Jennifer Tumminelli
ALMS and Grand Am Driver
 
As a child, Jennifer
Tumminelli would watch Formula One racing on
television and then sit in her dad's Porsche and
pretend she was racing. Jennifer would remain in
the driver's seat for hours until she was called
in from the garage for dinner.
For Jennifer, what started out as a childhood
dream is now a reality. Jennifer is now a
professional race car driver competing in the
exciting and popular international sports car
series American Le Mans and new Grand-Am Series.
Jennifer, a 35 year old single mom with a very
supportive 15 year old daughter, Nicole has been
involved in various aspects of motorsports for
many years.
A former CART / PPG Pace Car Driver, Porsche
racer, Star Formula Mazda Series Driver and
pole-sitter for the Women's Global GT Series she
has been fortunate enough to quickly gain the
experience and exposure in only six years of
racing to bring her to the forefront of racing.
Jennifer's passion for auto racing also led her
to pursue a business career in motorsports as
well serving as the marketing manager for Indycar
driver, Richie Hearn of Della Penna Motorsports
and Toyota Atlantic hot shoe driver, Chuck West
of World Speed Motorsports.
Jennifer's first experience as a driver was one
that she will never forget. "I earned my ride
after two years as a mechanic/crew for a Formula
Mazda team," Jennifer said.
Jennifer's dad was in Japan when she entered her
first autocross. Because of the odds, he had
prepared her not to expect to win and not to get
her hopes up. "He called me from Japan and left
me a ton of messages because he wanted to know
how I did."
She won!
"When I got home, I told him, and he said he was
proud and couldn't get home fast enough to
congratulate me. He was ecstatic! I took him to
my next autocross, and I won, and he was almost
in tears!"
After witnessing his daughter's natural driving
abilities, Jennifer's dad moved her to Time
Trials where she won her first time-trial, took
the pole and went on to win her first
wheel-to-wheel race. After that experience,
Jennifer moved up the ranks in her Porsche and
eventually started running with the 24 Hours of
Daytona Porsche drivers at various tracks. "My
underpowered Porsche 914-6 was no match to their
Porsche 993 race cars,
but I repeatedly ranked in the top 10 among the
big-engined cars and earned the respect among the
other drivers," Jennifer said.
Jennifer went on to win her first Autocross,
Time-Trial and take the pole at her very first
wheel-to-wheel race.
On May 4, 1997, Jennifer's racing career almost
came to an abrupt end. Her brother, Rich
Stephens, the 1996 Formula Mazda Champion had an
accident at Portland raceway.
"The accident happened right in front of my dad
near pit wall. He (Rich) was running in second
place with five laps to go after placing a new
track record the day before. He hit a concrete
wall head on at nearly 100 mph, and the impact
threw his car around to hit another concrete
barrier head on. He was in ICU in critical
condition for several weeks with a brain injury,
on life support and in a coma," Jennifer said.
"My dad asked me not to race ever again."
Her brother also suffered two broken legs, two
broken feet and a broken jaw. Jennifer, her dad
and Rich's wife moved to Portland to be with
Rich. "After Rich woke from his coma, we
discussed my racing and agreed that I should
continue. I took my dad to Road America in August
with the PPG Pace Car Team, and he was delighted
to see me finish fourth in the Celebrity Neon
Race in the rain with a flat tire and a broken
alternator and steering belt.
He gave me his blessing, and I have been racing
ever since," said Jennifer.
In December 1997, Rich, fully recovered from his
injuries, and together they built a Formula Mazda
to for her to race.
Since 1997, Jennifer has went on to join the CART
/ PPG Pace Car Team and compete in the hotly
contested Star Formula Mazda Series and took the
pole at the inaugural Women's Global GT Series.
This year, Jennifer will campaign her
Scient-Racers Group Porsche 996 GT3U entry in the
American Le Mans Series and select Grand-Am
races.
|
