Lady stock car drivers paving the way in Yorkton

The Yellowhead International Speedway is a hot spot in Yorkton for stock car racers from all over the province. Races are held at the tracks from May into September, and hobbystock, thunderstock, streetstock, mechanic and ladies divisions are offered.

While the races have been going on for a long time, one aspect of the sport has been growing significantly in the province over the past few years: female drivers. 

Denise Sharp is a Yorkton stock car driver and a member at large with the Yellowhead International Speedway. She’s been racing for about six years.

Sharp said the highest number of females they’ve seen in a race is between 10-12. That number used to be more like 3-4. 

While the speedway does offer a ladies race on their race days, some of the female racers decided they want to kick it up a notch, and go head to head with the men.

“We have powderpuff, when the ladies go out and do our thing. That’s what I started doing. Then come last year, I wanted to get a little bit more into it, so I started racing in thunder and then I got into hobby,” explained Sharp. 

“Then the ladies races decreased because we all started going in with the guys,” she added with a laugh.

When asked about advice she’d like to share to females who may be interested in getting involved, her answer was pretty simple.

“Just get in there and do it. We need more ladies. They always say ladies are better drivers.” 

One other female racer who frequents the Yellowhead International Speedway is Denise’s daughter, Ashley Sharp. 

Ashley is 21 and just started racing last year. 

She explained that watching her mom and dad, Marty, get involved a few years ago peaked her own interest. She thought it looked fun, so she decided to give it a go. Now, she loves it.

“Once you get in, it’s completely different,” Ashley explained. 

Last summer, Ashley said she was getting last place at a lot of races. Understandable, given it was her first season on the tracks. But in her last race last year, she got third place. And this year, at the first race in May, she finally got that win that she set out for. 

“It was pretty exciting for me,” she explained.

Ashley and her mom, Denise, both agreed that one of the highlights of the sport is the people they have met along the way. 

For the Sharps it really is a family thing, given the whole clan is involved or interested in the sport. 

But Ashley and Denise both said the friends they’ve made at the tracks are now more like family.

Both women also said that anyone who’s interested should just go for it, and the Yorkton races are an excellent place to start.

“There’s a lot of guys and girls here who are knowledgable. We could answer a lot of questions,” she explained. She also mentioned the speedway’s website has detailed rules about racing there: www.yellowheadspeedway.net.