The car scene has always been primarily male-dominated. We know all about Jay Leno, Tim Allen, Jerry Seinfeld, and all the other male celebrity gearheads, but women in the car scene often get overlooked. These influential women have a long list of accomplishments aside from the car scene, including modeling, acting, and singing. One luxury that these celebrities have is their ability to afford some pretty awesome cars that most people could only dream of.
For some of these women, that luxury led them to the racetrack.
Natural-Born Talent
Emelia Hartford has been a rising star since her feature roles in movies like From Mexico with Love and Nightfall, but she is arguably more well-known as a social media influencer. With nearly 1 million subscribers throughout her four years on YouTube, she has made her way into the automotive world as a host for SEMA: Battle of the Builds, and even appearing in season 2 of the Netflix series Fastest Car with her 1995 Nissan 240SX.
Emelia is a regular at the drag strip, where she often tests her heavily modified C8 Corvette that is an absolute beast off the line. This Corvette, originally built with a bottle of NOS and some drag radials, ran a 10-second quarter-mile at 127 mph, but that wasn't good enough for Emelia. After adding a twin-turbo set-up to the mix, this car skated down the dragstrip in 9.41 seconds at 144 mph.
Another notable figure is Michelle Rodriguez who is well-known for her role as Letty Ortiz in the Fast and Furious movies, but she's also a gearhead in real life. She can often be found at Exotics Racing, a Supercar Driving Experience in Las Vegas, driving a Ferrari 488 GTB. She previously hosted her own digital series on Yahoo Autos called Riding Shotgun with Michelle Rodriguez. In this show, she took some of the world's hottest cars around the track while she discussed her in-depth knowledge behind each one.
While this series only lasted one season, Michelle is now the host of a show on the Discovery Channel called Getaway Driver. It's pretty obvious she isn't exactly into the professional racing scene, but she certainly enjoys a laid-back trip around the racetrack.
Celebrity Race Appearances
Emily Ratajkowski has made appearances in music videos for Maroon 5 and Robin Thicke, she played Ben Affleck's mistress in Gone Girl, and she's also the first female celebrity to drive a Formula E car. This truly impressive accomplishment is nothing to scoff at. After some training in a simulator and a practice lap with Formula One driver Nico Roseburg, she whipped this electric racecar at upwards of 140 mph around the Berlin E-Prix.
“It was an incredible experience- so much fun. It was actually easier to drive the car than I thought. I got really nervous before, but then it was so much fun. I took it slow to begin with to get the feel, but then I really got into it!” She said in an after-race interview.
Lady Gaga is a woman of many talents, from selling out arenas to starring in a movie with Bradley Cooper. Did you know she also has a really cool classic car collection? She's often spotted driving around town in her 1983 Mercedes W123 300D, 1970 Chevy El Camino, 1967 Ford Bronco, and quite a few other impressively restored (and modified) classics. Her Bronco has a 5.0 Cobra HD motor, and the El Camino rocks a 350 hp V8, so it's safe to say she likes to go fast.
While she hasn't been behind the wheel of a designated racecar, she wore her best "Poker Face" as she rode shotgun with Mario Andretti leading the official pace car in a three-lap parade before the Indy 500 back in 2016.
Another female celebrity who loves fast cars is Megyn Price. She is a popular actress known for her roles in Rules of Engagement, Grounded for Life, and the Netflix series The Ranch. A little less known fact about her is that she loves to race cars. This love started when she was invited to the 34th Annual Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race back in 2010. Although she wasn't originally on the list, her TV husband from Rules of Engagement, Patrick Warburton, got her added to the roster.
Megyn had no fear when it came to maneuvering a high-powered machine around twists and turns with her fellow celebrities. She enjoyed it so much, she even returned the following year to compete again. Despite the fact she came in eleventh place, she still enjoys the thrill and experience of the sport, which is really all that matters.
These women are more than just models, actresses, and singers. They're trailblazers for women in the car scene. Adding diversity and flair to a once male-dominated sport and using their influence to teach young women that they can quite literally do anything they set their mind to. It's safe to say that these women, along with many others in the car community, are successfully paving the way for future "car girls" to rock the automotive industry.