More Than Just a Pretty Face

Most people assume that a woman who walks into an automotive service center doesn’t know as much about cars as the folks who work there. They’d be wrong if that woman was Leilani Münter.

Münter, 31, is part of a new generation of female drivers who are setting precedents, breaking records and changing stereotypes that portray women as not being as capable as men behind the wheel or under the hood.

Of course, gender doesn’t necessarily give a driver an advantage on the track. “Being a female may get me extra attention, but it doesn’t help me get up front in a race,” Münter says. “I run up front because I drive well.”

And while being a female makes Münter stand out in a male-dominated profession, it can also be a double edge sword. “I’m usually judged more harshly,” she says. “People pay more attention to what I do, which is great when I do well. But my mistakes can be blown out of proportion.”

The Drive to Race

As a racer, Münter has an atypical background. The Minnesota native grew up in a physician’s household and earned a biology degree from the University of California, San Diego, during which time she also began modeling and racing in amateur SCCA events. “A friend took me to my first SCCA race during college,” she recalls. “I ended up racing that day — that’s when I got the bug.”

After graduation, Münter passed on life in the lab to move to Hollywood to do photo-double and stunt work. But the tug of the track soon outweighed the glamour and financial gain of Tinseltown.

She attended race school in California, where a NASCAR team just happened to be at the track. “They thought it was unusual to see a girl signed up for the school,” Münter says. When she told them of her driving ambitions, they invited her to work with the team on weekends. “I wasn’t getting paid, but I was learning about the business side of the sport,” she says.

In 2001, Münter secured a sponsor and began racing on short tracks in California. A year later, she packed up and headed for NASCAR country. “People told me that if I wanted to dedicate myself to racing, I’d have to move to North Carolina,” she recalls.