Tiffany Daniels, living to race

Tuesday, 08 December 2009 08:20

Tiffany Daniels, or Tiff as she is known, grew up around racing. With her father racing at a local short track when she was little and her brother beginning his racing career at the age of nine, it was only a matter of time before she convinced her parents that she wanted to race.

The transition into racing was not easy and Tiff cites overcoming the steep learning curve in regards to driving while competing against those with previous experience as one of the major difficulties she faced in getting into the sport. However with ‘seat time’, hard work, experience and a willingness to ask for advice it was an obstacle that she was able to successfully overcome. Tiff notes that her brother, Cliff, was particularly helpful given he was also racing and often in the same types of cars. The other challenge that Tiff faced was understanding how to act as a female driver, which she overcame by being herself, acting professionally and following the examples and guidance of other female racers such as Lyn St. James.

It was not long before she impressed fans and competitors alike, with consistent top ten finishes, Legends race wins, Women’s National Legends Champion crown in 2003 and the completion of a number of DNF free seasons among her achievements. In addition to this Tiffany graduated Magna Cum Laude from UNC Charlotte with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Concentration in Motorsports, and a Minor in Public Relations in 2007.

In 2009 she has been racing in the NASCAR Camping World Series East (CWSE) in a former NASCAR Nationwide Series full bodied 3300 lb. stock car. Most recently she finished in the top 15 in her first appearance at Dover International Speedway in Delaware in the last CWSE race of the season. Tiff is now in the off season, which lasts for a couple of months, but has been busy preparing for the biggest race of her career. As reported by Girlracer Magazine last month, Tiff will be competing in the American Speed Association (ASA) Transcontinental Series FreeState 500 on Sunday, January 31, 2010 at the Phakisa Freeway Circuit oval in Welkom, Free State South Africa. Tiff has travelled long distances to race before, but this will be by far the greatest and she is very excited about the race.

Originally from Virginia, her local track was Langley Speedway in Hampton. This is the track where she drove her first Legends Semi-Pro race in 2001 and won her first race in the 2002 season. Now living in Davidson in North Carolina she has a number of tracks nearby. The series that she has been racing in recently have been travelling series, so she has raced at a variety of tracks across the eastern United States.

During the racing season Tiff’s schedule depends on the schedule of the series she is racing in and the races the Team elects to run in; she has raced as much as twice a week and as little as once a month. Tiff’s typical day at the track involves an early start in the morning with sign-in and garage opening. After that it will vary depending on the series or track but usually involves unloading the car, preparing it for practice, practicing, tech inspection, media interviews, qualifying, driver’s meetings, autograph sessions, racing, post-race tech and loading the car back into the hauler.

Between race meetings the amount of time Tiff spends working on the car and where she works on it depends on who owns the car. When racing the late model, she will spend several days in between races working on the car at the family’s workshop, which is five hours away from her home, in Virginia. When Tiff drives for other owners it will depend on what the team needs, but she does believe that it is important to spend as much time in the shop as possible. The shop’s location will vary, with the CWSE shop located in Nashville, Tennessee, while she has also worked in shops locally.

Even when she is not out at the track, racing occupies the majority of Tiff’s time. Between working for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates’ NASCAR Sprint Cup team as an engineer during the week, and racing on the weekends, the majority of her ‘spare’ time is spent working on her driving career. Tiff likes to spend the remainder of her spare time with her family and friends.

In spite of the demands on her time Tiff loves the thrill and competitiveness of racing, contending that it really gets her adrenaline going, but also gives her the opportunity to inspire fans to follow their dreams. However she does admit that in racing the lows can be very low. This is particularly the case when an incident outside of your control or the failure of a single part ruins a race that a significant amount of time and effort has been spent preparing for.

She cites her parents as the source of the best piece of advice she has ever been given, that with hard work and perseverance anything is possible. Tiff believes that this advice is just as applicable to life as it is to racing. And her advice to others wanting to get involved with racing? “Visit your local track and get to know the racers, don’t be afraid to ask for advice, understand that it won’t be easy, and start learning about the business side of the sport very early”.

Her goal is to be a NASCAR Sprint Cup winner and champion, who is respected both on and off track for being a tough competitor, a good person, and a role model. Tiff receives support for her racing career from her family and her sponsors: Duragloss, Coca-Cola, Hostess, Foxers, Graphic Solutions of VA and Safety Kleen. She also received support from the Drive for Diversity program last year.

After the ASA race in South Africa, Tiff will be looking at opportunities to race in the NASCAR CWSE, Camping World Truck Series, Nationwide Series, and the ARCA Series in 2010, and would welcome support for next season. She would like to wish good luck and happy holidays to everyone and thank Girlracer Magazine for supporting women in motorsports all over the world!

For more information on Tiff you can visit her website tiffdaniels.com. You can also follow her racing career and her trip to South Africa on Twitter at twitter.com/tiffdracing.

Girlracer Magazine would like to thank Tiff for her time and for providing inspiration to women all over the world who are chasing their dreams! www.girlracer.co.uk