Women in Racing Workshop at the Spirit of Ford

On a recent Saturday morning I dragged Cajo out for a road trip to America's car capitol -- Detroit. This was no ordinary adventure since we Racerchicks were invited to take part in the "Women in Racing" workshop with local girl scouts. The event took place at the Spirit of Ford, the amazing interactive automotive center in Dearborn, Michigan. 

On hand to take these girls through their paces was Terri Hundertmark, current driver in the Women's Global GT series and Annie Coulthard, a successful regional racer. Both these Racerchicks have ample credentials for being a mentor to these young girl scouts and both are involved in the Racing for Kids Foundation. 

The Spirit of Ford has had more than 225,000 pass through its gates since they opened over a year ago. More than merely a museum of race, production and concept cars, it offers children and adults a fun way to learn about vehicles from the first idea, to construction and marketing. Interactive learning includes car design, clay modeling, composite materials, safety issues and so much more. The technological advances currently on the drawing boards included "thinking" airbags to voice-activated controls; when these girl scouts are old enough to get their driver's licenses, the cars of their generation might make current models look like Model T's! 

Ford Company's racing effort is well known in all areas of motorsport. The girls had an up close look at the vehicles involved including their very own "pit stop challenge". The Imax film "Speedway" was described as "totally awesome" by one of the girls - as she had a grin from ear to ear. When asked what her dream car would be, all she could answer is "standard". "Yes",Nika thought, "as a true sportscar should be!"

In the actual workshop the girls had a chance to show their parents their skills at taking tire pressure thanks to the great teachings of Frederica Richardson, Quality Engineer at Michelin Tire Corp. Who could actually believe that the Michelin Man "Bib" is over 100 years old. They have come along way from their humble beginnings manufacturing bicycle tires; Michelin now supplies the tires for several different vehicles - including the Space Shuttle.

Jeff Telman, Brand Manager of Johnson controls was on hand to stress seatbelt safety that made both children and parents alike understand the importance of proper seating and proper seatbelts in case of an accident. Johnson Controls is a global market leader in automotive systems and facility management controls. Automakers look to the company not just to manufacture a complete seat or seat component; they also look for Johnson Controls to design it, engineer it, integrate it, with comfort, convenience and safety in mind. 

Safety was stressed through out the workshop and by far the most rousing was the Nomex demonstration. Racers are already familiar with this fabric as a fire retardant, but these lucky scouts got a real-life example of how a Nomex glove can save a racer's hand when SOF employee Amy put on a racing glove, doused it with alcohol and lit it ablaze. Never have the words "don't try this at home!" carried more weight as when Amy refused to begin the demonstration until the scouts repeated that they would "never ever" play with fire. But the most fun of the day was the girls getting up close to a real race car and real race car drivers, and I can't put the feelings in words. It was a super day of learning and most of all realizing that a girl scout "racing" badge may be a sign of the future. 

For more information on the Spirit of Ford - you can reach them at www.spiritofford.com. Workshops are planned in the new year - and I highly recommend making this a family outing. I know Cajo and I had fun AND learned a lot - and after a good hour in the gift shop we were definitely in the "Spirit of Ford"!

Thank you to everyone who came out, everyone who worked hard to make this a great day. We are looking forward to having this program expand to other parts of the country as well.