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Laurel Viera
NASCAR Sportsmans Division Driver
 Laurel Viera
Laurel Viera's earliest memories of racing are of standing by her
stepfather's racecar and holding his helmet--from age 3 and up. Her
summers during elementary school were spent at the track including a
stint as a trophy girl on her 12th birthday. Her first opportunity
to drive didn't come until 1992 when she met someone who helped her
get into dirt track endurance races at county fairs with 100 or so
cars running 150 laps. She had done endurance racing for 2 summers
when one of her sponsors offered to put her in a dirt track hobby
stock. In 1994 she bought a used 1980 Malibu hobby stock and met her
goals for her first race completing the race without getting lapped
or crashing.
She had her first A feature win in 1995 in Jackson, MN. "My most
memorable racing story covers two weekends. First, was my A feature
win in 1995. Ever since I could remember, I wondered what it would
be like to stand in victory lane. It was a long time coming in my
life but it was better than what my fantasy had played out many
times over. The following weekend, the TV station showed up to do a
story on me, as well as my Mother was there for the first time ever,
to watch me race.
| through a wall of
billboards... | On the start of
my heat race, another car and I got tangled up and when we broke
free, I was headed for the wall. All I could think of was my Mother
was in the audience for the first time. Suddenly, I was hit so hard
that it spun me around and sent me down the track and into the
infield. I went through the grass, launched off some railroad ties
and through a wall of billboards. The car came to a complete halt
smashing into the rider’s door of a brand new 1995 Ford Mustang.
$4,000 worth of damage, yes, to the pace car. That is my claim to
fame. Even 6 years later, people still talk about my pace car crash,
not my record book feature win the week before."
Laurel drove hobby stocks from 1994 until 1999. "In 1996, my
partner and I built a brand new hobby stock. 1997, we used the same
chassis and in 49 starts, I had 29 top 5 finishes, 10 top 10
finishes and only 3 DNFs. In 1998, my partner and I shared a car,
which resulted in a track championship for him on Friday and a top
ten finish for me on Saturday, even with missing a points night and
5 DNFs. (I had some bad luck with mechanical problems, being the
second night driver.)"
During her hobby stock years she drove at 11 different tracks in
Iowa, Minnesota, and Oklahoma. In 1999 she and her partner built a
new IMCA stockcar which they also raced in 2000, struggling through
numerous engine and race-shop problems.
| another year in
Sportsman... | In 2001, they
converted the dirt track stockcar to an asphalt setup and have been
racing in the NASCAR Sportsman division. "I am racing in LaCrosse,
Wisconsin. It is a fast 5/8 mile track that the likes of Dick
Trickle, Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth and the Sauter family have come
from. I have been consistently qualifying around 25th out of around
40 cars a night. I plan on spending another year in the Sportsman
division on asphalt and then we’ll see what happens from there."
Given how long she's been racing, its no surprise that Laurel
looks up to those who understand how to hang in there. "Shirley
Muldowney is who I credit with really changing the idea of women in
a man's world. Her first step was getting women allowed into the
pits. I feel that was probably the biggest change for women in
racing. Then she stuck with it, through, not only the good/winning
times but the tough times. Perseverance! I also give a lot of credit
to my mother, who raised me to believe that I could do what ever I
wanted in my life and be good at it too!!! "
While she enjoys photography, writing and pool, Laurel has her
racing aspirations firmly in sight: "I would like to keep racing and
trying as many different types of racing as long as I am capable,"
she states. "Where it takes me is where I will go."
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