Accelerating Change Launches All Female Track Day

Christina Nielsen

Led by female automotive professionals and influencers, Accelerating Change: All Women’s Track Day will take place on Thursday, March 7, 2019 from 7AM – 5PM at Buttonwillow Raceway in Buttonwillow, CA to celebrate International Women’s Day.

The team behind the track day includes three-time racing champion, Christina Nielsen; President of Porsche Club of America, Los Angeles Region (PCA-LA), Mariana Small; Founder and Host of FastGirlsTV, Paulina Michaels; and Automotive YouTuber and Host, Jessica Chou.

Co-founding the program, Nielsen, Small and Michaels have worked to bring the best resources together for a memorable event, which included bringing on resourceful partner, Chou to cap off the track day lineup.

The purpose of the track day is to not only celebrate women in the automotive industry, but to empower women of all skill levels to feel confident and comfortable behind the wheel both on the racetrack and in their everyday driving. The automotive world has been dominated by men for decades and as an organization, Accelerating Change aims to encourage more women to be a part of the automotive industry.

The track day will consist of driver’s education sessions given by Christina Nielsen. Participants will then enjoy personalized, one-on-one on-track instruction by PCA instructors. At the end of the track day, participants will gather for a social hour which include beverages and hors d’oeuvres.

“Our goal is to create a fun, female-friendly event where women feel empowered to learn more about cars, get comfortable with driving fast, and ultimately get behind the wheel of a high-performance Porsche vehicle," said Paulina Michaels, Founder of FastGirlsTV and Accelerating Change organizer.

Mariana Small, President of PCA-LA said, “An event like this is so important to advance women in the field of automotive, which has traditionally been male-dominated. Eighty five percent of car buying decisions are influenced by women. Women wield a lot of power in the automotive industry already, and we’re here to encourage them to keep on going and to explore other spaces in the industry."

“I know it can be intimidating to show up in an environment full of men and have to get behind the wheel," said Christina Nielsen, Professional Driver. “As a professional race car driver, we are expected to go out and perform and deliver. What is important to remember is that once you are out on track, the car or the stop watch does not know who is behind the wheel. I am a driver like everyone else and I am there to deliver a job, but most importantly, enjoy that I get to do this as a profession! I want to introduce women to the joys of driving and hope they will experience the boost they can get when confidently wheeling their car around track."

The track day is open for interested individuals with a starting cost of $150 which includes track time, meals, and end-of-day social event.