Photo Credit: Jimmy Jeong, Edmonton Journal

Update (June 30, 2009)
Erica Thiering is listed as number one in the province and 239th across the whole series. Although 239 seems low, do note that she has raced in less than half the races of the North American leader. When you consider points based events entered, she is doing very well. For results listed by province / state visit the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series provincial / state standing. For series results by overall points visit the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series leader board.

A colleague of mine today said, “there are some amazing things happening in Alberta right now.” With little poking around, I found a motorosport gem that’s worth talking about. The Edmonton Journal highlighted a fast 19 year old named Erica Thiering. Thiering has muscled her way up to number 48 on the 2008 Whelen All-American Series Top 500 Driver Standings.

Competing in the NASCAR Feature Stocks at the Edmonton International Raceway and winning the 2008 season, she was shocked to receive an invitation to the NASCAR awards banquet in Las Vegas. In addition to hanging with the big guys, she also received a cash award and an invitation to the NASCAR Toyota All Star Showdown in California.

An invitation to the NASCAR Toyota All Star Showdown is huge. She’d be competing against other driver invitees and demonstrating her skills to the NASCAR world. Looking at the activities included in the All Star Showdown makes every bit of her hard work and dedication to the sport worth every minute. Over a number of days she’ll be wrapped up in social activities like go-karting, a Champions/Media Dinner, a behind-the-scenes viewing of Jimmy Kimmel Live, a VIP trip to Universal Studios and a Los Angeles Lakers-Los Angeles Clippers NBA game.

Anyways, her win and the fact that she’s female is great news for the profile of motorsport in Alberta and Canada and most importantly NASCAR. On January 15, 2009 NASCAR announced that Max Siegel will be managing the industry’s Drive for Diversity initiative, which seeks to develop minority and female drivers and crew members. The initiative allows drivers, from many forms of racing nationwide, participate in an annual scouting combine for the opportunity to compete with an established NASCAR team in 2009 in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series and NASCAR Camping World Series. Drive for Diversity also supports crew members who have the opportunity to compete with a NASCAR Nationwide Series or NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team.

I am excited to see Erica competing at this level and hope to see her in one of the top NASCAR Series in the future. Way to go and congrats!