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Allison Duncan
Late Model Stock Car Driver

Allison Duncan "I must start by stating that I owe my whole racing career to my father. At the tender age of 10 my father took me to the first NASCAR Winston Cup race ever held at Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma, California, just 15 miles from our San Rafael home. From the minute the first car rolled out onto the track I was hooked! The speed, the adrenaline, the excitement, it was just awesome!! On that day, I became an avid stock car racing fan. Since that time, I’ve known that racing is my life’s passion."

Allison began her racing career by progressing through the National Auto Sport Association’s (NASA) High Performance Driving School. At the age of 18 she received her racing license. Allison began racing a Mazda RX-7 in the NASA PRO-7 Series. In only her first season of racing, Allison earned her first pole position at Sears Point Raceway on her way to being named NASA’s Most Improved Driver. She also raced in NASA’s Endurance series in her Mazda and finished 3rd in the season Championship.

Allison headed into the 1998 season with a clearly defined goal - win races and win championships. During the ’98 season Allison raced in 3 different series in her RX-7. She returned to the NASA PRO-7 series and NASA’s Timex Endurance Series and also competed in the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) RX-7 class. By the end of her second full season of racing, Allison had racked up 25 victories (all against men, by the way) on her way to claiming 2 Championships, including an 8 race winning streak at Sears Point Raceway. She was crowned 1998 SCCA RX-7 Series Champion as well as 1998 Champion of the NASA Timex Enduro Series E-2 class. Not only did Allison win the championship in the endurance series, but she also finished second to herself by driving with two teams in the same series and in the same events! Allison also finished 4th in the NASA PRO-7 series championship.

1999 saw Allison make her move into the world of professional racing. She was the 6th fastest qualifier of the 66 female drivers from around the world who tried out for the inaugural season of the Women’s Global GT Series. Once invited to race in the series, Allison wasted no time showing the racing world what she could do. Fortunately for her, the second stop on the WGGTS schedule was at her home track of Sears Point Raceway. After qualifying on the pole, Allison spun on the warm-up lap while trying to get a little heat into her Panoz GTR-A’s full-treaded street tires. She made the decision to drive back to her pole position before taking the green flag. As a result, she was black flagged on the second lap and was forced to pull into the pits for a stop and go penalty. Allison exited the pits in last position. Throughout the 45 minute race, she passed every car but one while racing her way back to a second place finish. When the WGGTS headed to Road Atlanta, Allison set the track’s lap record while leading the race. Unfortunately, her race ended shortly after that when she drove through oil from a competitor’s broken car, spun off the track and was hit by the 3rd place car that had followed her path through the oil and off the track. Redemption for missing out on victory at Sears Point soon came for Allison at Laguna Seca where she won her first professional race. Las Vegas was the sight of the final race on the 1999 WGGT series schedule where Allison again qualified on the pole position. Unfortunately for her, the drive belt on her Ford engine broke while Allison was running in 2nd spot, 10 minutes before the end of the race. But as they say, that’s racing!!

When she wasn’t racing in the Women’s Global GT series in 1999, Allison continued racing her RX-7 out on the West Coast on her way to claiming the 1999 SCCA ITE Championship. Not bad for a 21-year-old full-time mechanical engineering student.

The 2000 racing season began the way any sports car racer’s dream season begins, by racing in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. Allison became the youngest woman ever to race in the prestigious event, behind the wheel of a 600 HP Dodge Viper, no less. As a driver for Chamberlain Motorsports of England, Allison and her teammates raced their way to a 6th place overall finish, 5th in the GTS class, making Allison the highest placing female in the history of the event. 2000 also saw Allison’s first taste of stock car racing when she competed in the GT America Stock Car Series, a road racing stock car series on the West Coast. She raced a 500 HP "ASA" style stock car to five 3rd place finishes, one 6th place and one unfortunate DNF.

Stock car racing has always been Allison passion and after her experience in the GTA stock car she was certain that stock car racing is her life’s ambition. Allison graduated from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in December 2000 earning her Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering. Soon after, in February 2001, the 22-year-old California native packed up all her belongings and moved 2700 miles from home to Charlotte, North Carolina to pursue her dreams of becoming a stock car racing star. Currently she is making plans to race a late model stock car at several short tracks across the Carolinas to gain some valuable circle track racing experience.

Allison’s ultimate goal is to one day compete for the NASCAR Winston Cup Series Title. Watch for this rising star as she races her way to the top of the stock car racing world!