SEATTLE, WA :: Molly Helmuth’s sophomore season in Super Late Model racing is one the 17 year-old hopes is a breakout season. Helmuth was the 2012 NASCAR Whelen All American Series Washington State Rookie of the Year. She earned two top five finishes and seven top 10 finishes in 11 starts last season competing at Evergreen Speedway in Washington State. With that record, she feels she’s earned respect from her fellow competitors and is ready to get more aggressive in 2013.
“With this season, I think we have the best crew out there and the best equipment,” Helmuth said. “Hopefully we can get some wins there. I have high expectationsm like any racerm to win a championship so we need to keep pushing, be more aggressive and I need to continue to develop myself as a driver. Hopefully we’ll win a championship.”
Helmuth is preparing to run in Saturday night’s Galloway 150 Shootout Super Late Model race at Evergreen Speedway. She will be running with an unrestricted engine that is heavier in weight but higher in horsepower.
“I have high hopes of getting a top five. The car this year has a lot more horsepower than last year. Last year, I had a restrictor plate on the car. We’ve got 200 more HP. We’ve got different shocks. But I do have high hopes of a top three. I don’t have expectations to win it but I’d love to – it all depends on how I perform in Friday night’s practice and how it carries over in to Saturday.”
At Evergreen Speedway, drivers can run a restrictor plate on their car which compromises horsepower in exchange for running a lighter weight car. They can either run a 2,700 pound car with a restrictor plate, which would be easier to handle but slower in horsepower or they can run a 2,900 pound car that would be harder to handle but would have more horsepower.
While most young drivers use iRacing and other racing simulators such as ARCA Sim Racing and rFactor to prepare during the offseason, Helmuth uses mental imagery and hangs out around the race shop instead.
“I do have an iRacing simulator but it’s not set up. We’re looking for a simulator. I do mental imagery and look at past races. I should be doing iRacing because it’s a phenominal program but I don’t have it all set up. Being around the shop and being in that mindset of being at the track and preparing for race season.”
Helmuth watched her uncle, Rod Helmuth, race when she was a kid and instantly became addicted to the sounds, sights and smells of racing.
“At the age of three, I was around Evergreen watching my uncle Rod and I was hooked from the sounds and smells and everything about the sport and I realized it was something I wanted to do one day,” Helmuth commented. “At the age of 11, I got started in go-karts and moved up to Mini-Stocks to Pro 4 Trucks to Ford Focus midgets to Late Models and now here I am in Super Late Models trying to pursue a career.”
Helmuth feels she’s earned respect but states that it’s harder for her as a female racer.
“I know that, if a guy gets next to you and let’s say you’re in the lead on the last lap, they’re most likely going to take you out just because you are a female,” Helmuth said about her competitors. “I had that many times in go-karts. They’d just take me out for no reason. But I feel I have earned respect in the Super Late Models so I hope this year, with the respect I’ve earned, people will know I’m competitive and I’m not going to take something from them but I hope to be more aggressive. It all depends on who you are. I know some women are disrespected because of how they present themselves. I think I’ve that earned respect.”
Helmuth has been approved to run in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West as well as the ARCA Racing Series. She hopes to move up the racing ladder but acknowledges there are challenges.
“I’m approved to run K&N and ARCA,” she explained. “It’s just getting the sponsorship to get me in to the cars. We have found a team in the K&N Series that’s willing to give me a seat in their car. K&N and ARCA are available for us. We have to get a few more races or travel a little more to get approved for Trucks. If I do travel and get more experience, I can get approved for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
“I’ll most likely be running some of the bigger races such as the Yakima race and the Montana race. We want to run on the East Coast, it’s just a matter of getting the cars and it’s hard to jump in to a seat since I’m tiny, everything has to be customized. I hope to get to the east coast though and see what it’s like out there. For now, it’s mainly staying in the northwest.”
Helmuth would like to be running in the top ranks of racing in the future.
“Hopefully I’m in one of the top series’ five years from now,” Helmuth remarked. “Either of those top series, when you’ve competed in one of them, you know you’re there and you’ve made it big. Hopefully in five or ten years I’ll be up there.”
This season, Helmuth hopes to score at least five wins.
“I can’t tell how many wins we’ll get. I hope I can get around five wins. It’s hard to tell because I haven’t had my first race yet. The car count has been going up and more people are coming over to Evergreen so I don’t know who I’ll be competing with and the respect I’ll get in the future and who’s going to wreck the girls, you just don’t know until that first race. I hope to get at least five wins.”
With her rookie season behind her, Helmuth now looks ahead to a bright future on the west coast as she pursues her dreams. Helmuth is supported by Security Imaging, Jana Helmuth CPA, Lynnwood Napa Auto Parts, Champion Spark Plugs, Squires Machine, Better Meat, Advocare: Fitn Trim Racing, Kings Transmissions and Yes Deere Services.
