More Than Just a Pretty Face (Page 2)

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So she did, driving across the country without a job or even a place to live. “I told the moving company I’d call them in a few days and let them know where to drop off my stuff,” Münter remembers. “I had given up all my financial stability and didn’t know a single person in Charlotte. I remember waking up the first morning and thinking, ‘What did I just do?’ But when I saw a sign for Ganassi Racing from my hotel room window, I knew I was where I needed to be.”

Nothing Comes Easy

It took years of hard work and hard-fought accomplishments for Münter to get to the point she’s at today.

She worked a series of low-paying, racing-related jobs — in a body shop prepping race cars, at a racing school and for a NASCAR Busch Series race team — to learn as much as she could about the sport. “I did everything from putting decals on cars to assisting the shock specialist,” she says of the Busch team gig. “If they were testing cars, I would tag along and take notes on what kind of changes they were making. I was going to the different tracks and seeing how the race cars are set up. You just learn by being around it.”

In 2003, she signed a multiyear contract with Team Bristol Motorsports and debuted in the NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series with a ninth-place finish in her first race. The team, however, ran into financial problems and retired from competition soon afterward.

But Münter didn’t stray far from racing, becoming a NASCAR.COM correspondent in 2004. “I’m always covering something different, whether it’s hosting a live show from Daytona or discussing the change from leaded to unleaded fuel with drivers,” she says. “I learn a lot from talking with the crew chiefs, drivers and team owners.”

Münter also debuted in the ROMCO Super Late Model Series that year, turning out a strong performance in her first race by qualifying fourth and finishing seventh.

Last year, she hit several major career milestones. In June, she recorded the highest-finishing position by a female driver on Texas Motor Speedway’s 1.5-mile oval, finishing fourth in a USRA Super Late Model race. “So many people were giving me thumbs-up after the checkered flag,” she says. “It meant more to me than the actual finish.”

She also signed with Hostess® to appear on the company’s products as one of three “Hostess Race Divas.” The highpoint, however, was when she qualified for the nationally televised ARCA Re/Max Series for the 2007 season and completed her rookie testing at Daytona International Speedway in December.

CONTINUED: "More Than Just a Pretty Face"

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