VEN THOUGH she grew up around racing , Jianna Evaristo did not always count on becoming a professional driver .

“ I ’ d gone to my dad ’ s races , and I loved what he was doing , and of course , we grew up around racing ,” Evaristo begins . “ It was kind of like it was there in the back of my mind , but it was more like if the opportunity presents itself , of course I ’ m going to take it .”

As a kid , Evaristo raced Jr . Dragsters with her sisters , but not for long . “ We only did it for four to five years just because we were so busy and lived pretty far from the tracks . We could really only do three to four races a year ,” explains Evaristo .

Pursuing other goals , Evaristo attended college at San Jose State University , but during this time a big opportunity came up . “ The opportunity for me to go racing really didn ’ t even come about until I was in my junior or senior year of college , and honestly , at that time I really had no plans of racing . I was getting my bachelor ’ s degree , and studying child development . I was going to go into therapy , so racing wasn ’ t even on my mind ,” explains Evaristo .

Having this opportunity to go racing meant Evaristo had to decide what she wanted to race . With her dad driving Top Fuel , her background in Jr . Dragsters , and her sister getting the opportunity to drive an A / Fuel car in Top Alcohol Dragster around the same time , the big question

was what she would pilot .

“ I remember my dad asking me , ‘ Your sister is doing A / Fuel . Are you going to race A / Fuel also ?’ but I always loved motorcycles ,” Evaristo says . “ We just weren ’ t a motorcycle family , though . We had always grown up around cars . I always had that dream in the back of my mind of one day I ’ m going to ride a motorcycle , though .”

So how did her love for motorcycles come about ? “ When I was 19 , I started riding on the street , and my love for motorcycles just really took off . I had that conversation with my dad , and I was like , ‘ No , if I ’ m going to go racing , I want to race motorcycles .’”

Very humbly , Evaristo noted that they had no idea what that entailed . All they knew was what they had seen . “ I had a lot to learn , but I just knew that they looked really cool , and it was something that I loved and had dreamt about . My whole family thought I was crazy but luckily were very supportive of it ,” explains Evaristo .

Starting the journey , the family looked for a team that Jianna could learn from . Doing just that , Evaristo says , “ I got my license my final year of college and 2019 was my debut season . It ’ s just so crazy to look back on where I was then versus where I am now , but it ’ s all part of my journey and made me the rider that I am today , thank goodness .”

Getting her first race win in her rookie year at the last race of the season was a big accomplishment , but Evaristo does not label that as her biggest moment so far .

“ I ’ m not taking anything away from my first win — it was an amazing win — but it was also a really weird win ,” Evaristo says . “ That was the last race of the year , three people fighting for a championship , and I basically just ruined everybody ’ s day . I was probably one of the worst riders out there , had one of the lower performing bikes , and I won the final with a bad run .”

Evaristo has progressed leaps and bounds since her rookie season , so her favorite moment in her career so far came a little later .

“ If I had to pick the number one thing , it would be this year in Sonoma when I set the record going 204 MPH and became the fastest female in the class while also tying Gaige [ Herrera ] for being second-fastest overall in the class ,” says Evaristo . “ I remember last year going 200 MPH for the first time and thinking , ‘ Oh my gosh , this is it . Nothing can top this for me ,’ but here we are now . I ’ m very lucky to have a team as supportive as mine that can help guide me through the ups and downs of my racing career .” – ALLIE HARTMAN DI

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