SCCA Time Trials

Though the name is “Women on Track,” the mission is slightly larger – to get more women participating in motorsports, no matter how best to do it. That includes driving on track, sure, but also autocross, and participating in other ways like volunteering at events or working as a mechanic.

The first part of that mission is to make sure women feel included – which is a different feeling than “not being excluded.”

That’s where the Women On Track’s social comes into play. On Saturday at Tire Rack Time Trials Nationals powered by Hagerty, the Women on Track organization invited each and every woman participating in the event – driver, staff, supporter – for dinner, drinks and door prizes, must mostly to get to know each other and feel comfortable together.

But the second part of the mission is more concrete – thanks to funding from the SCCA Foundation, the Women On Track often offers scholarships to SCCA events.

At this year’s event, that includes Natalie Haizlip, who entered her Honda S2000 in Max 4. Lest anyone assume that the scholarship is just helping out people who might already attend, the scholarship was the difference between Haizlip attending or not.

“It was the deciding factor,” Haizlip said. “The entry fee is the most at this event, so not having to worry about that and have the scholarship take care of that is a no brainer. For one, I wasn’t expecting to win it. It was awesome to have that extra $1,000, because that’s a huge expense in helping to come here. It covers the entry fee, TT Insurance, some fuel – that’s a huge chunk that I didn’t have to worry about.”

And without a doubt, Haizlip encourages everyone to apply.

“I applied when it was first announced, and another TT driver sent me the link and said ‘you should apply,’” she said. “I thought, I lose nothing by applying, I’m active in my region, I volunteer in my region, and thought let’s do it.”

And just being here has been encouraging for Haizlip. It’s a key point – representation – and it makes the event that much more fun.

“It’s awesome,” she said. “My Region doesn’t have a lot of women in it, so to have an event that’s more than just me in the paddock, where I can get out of my car and go talk to another woman who just got out of her car is really cool. And there’s more than one, there’s several of us here. So we can talk tire pressures, we can talk turn ins, we can talk brake points.”

If you’re interested in helping the SCCA Foundation - the 501(c)(3) charitable arm of the Sports Car Club of America - with any of its programs, including Women On Track, you can gather information and donate at SCCAFoundation.org.

To follow along with Haizlip on her final day at Tire Rack Time Trials Nationals, or any of the participating drivers, get live timing and audio here.