I started hillclimbing with the Pennsylvania Hillclimb Association in 2005, and there were just a handful of women competing back then.

I remember being pretty intimidated, even though I work in a male dominated field and should have been used to it. I guess the difference is that I know what I’m doing in my field, but racing (and car prep) is something else altogether.

Fortunately, one of the first racers I met was Sue Salsburg, and she set me straight…

A few years later, my friend Morg Wilson congratulated me after I dropped a significant amount of time at one event, and said “this  shows that a woman’s place is in a race car”.    And he’s right!

Fast forward to today.  In 2021, 20 women competed, which is one more than our previous record (19 in 2019).

Some more statistics for 2021, in no particular order:

• Three women hillclimbed for the first time
• The Spring and Fall Weatherly events tied for the highest number of female drivers, with 12 at each event
• At two events, two women were “two car drivers”, meaning they drove 2 different cars at the same event
• One woman set a class record
• One woman won her class for the season
• Two women were “hardcore hillclimbers” at year end, which means they either worked or competed at every event (and one of these women did both)

Let’s meet them:

Note:  Most of the on course action shots below were taken by Wayne Domkowski.    He went above and beyond to not only find pictures of everyone,  but made sure that for those who shared a car, the pictures he found were of the correct driver.  Wayne also found some really good shots, but I’m am pretty sure he doesn’t take any other kind.  He is planning to take pictures (and work a corner) at most of the 2022 events, and can be reached on Facebook or at bdi@blackdiamondimaging.com.

Most of the remaining pictures were taken by Patti Murphy, and the last few were taken by me.  

Adrienne Reed
Adrienne drives a 1986 Corvette in SSM.  She is a PHA Hall of Fame member and is the first woman to go under 2 minutes at Duryea.  She was the fastest female overall at the 2021 Duryea and 2021 Fall Weatherly hillclimbs, placing 27th (20.074 secs out of first) and 29th (9.121 secs out of first), respectively.   Adrienne was one of the handful of women running when I first started, sharing her car with her Dad.  It’s been fun to watch her go from reluctant competitor, to faster than her Dad, and then very fast overall. 

Amanda McCafferty
Amanda is a new driver this year, driving a 1995 Honda Del Sol in S2 for her first few events, and then a 2000 Honda Civic in SMF.  In previous years, she helped run timing, and while Timing & Scoring misses her, it’s fantastic to see her driving.  I’ll have you know that the dent in the side of the car had nothing to do with her 🙂

Courtney Coxe
Courtney drives a 1986 Ford Mustang in SMR.  It was great to see Courtney back this year at Fall Weatherly.  She drove well as usual, placing 2nd of 4 in class.  I also loved her all female crew.

Crystal  Whisler
Crystal drives a 1998 Plymouth Neon in FSP.  She is part of a 3 generation family that competes and also works when they are not competing.  This year, when both of the family Neons could not be brought to an event and she had to sit out, she worked a corner instead.  Crystal once again received the Hardcore Hillclimber award this year by working or driving every event.

Denise Devine
Denise drives a 1995 Howe Modified car in S3.  She is new to hillclimbing, but not to racing, and Fall Weatherly was her first hillclimb event.  I can’t wait to see what she can do once she gets used to the hillclimb format.

Donna Robinson
Donna drives a 2004 Corvette, but also co-drove her husband’s 2000 Camaro at the 2021 Polish Mountain event.  The grin on her face says it all — Mike may need to watch out!  Donna has been hillclimbing for a few years now, and has been steadily getting faster. 

Eli Sharp
Eli drives a 1998 Acura Integra in SMF, and also has a hillclimb prepped 1967 Mini Cooper.  She and has a ton of hillclimb experience outside of the PHA, and is an amazing driver.  She was the fastest female driver at the 2021 Spring Jefferson event, placing 13th overall, and 9.22 seconds out of first.  Eli is planning to run her Mini in 2022.

Emily Oswald
Emily drives a 1984 VW Rabbit in ITB.  She is also a member of another 3 generation PHA family of both drivers and workers.  Her rabbit may be under-powered (as all rabbits are), but boy can she can drive it!

Grace Huntzinger
Oh, wait that’s me.  My main car is a 1986 VW Scirocco that runs  in GT3, and my backup car is a 1987 VW Scirocco that runs in FSP.  I drove my backup car for the first few events this year because the main car wasn’t ready, and then switched to the GT3 car, which is now running (and shifting) better than it has for years.  I was able to bring both cars to the Fall Weatherly event and had a lot of fun — I think I’ll do it again.

Jennifer Weaver
Jenny drives a 2011 VW GTI in FSP.  She is another one that I have never seen without a huge grin on her face whenever she is driving.  So glad she decided to give it a go!   Unfortunately, the GTI’s motor was blown at Fall Shenandoah, but I hope she will be back soon.

Jessica Fessler
Jessica drives a 1986 VW Scirocco in GT3, so while she is already badass for hillclimbing, her Scirocco makes her even more so (hey, if you don’t like Scirocco content, don’t read this blog, ha)!  She is getting faster and faster, and I look forward to the day that she starts beating her brothers and father consistently.  It’s not far off, and I’ve watched them trade off fast times after each run more than once this year.

Kacey Rovere-Avril
Kacey drives a 1995 Honda Del Sol in S2, and can also be occasionally found driving a 2005 Mitsubishi Evo in S2.  She won the 2021 Class Year End award for S2.  Kacey is also a Lemon’s driver.

Kristie Reid
Kris normally drives a 1999 Camaro Z28 in SMR, but had numerous problems with her primary car this year — 3 rear ends, 2 transmissions, and serious mileage being towed to fix the various problems.  She ended up driving her backup car this year, a 1994 Camaro Z28 in T2.  At one event, she drove and worked a corner, and also worked at 2 other events when her car was not available.  Hopefully all of the issues with her primary car will be fixed for the upcoming season.

Kristen  Israel
Kristen drives a 1979 Ford Mustang in SMR, and has been racing for a few years now. Her times are pretty impressive, regularly placing in the top third overall.  She was the fastest female overall at the 2021 Polish Mtn Hillclimb, placing 26th (9.293 secs out of first).

Lauren Feist
Lauren drives a 2019 Ford Mustang in ESP.  She was a new driver this year, and her first event was Fall Weatherly.  She may not have had the fastest time in class, but she steadily improved after each run, and ran a really good time for her first event (she was faster than me BTW).   I hope that she now has the hillclimbing bug, and that we will see her back again next year.

Mary Anne Fieux
Mary Anne drives a 1960 Saab 93F in V1.  It was so great to see Mary Anne back out driving again.   She has spent many years working corners when she isn’t driving.  Mary Anne is another driver that was competing when I first started.

Mary Sincavage
Mary drives a 2017 Corvette in SSP and a 2007 Mini Cooper S in SMF.  She ran both cars at Giant’s this year, and did well in both cars, despite them being so different, which is really impressive!  Mary was the fastest female driver at Giant’s in her Corvette, coming in 27th overall (5.742 secs out of first).  Mary was also one of the women hillclimbing when I first started.

Michele Aubele
Michele drives a 2012 BMW 135i in SMR.  She hasn’t been hillclimbing that long, but she is getting faster and faster.  Michele was the fastest female driver at the 2021 Spring Weatherly and Pagoda events, placing 18th (6.991 secs out of first) and 15th (8.583 secs out of first) respectively.   In addition, she took the SMR class record at Pagoda.   Outside of the PHA events, Michele was Queen of the Hill (fastest female driver) at 2021 Pine Mountain Hillclimb and 2021 Chasing the Dragon Hillclimb.  She is definitely one to watch next year with her new car.

Nancy Lewis
Nancy drives a 2019 Ford Mustang in ESP.  She also works Timing and Scoring.  She was the fastest female overall at the 2021 Fall Shenandoah Track Sprint event, placing 40th (22.556 secs out of first).  Nancy was the other female recipient of the Hardcore Hillclimber year end award, having worked or driven at all events last year.  In Nancy’s case, she did both at all events, not only driving, but working timing at all events, so she is a “double hard core hillclimber”.   Her times were still impressive despite the distraction of timing.

Susan Salsburg
Sue drives Gracie, a 1961 Jaguar MK2, in V2.  The car may not be fast (it is under powered and heavy compared to modern day cars), but it’s great to see this car still running the hills – — most of its (her?) “siblings” are never driven, and are trailer queens only shown at car shows.  Sue is also a PHA Hall of Fame member, as well as a former event organizer for the Weatherly Hillclimb Events.