PHOTOS: NATE VAN WAGNEN, FREER RACING |
Looking at Lauren Freer’ s success as a racer, one might assume she, like many racers today, grew up in the sport as a secondor third-generation racer. While it was her father who introduced her to the sport, she lays claim as the first in her family to stomp on a drag racing pedal. Despite being completely new to the sport, Freer started winning in Junior Dragsters right away and hasn’ t stopped since. She was a cheerleader in high school, but when her father, who used to work on a Top Fuel Hydro team, brought home a Junior Dragster, Freer quickly gave up her pompons to devote all her extra time to racing. She never looked back, winning points championships and a world championship
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in Juniors before moving to Super Comp, Super Gas and Top Dragster.
She won two IHRA divisional championships, a $ 25,000 bracket race in Atco, N. J. and a handful of NHRA national events. This season, Freer won Top Dragster at the NHRA Summit Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio, and was runner-up at the PDRA event in Maryland. Her current aim is to be the first female to win The Million Dollar Race.
Her story is undoubtedly unique. Not only does she stand out as a successful female racer, her passion for the sport outpaces many others who have much deeper drag racing roots. She credits this passion as one of the reasons for her success.
“ Racing every weekend and having people who supported me, learning from racers who had been around for so many years really helped me,
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I think,” Freer said, also thanking her new husband for his support.“ Stuart Smith helped me a tremendous amount, and Glenn Ferguson. My parents and I were always at the race track doing something every weekend, Thursday nights, Friday nights. I think my success comes from just living at the race track.”
The North Carolina resident is a Radiation Therapist by trade, working at Carolina’ s Medical Center in Charlotte. While beating some of the top names in drag racing is no easy feat, treating cancer patients is most assuredly more grueling. Freer’ s gentle-but-determined nature helps her excel in both, with a disarming smile that quickly puts others at ease and a resolve that never quits.
- LISA COLLIER DI
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