Hope to see you in 2007!!!!

I just wanted to share an article that was done in April 2004 on myself and racing....Hope you like it!!

In Gear and On Track

By Pat Lawrence

A Womans View (West Virginias Newspaper For Todays Woman)

In Gear and On Track

Women spend a lot of time behind the wheel, but few are as enthusiastic about it as Kim Santee. In 2001, she raced a borrowed stock car in a Powder Puff tournament and won. It was the first of many trophies to come.

Stock car racing has its roots in the early bootleggers who often drove high speeds with Prohibition agents in pursuit. As bootlegging boomed, the drivers began to race among themselves to see who had the fastest cars. Inevitably, people came to see the races. Loyal fans and the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing have made stock car racing a national pastime. In 2002, 17 of the 20 U.S. top sporting events by attendance were NASCAR races. Only football drew more television viewers.

Kim races on dirt tracks, rather than the concrete super speedways of NASCAR, at speeds closer to 65 than 165, but the racing spirit and strategies remain the same. "I drive pure stock-a car close to a street car, with tires like a regular car but with a suped-up motor." Stock cars resemble standard American sedans, but are purposefully designed racing machines built to a strict set of regulations that ensure chassis, suspension and such are architecturally identical on all vehicles. Less sophisticated than a standard car, there are other differences too-no radio, no speedometer, no windows and a five point harness that locks the passenger in place.

Kim thought the harness might be a problem. Diabetic since she was a teenager, Kim wears a permanently placed pump attached to her abdomen to infuse insulin. "It looks like a beeper." But, neither the pump or the diabetes has slowed her down.

In 2002 she won five feature races and six of the preceding heat races. By 2003, Kim had sponsors, and a winning history at tracks in WV and Ohio. In 2003, she drove the 1984 red and white Monte Carlo that her husband Howard built for her, " I won the track championship with 9 out of 12 races at Tyler County Speedway in the Womens Racing Series and Driver of the Year at the Dirt Track Racing Round-up for the Womens Series. At her favorite track, Skyline Speedway in Stewart, Ohio she often finished in the top 10 and was named their Rookie of the Year. Still, Kim says, "You cant make a living racing. I race because I love it."

Kim and her husband Howard had been involved in racing for years. Howard has built many cars. Since stock car engines are designed to ensure all entrants have near-equal vehicles, the relative equality of the machinery makes races closer and more a test of the drivers and pit crews ability.

Kim says, "You run hot laps to get a feel for the car. Most races are 15 laps and cars start side by side in two rows. Heat races are run first, with a certain number of the top cars in the heat race selected for inclusion in the feature race, which usually has 18 cars."

She says, "About 500 people are usually watching. Theres a lot of luck involved in racing. You do get hit by other cars. Rubbing is racing is right. A good night is when you can walk away and start the car the next morning."

Kim had one bad night at the end of last year when she took out a guardrail. " I was passing for the lead and someone caught my tire." With a chipped hip and torn rotor cuff from the wreck, she spent much of the off-season in physical therapy.

Kim will race Fridays and Saturdays from March through September. Howard and sons Kale and Kendall will be in the pit, "an important part of my success."

She admits, " Some men dont like women driving-it took a while to earn their respect. I watch them and learn. I drive clean- I dont want my car torn up either! Im not hard to get along with." She says men are more forgiving than women drivers about bumps on the track.

The hobby can be expensive and Santee Racing has sponsors just like the national teams, their names emblazoned on the car. Between her job at Camden Clark Memorial Hospital, evening classes and weekends at the track, Kim takes time to make sure Santee 33 sponsors get credit for being champions themselves.