Female Drivers Turn Lemons into Racecars

In the male-dominated world of motorsports, you'll take any advantage you can get.

And while the ability to turn heads may be a boon, it doesn't hurt that the girls comprising the Monticello Cheetah Girls Racing team–all of them members of the Montcello Motor Club–know their stuff behind the wheel.

Those girls, which include Morris Township residents Ashley Novack and her mother Arlene, and Parsippany resident Stephanie Chang, took their talents to New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville on April 14 and 15 for the 24 Hours of LeMons event. In this event, your vehicle can be valued at no more than $500. The Cheetahs took a 1979 Buick Regal, affectionately named "The Rack Trap."

"The race isn't only about who finishes the most laps but who has the most fun," said Cheetah Ashley Novack, who works at a law firm in Morristown. "Each team has some ridiculous theme and the teams that do the best let their theme infiltrate every aspect of their race, from the cars to the drivers to your pit area."

The Cheetahs pit area, the only male-dominated section of their domain, featured manly-men ... in bright pink T-shirts.

This is not the Novack's first foray into this testosterone-driven world. "I always liked to drive," said Arlene Novack.

The family joined a Porsche club in 1989, and while her husband has loved cars, the girls wanted to race them. They began learning how to care for the vehicles, how to drive high-performance vehicles properly and, in turn, fell in love with the culture. 

"It was hook, line and sinker," Arlene said. "I got into it more than my husband."

Ashley Novack, also a driving instructor at the Monticello Motor Club, didn't have much of a choice. "All family vacations were spent at the race track," she said. "It was sort of inevitable." 

Teammate Chang said she lived a "parallel life" to Ashley. They only met about a year ago, yet, "she lives 10 minutes away," Chang said. "She's part of the same groups, the same all this."

The fast friends, as well as fellow teammates Irene Tien, Amy Ambrose and Sara Kuchrawy, of Massachusetts, and Mary Tietjan, of Connecticut, took their talents to South Jersey this month, where Ashley Novack said their introduction to LeMons was "a little bumpy.

"We ended up blowing a motor about six hours in on Saturday," she said. "Our amazing crew got right to work and by 1:30 a.m. we had a new motor in the car and ready to go for day two." It also didn't hurt that the "24 hours" part includes plenty of time where participants are partying instead of driving.

Penalties given to teams during the event included one where a driver had to make a replica of a very fancy car out of Play-Doh. Another saw a driver Duct Taped to the roof of his car, where he had to scream, "I'm sorry for being the worst driver on the track."

Then there was the New Jersey special, "Sleeping with the Fishes." "They poured two cans of sardines on a hot motor," Arlene said. "That was really bad."

But The Cheetahs did not have to bear the brunt of any of these or other penalties. "We were very well-behaved," Ashley said.

"Unfortunately, our untested and somewhat thrown together with spare parts second motor only lasted a couple more hours and we weren't able to finish the race," she said. "We had an awesome time though."

The Cheetahs didn't walk away from their first 24 Hours of LeMons adventure empty-handed, though. "For all our efforts, we came away with the judge's regional award dubbed 'The New Jersey Toxic Waste Award,' because of the toxic waste we brought to the track," Ashley said. "Apparently small block Chevy motors are notorious for going kaboom."

The girls next head to Summit Point Raceway in West Virginia in June for the next round of the event. The Buick has a new motor, and they're ready.

Ashley Novack acknowledges some of the novelty associated with being part of an all-girls team. While some teams may have a handful of women involved–"eye candy,"–she said, "we're eye candy and drivers. We're the whole package.

"It's helpful to be a woman [in motorsports.] There are more opportunities, extra press," Ashley said. "A million guys would die to instruct at Monticello. I'm proud to be a good driver, but, the boobs help every once in a while."

To learn more about the Monticello Cheetah Girls Racing team, visit their Facebook page.