What’s Happening?

One of the best and most unique aspects of motorsports is that it is fairly common to see female drivers competing. These drivers become major role models for girls everywhere who hope to be involved in motorsports. These are all of the active female drivers in major closed-circuit motorsports.

• For this list, we will expand beyond NASCAR. We will include drivers in any of the NASCAR National Touring Series, the CARS Tour, Modifieds, ARCA, IndyCar, Indy NXT, Formula One, Formula Two, and sports cars.
• These female drivers must be currently active. We will consider active as any female driver who competes either full-time or on a semi-regular in any of these series.
• Fans are always interested in seeing how female drivers do. Many female fans look up to these drivers as proof that they indeed can race in the highest levels of motorsports.

Hailie Deegan: NASCAR Xfinity Series

Hailie Deegan joined the NASCAR Xfinity Series this season as the first driver to compete full-time in the series since Danica Patrick in 2012. She currently competes in the #15 car for AM Racing. Deegan worked her way up through the ARCA Menards Series East, becoming the first female to win in the series.

Toni Breidinger: ARCA Menards Series

Toni Breidinger has worked her way up the Toyota pipeline into a full-time ride for Bill Venturini, one of the top team owners in the ARCA Menards Series. In a part-time effort in the series in 2023, she recorded a career-high 4 top 5 finishes. She’s even made sporadic appearances in the Craftsman Truck Series for TRICON Garage, so, maybe a NASCAR ride is in her future.

Amber Balcaen: ARCA Menards Series

Amber Balcaen competes full-time in the ARCA Menards Series for Venturini as Breidinger’s teammate. Balcaen is from Winnipeg, Manitoba, and she has 8 career ARCA top-10 finishes. Her best finish is 6th, coming at Daytona in 2023. She became the first Canadian-born female to win a NASCAR-sanctioned race in 2016 at Motor Mile Speedway in Virginia.

Lindsay Brewer: Indy NXT

Lindsay Brewer just took the next step on the Road to Indy ladder. After spending the last two seasons in the USF2000 Series, she joined Juncos Holinger Racing for the 2024 Indy NXT season. Her debut race yielded a 15th-place result.

Jamie Chadwick: Indy NXT

Jamie Chadwick came from overseas to compete in Indy NXT for Andretti Global. A 3-time Champion in the new defunct W Series, Chadwick established herself as one of the top female open-wheel drivers in the world. Given her relationship with Andretti, Chadwick has the inside track for a top IndyCar ride.

Tatiana Calderon: IMSA

Tatiana Calderon came as close as any current female driver has to racing in Formula One as she spent the 2019 season racing just one step downwards in Formula 2. Since then, she’s made appearances in IndyCar and sports cars, and she currently competes in the GTD Class in IMSA.

Katie Hettinger: CARS Tour

At only 16 years old, Katie Hettinger competes full-time in the CARS Late Model Stock Tour for Mike Darne Racing. In 2023, she made 4 starts in the CARS Tour, with a best finish of 12th at North Wilkesboro.

Jessica Cann: CARS Tour

Jessica Cann is a CARS Tour veteran, and she joins the series once again in 2024. She recorded two top-10 finishes in 2020, with a best finish of 8th at Swansboro and a 10th-place finish coming at Thornburg.

Melissa Fifield: Modifieds

A mainstay of the NASCAR Modifieds, Wakefield, New Hampshire’s Melissa Fifield has made 146 career starts in NASCAR’s oldest division. In 2023, she recorded her best finish ever on the Tour, finishing 12th at Riverhead Raceway in Riverhead, New York.

These are all of the female drivers racing in closed-circuit motorsports. They all are following in the footsteps of women before them, and are continuing to blaze new trails for female drivers.