Female driver makes history at tough trucks track

LOCUST GROVE, Ga. - Taylor Jorgensen didn't expect to do this well. In her first Pro Trucks race at the highly competitive Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, she thought finishing on the lead lap would be nice. Her crew chief, Curt Britt, thought a near-perfect night would land her in third place.

"I'm still in shock to be quite honest with you," said Britt.

Jorgensen, however, won the race last Friday, becoming the first female ever to win a Pro Trucks race at Five Flags and, according to the Pensacola News Journal, the first female to win any race at the track since 2001.

"I'm getting a lot of phone calls, a lot of people are excited about it," said Jorgensen. "People keep reminding me how big that win actually was. I don't even realize how big that was."

The 19-year-old from Stockbridge has worked her way up, finding success most recently in Legends cars. Along the way, she's faced challenges, accepting that being a female in the racing world wouldn't be easy.

"When I first started racing I constantly got, 'that girl shouldn't be on the race track,'" said Jorgensen. "When I first started winning, people just assumed I was cheating and I wasn't actually talented or I couldn't actually drive a car. In the trucks, I don't think the grown men like getting beat by females too much, which is understandable, but I think I should be out there. If I can drive just as fast as a male, why not?"

Now, why not aim higher? She's always thought making one of NASCAR's top series would be amazing, and now, it seems more attainable every lap she logs.

"When I started out it was a dream," said Jorgensen. "Now, it's more like a goal."

Jorgensen and Britt are 1-for-1 in their racing careers working together. They also work together in a very different setting: Britt is Jorgensen's boss at Serendipity, a customized clothing and accessories store in Locust Grove. Britt saw on Facebook Jorgensen was looking for part-time work and got in touch. Soon after she started, she mentioned wanting to move into trucks racing. The rest, as Britt says, "is history."