{"id":53196,"date":"2019-06-16T16:22:44","date_gmt":"2019-06-16T16:22:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wkuxposure.com\/?p=53196"},"modified":"2021-06-29T18:06:53","modified_gmt":"2021-06-29T18:06:53","slug":"women-show-skills-on-track","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wkuxposure.com\/index.php\/2019\/06\/16\/women-show-skills-on-track\/","title":{"rendered":"Women show skills on track"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Alison Lee, one of the nation\u2019s top rated car tuners, works on \u201cGreat Expectations III\u201d at the Holley National Hot Rod Reunion. Photo by: Gwen Hatcher\/Bowling Green High School<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By Gwen Hatcher
<\/strong>Bowling Green High School<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drag races such as the Holley National Hot Rod Reunion at Beech Bend Park have always been male dominated events. Mendy Fry, a drag racer, and Alison Lee, a car tuner, prove that women in the racing world can be just as successful as the men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fry, a dragster from Southern California competing in the NHRA, began driving at 4 years old. Now, 46 years later, Fry participates in high-level drag races frequently, and even won the 2018 NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Series Nostalgia Top Fuel Points title. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI always say I was my dad\u2019s only boy,\u201d Fry said. \u201cHe wanted a boy but he got me, so he stuck me in a quarter midget when I was four and I was working in his shop growing up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fry\u2019s racing lifestyle began with dirt car racing from the age of 4 up to 12 and then took a turn for the rest of her life when her dad introduced her to drag racing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know what I would do if I didn\u2019t drag race,\u201d Fry said. \u201cI have a pretty involved day job [as a CPA] and this really keeps me centered and sane. It keeps me connected to a part of my childhood that I never want to lose.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even with the fame of being an NHRA champion, Fry still lets everyone know that winning a drag race is a team accomplishment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI just want to acknowledge how hard my team works,\u201d Fry said. \u201cDrag races are won in the shop, right? You execute out here, but all of the preparation is in the shop.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just a few trailers down from Fry was another car called \u201cGreat Expectations III\u201d being quickly worked on by Alison Lee. Lee, in her mid-70s, is a native from a town called The Plains, Virginia, and has been named one of the best car tuners in the nation. Her name appears in multiple halls of fame, being described as a \u201cpiece of history\u201d by Malcolm Miller, a six-year attendee of the event. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSomeone asked, \u2018Do you have great expectations for that car this weekend?\u2019 and I thought that might be a good name,\u201d said Lee, describing the name of the hot rod.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lee began tuning cars back in 1963 with her husband, Jim Lee, and they haven\u2019t stopped after 56 years except to send their kids to college. Their fame quickly grew, and their car \u201cGreat Expectations II\u201d was the main attraction of a car show hosted by President Richard Nixon at the White House in 1971.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of the 56 years tuning cars, Lee hasn\u2019t gotten tired of her passion at all, and it shows through the dedicated work she puts into her \u201cGreat Expectations\u201d cars. Her determination to compete is the main reason she has seen great success throughout her years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll of us have our competitive nature I think,\u201d Lee said. \u201cIt\u2019s just whether we\u2019re able to do it or not.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lee, like most other attendees of the Holley National Hot Rods Reunion, believes that the people are the best part of the event, and that they keep the event exciting and refreshing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s fun seeing all of our friends, you know,\u201d Lee said. \u201cI don\u2019t feel 75, 76, whatever I am, I still feel about 50.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Gwen Hatcher Bowling Green High School Drag races such as the Holley National Hot Rod Reunion at Beech Bend Park have always been male dominated events. Mendy Fry, a drag racer, and Alison Lee, a car tuner, prove that women in the racing world can be just as successful as the men. Fry, a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":53198,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,464],"tags":[],"staff_name":[],"class_list":["post-53196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-x19"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wkuxposure.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wkuxposure.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wkuxposure.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wkuxposure.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wkuxposure.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53196"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wkuxposure.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53196\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53216,"href":"https:\/\/wkuxposure.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53196\/revisions\/53216"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wkuxposure.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wkuxposure.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wkuxposure.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wkuxposure.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53196"},{"taxonomy":"staff_name","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wkuxposure.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/staff_name?post=53196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}