Sarah Montgomery Battles Back From Adversity
Sarah Montgomery Battles Back From Adversity
A major crash left Sarah Montgomery concussed and with several broken ribs, but determined to rebuild her racing career in sports cars.
By Victoria Beaver
Sarah Montgomery’s journey into racing started with big dreams and a piggy bank.
The now 23-year-old attended her first Race when she was 10. Her parents took her to watch an IndyCar race. Here she fell in love which racing and got to see a women racing amongst the male dominated field, former Indy driver and current NASCAR Cup driver Danica Patrick.
From the first minutes she was hooked and decided she would muster whatever she had to convince her parents to let her race.
“I loved everything about it. I loved the smell of the burning fuel and the burning rubber of the tires,” she said about her first race, “I seriously just fell in love with it. I begged my parents to get me involved in racing and they had no idea what racing was or how to do it. So I gave them my piggy bank which was my 10-year-old life savings to get me involved with racing. They bought me a go-kart after that. You gotta start somewhere.”
Fast forward 12 years and Montgomery was doing what she loves, racing in the Pirelli World Challenge Series with her new team Shea Racing, which is co-owned and operated by another female racer Shea Holbrook who also drives in the Pirelli series.
Montgomery sees working with Shea as a major asset to her career.
"It’s really cool, we don’t actually race against each other we’re just on the same team, she’s in a higher class then I am,” Montgomery said, “so we can be best friends because there isn’t an sort of rivalry going on between the two of us. It’s really cool to be on Shea’s team because she’s super knowledgeable and has been in the sport a lot longer than I have.
“She gives me a lot of good advice, a lot of business advice to help me hunt sponsors down and that sort. It’s nice to have someone around that I can ask questions. It’s really special because a lot of drivers in this sport don’t know the business side of it since they come with the money. It’s nice to have someone to look up, especially a female that can understand where I’m coming from.”
Montgomery’s dream almost became a nightmare.
Montgomery is currently sidelined from racing due to a particularly scary wreck that totaled her car back in May. She was racing at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on May 19 when she lost control and flipped her car eight times. The accident left her with a bad concussion and several broken ribs.
“I wasn’t actually sure what was going on I didn’t remember it.” Montgomery said about the accident, “It was really confused and then in the days after as I began to understand what happen, I’m as depressed as I’ve ever been before. I totaled a car and it’s been really hard for me. Mentally, just having a totaled race car and not being sure where I’m going racing wise is hard. I have a sponsorship plan and hopefully can get something moving to get back into the series next year.”
As she takes time to heal she has to deal with the equally pressing issue of finding the money and sponsorship to rebuild her race car.
“I’m starting from ground zero, most of the people I know that have totaled a car have been able to just write a check. I don’t have many people to look up to in this.” Montgomery said, “I’m a good enough driver to sell myself to sponsors and get back in the car. I don’t know anyone that’s been in this same situation but I definitely have support from my racing friends.”
As Montgomery looks for new opportunities she’s staying in the world of racing. Staying in contact with her team and working at FAST Systems Technology, which manufactures the cooling system that the series requires drivers to wear in the race car.
“It definitely keeps me in the racing business. Which is nice because I don’t want to be anywhere else but most importantly I’m going to try to always find a way to be in a race car.”
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Sarah Montgomery’s journey into racing started with big dreams and a piggy bank.
The now 23-year-old attended her first Race when she was 10. Her parents took her to watch an IndyCar race. Here she fell in love which racing and got to see a women racing amongst the male dominated field, former Indy driver and current NASCAR Cup driver Danica Patrick.
From the first minutes she was hooked and decided she would muster whatever she had to convince her parents to let her race.
“I loved everything about it. I loved the smell of the burning fuel and the burning rubber of the tires,” she said about her first race, “I seriously just fell in love with it. I begged my parents to get me involved in racing and they had no idea what racing was or how to do it. So I gave them my piggy bank which was my 10-year-old life savings to get me involved with racing. They bought me a go-kart after that. You gotta start somewhere.”
Fast forward 12 years and Montgomery was doing what she loves, racing in the Pirelli World Challenge Series with her new team Shea Racing, which is co-owned and operated by another female racer Shea Holbrook who also drives in the Pirelli series.
Montgomery sees working with Shea as a major asset to her career.
"It’s really cool, we don’t actually race against each other we’re just on the same team, she’s in a higher class then I am,” Montgomery said, “so we can be best friends because there isn’t an sort of rivalry going on between the two of us. It’s really cool to be on Shea’s team because she’s super knowledgeable and has been in the sport a lot longer than I have.
“She gives me a lot of good advice, a lot of business advice to help me hunt sponsors down and that sort. It’s nice to have someone around that I can ask questions. It’s really special because a lot of drivers in this sport don’t know the business side of it since they come with the money. It’s nice to have someone to look up, especially a female that can understand where I’m coming from.”
Montgomery’s dream almost became a nightmare.
Montgomery is currently sidelined from racing due to a particularly scary wreck that totaled her car back in May. She was racing at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on May 19 when she lost control and flipped her car eight times. The accident left her with a bad concussion and several broken ribs.
“I wasn’t actually sure what was going on I didn’t remember it.” Montgomery said about the accident, “It was really confused and then in the days after as I began to understand what happen, I’m as depressed as I’ve ever been before. I totaled a car and it’s been really hard for me. Mentally, just having a totaled race car and not being sure where I’m going racing wise is hard. I have a sponsorship plan and hopefully can get something moving to get back into the series next year.”
As she takes time to heal she has to deal with the equally pressing issue of finding the money and sponsorship to rebuild her race car.
“I’m starting from ground zero, most of the people I know that have totaled a car have been able to just write a check. I don’t have many people to look up to in this.” Montgomery said, “I’m a good enough driver to sell myself to sponsors and get back in the car. I don’t know anyone that’s been in this same situation but I definitely have support from my racing friends.”
As Montgomery looks for new opportunities she’s staying in the world of racing. Staying in contact with her team and working at FAST Systems Technology, which manufactures the cooling system that the series requires drivers to wear in the race car.
“It definitely keeps me in the racing business. Which is nice because I don’t want to be anywhere else but most importantly I’m going to try to always find a way to be in a race car.”
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