NASCAR’s Amber Balcaen Is Making History As A Female Racecar Driver One Race At A Time
It is no secret that men dominate the sport of racecar driving. But one woman named Amber Balcaen is changing that reality– one finish line at a time.
Amber is from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and is a third-generation racecar driver. Her father, Mike Balcaen, is a 50-Time Track Champion; meanwhile, her grandfather Lou Kennedy Sr. is a Hall of Famer.
So, racecar driving has always been in Amber’s blood. And before she was even born, Amber frequented the racetrack while in the womb.
She was first introduced to dirt track go-kart racing at the age of ten. Then, after securing numerous go-kart victories, Amber purchased her own lightning sprint at age sixteen.
Equipped with her lightning sprint, Amber was often the youngest– and only female– driver on the track. But that did not stop her from winning the Manitoba dirt track racing championship– and becoming the first female ever to do so.
Since then, Amber has made history. In 2014, she was crowned Rookie of the Year. Then, in 2016, she became the first female from Canada to win a NASCAR-sanctioned race in the United States.
And now, at twenty-nine years old, Amber is a part of the new Busch Light Accelerate Her Program via NASCAR.
This program is a three-year commitment in which every female NASCAR driver over the age of twenty-one receives direct investments in order to tear down the resource inequities female racecar drivers face.
TikTok; pictured above is Amber
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“Being a part of the Busch Light Accelerate Her program has allowed me to align myself with other great females in my sport. Working with such a big brand has helped increase exposure for myself, my race team, and my other partners,” Amber said.
As for her future goals, Amber has her sights set on the national ARCA Menards Series race and hopes to become the first woman to win.
In the meantime, though, Amber has been sharing her experiences as a female racecar driver on social media in hopes of inspiring other young women. And so far, her TikTok account @AmberBalcaen10 has been doing just that.
There, Amber has gained nearly fifty-five thousand followers by sharing everything from race day highlights to answering questions about her journey as a female racecar driver. And interestingly, Amber’s biggest piece of advice for aspiring female racers is to forget about gender and just get behind the wheel.
“Take gender out of it completely. Forget that you are female and they’re males. You are a driver, and a car doesn’t know gender. When you put a helmet on, you are a driver,” she said.
“Just focus on building your skill set and practicing so that you have the ability and you can be just as good.”
And despite women still fighting to level the playing field of racecar driving, Amber is just thankful to have that opportunity in the first place.
“I am so lucky to be in a sport where men and women can compete at the same level. There are not many sports like that, so that in itself, I feel so grateful for,” Amber added.
To keep up with Amber and learn more about her experiences as a female NASCAR driver, you can visit her TikTok account linked here.
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