9th in Spec Racer Ford. Watch for great things in the future!