Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 20, 1990 TAG: 9004190554
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV13 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: JEFF MOTLEY SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: DUBLIN LENGTH: Long
Most drivers at PCS have day jobs, come home and work on their cars at nights and get ready to go racing on Saturday. They are average Joes who like to race for fun, and if they depended on their winnings as their only source of income, they probably would be on welfare. The thought of having national companies for sponsors and a press kit would seem like a joke.
For this new driver, racing is a career. Eating depends on it. Several major companies including Pontiac, Valvoline (as a spokesman in its "Say No To Drugs" campaign) and Simpson Racing Parts have put sponsorship into the car, and a press packet outlines this short, but young, career from Go-Karts to Late Model.
This driver's suit is cut a bit differently from everyone else's, too. And this driver is probably the one most likely to be asked out to dinner by a competitor.
Karen Schulz knows she's different, but not because she is a female driver. It is her goal to have the respect of her competitors and eventually to use her racing skills to one day compete on the Winston Cup tours. But she doesn't want any favors.
"If you use your credentials and work from the bottom and climb the ladder to be successful, you will get the respect from the other drivers," Schulz said. "But if you try to use your sex or anything else just to get somewhere, you can't get the same respect. Right now I have to earn the respect at this track. I'm new and I know I will get tested, but I will test them."
Respect is something that Schulz, who rarely sees her last name spelled correctly, has gained from most NASCAR competitors. She is the only woman in history to win a NASCAR title of any kind. She received that honor when she was named Rookie of the Year for the 1986 Charlotte/Daytona Dash series.
Schulz is quick to point out, though, that being a woman does have its advantages.
"I never want to be thought of as a lady driver, but when it comes to sponsorship, it obviously helps," Schulz said. "The sponsors realize because there aren't many women in the sport that there will be more publicity directed my way, and that's important."
There weren't any tracks, at least not NASCAR tracks, near Schulz's home in Yorktown Heights, N.Y. But as a child she would often go to Florida with her family on vacation, and that's where the interest began.
"When we went on vacation, it would usually be for about two weeks and it was always during part of speedweeks in Daytona," Schulz said. "So we would always go the Daytona 500 and then usually got to Disney World or somewhere for the rest of the time. I guess most kids would have liked Disney World the most; I loved the race."
As time went on, Schulz and her dad started taking in more Winston Cup races. They would go to Pocono and Dover, since these were the closest tracks to her hometown, which is about 45 minutes north of New York. On one of her racing trips, Schulz and her father were at the Trenton (N.J.) Motor Speedway and she met her hero, Bobby Unser.
"I was so excited to meet him and I asked him some advice on how to get started in racing," Schulz said. "His best advice to me was Go-Karts. He said it was an inexpensive way to race and the best thing for someone only 12 years old."
So it was on to Go-Karts. But as she progressed through high school, all Schulz thought about was being a racer.
"My teachers always told me I had to go to college or I would be a bum," Schulz said. "I guess they thought I was a slime, but this is what I really wanted."
After graduation, Schulz grabbed her German shepherd and her dad's motor home and headed south into the heart of racing country.
"I lived in that motor home for a year and I just learned the area," Schulz said. "With the help of my dad, I hired a crew, got a car and started racing."
She now lives on a farm owned by her parents in Statesville, N.C., and is finally adjusting to the culture shock of the South.
"I lived so close to New York City, and back then the drinking age was only 18 and there were so many things to do," said Schulz in a twang that lets one know she's a Northerner who's been in the South too long. "Now I come down here, and there isn't much to do but watch the cows roam and the grass grow. I'm one of those `damn yankees' - the ones who come down and never go back."
Things haven't been easy for Schulz since she made the move South. When she arrived, she knew no one. She handles all of her team's bookkeeping and financial affairs and rarely has time for herself.
"You have to go grow up quick," Schulz said. "I live upstairs in the farmhouse, the offices are downstairs; I drive a pickup and a station wagon. I take enough out of the winnings to eat and everything else goes back into the car. But I've made up my mind that this is my career and it's what I'm going to do.
"The career comes first. I'm only 24 and I haven't grown up yet. As long as I'm in my 20s, I'm going to give it my best shot."
Schulz is running for the Late Model points title at PCS this year and also hopes to compete in a few races on the Busch Grand National tour.
"I have heard a lot of good things about the competition and the way things are run here," Schulz said.
Before things are over, a lot of people will know how well she has run here as well.
by CNB