Amber Colvin has had her fair share of adversities throughout her racing career but she’s not ready to give up. The 21-year-old driver from Tallahassee, Florida thinks she’s good enough to win races and she thinks she’s teamed up with the right team to do just that.
Colvin will be driving for Scott Whitaker and J&J Motorsports in a limited number of races in Hickory Motor Speedway’s Limited Late Model division. Colvin started racing when she was 10. She started in go-karts before moving up to Bandoleros for a year and Legends for a few years after that. After running in Legends, she made the move to Late Models.
Colvin has been a finalist in the PEAK Stock Car Dream Challenge and has been invited to the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Combine. She said she had a deal finalized to compete in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards a couple years ago but the deal fell through the day she went to sign the contract. Last year, she raced a couple Limited Late Model races at Hickory Motor Speedway and will do so again this year with Scott Whitaker and J&J Motorsports.
“It’s cheaper than Late Models so we’re going to try that this year to stay in the seat,” Colvin commented. “Performance-wise, every time I’ve gotten in Scott’s equipment, we’ve run up front. I’ve run really well in Scott’s equipment. It’s up to par. I’m excited. If I’m not running up front, I’m not happy so I fully expect to. We’ve had a lot of bad luck. Last year, we were headed to the front and the throttle cable broke so it was like really. Haven’t had good luck on our side but hopefully I can get that monkey off my back.”
Last season, Colvin sidelined herself from racing for much of the season after her father, Wayne Colvin, passed away at the age of 53.
“I lost my father last year. He took care of so much of my racing,” Colvin remarked. “I’m daddy’s girl. I took a lot of time for me so I only raced a handful of races. That was not exactly a good year. That was one of the reasons me and Scott reconnected.
“I’ve raced for him in the past and he said he promised my dad he would do anything to help me when he could so that’s where this year has come from. I don’t tear up equipment and run well in his cars so, when he has an opportunity to get someone in the car, he figures out how many dollars we need and we get it done. I have Scott on my side, that’s for sure.”
Colvin’s ultimate goal is to win. She says she knows she needs to work on recording faster laps in qualifying but certainly has confidence when it comes to her ability to race against other cars on the track.
“I want to win,” Colvin stated. “That’s the goal and I know Scott’s equipment can do it. I’ve run his stuff for two years. We’ve been so close so many times and either run out of laps or something crazy happened”
Colvin talked about a few races she felt she could have won.
“Two years ago, we had a motor blow. If I didn’t win that race, everyone would have been shocked and then a motor blew. Last race last year, we started in the back because qualifying hasn’t been my strong point. I guess I don’t have enough experience.
“We qualified in the rear. In the race, we got up to sixth. Well, the sixth place guy has never raced me clean and did not like the fact that I was faster than him. He cut me off. Fourth time, I stayed in it and I got put to the rear. I was sent to the rear and we made it up to sixth. I definitely have experience coming from the rear; just always need a few more laps.”
While Limited Late Model races are usually shorter in distance, Colvin says she has raced in longer races before.
“My first 150 lap race was quite the adventure. It was my first 150 lap race. I was nervous. I wasn’t afraid of falling out of my seat or anything like that but at the end of 150 laps, it was running so good, I wanted another 50 laps. I was so happy.”
Colvin is hoping that the right opportunities come along in the upcoming months and years so she can advance up the ranks into ARCA and NASCAR.
“My goal is to get in K&N and ARCA. I want to get in the bigger tracks and learn what I can. Everything I do, I don’t come from a rich family and the people that are moving up have dads that can afford to foot the bill. That’s always been my issue. I have someone talking to me right now about XFINITY races but I need more seat time before I get thrown in to that situation. I have hopes and, in the future I can see that, but as of now, I don’t have anything written in stone besides running Hickory with Scott.”
Colvin plans to apply for the NASCAR Drive for Diversity program again this year despite the “drama” she experienced and being “politicked” out of a ride in 2012.
“I was told I was a shoe-in both years and then beat out by people who never beat me in a racecar. They’re under new management and I’ve been told by several people I should apply for that again this year so, come August, I’ll probably try that again and give it a go.”
Scott Whitaker says Colvin has the talent but she “needs a big break in a bad way”.
Colvin says, “I’ve had my fair share of adversities”. This year, with the help of Whitaker, she might finally prevail in a seemingly endless battle against adversities and setbacks.
