When it comes to women who race at Indy, believe it or not, it's not All Danica, All The Time.
Billy Ballew Motorsports, a team with a long history of helping young drivers, will introduce a new female face to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series on Friday. That's when 18-year-old Johanna Long is scheduled to make her series debut in the AAA Insurance 200 at O'Reilly Raceway Park.
Long, who has twice tested with the team, will pilot the familiar No. 15 BBM Toyota Tundra, with sponsorship from John Andretti's Race 4 Riley event, a three-day festival that begins July 21 with donations going to Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis.
Last season, Long captured Late Model championships in the Blizzard Series and Gulf Coast Series, winning five times in 36 starts between the two series. She also captured the pole for the Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway in 2009 and ran in two ARCA events last season.
"I'm really excited to go racing trucks," said Long, who is a native of Pensacola, Fla. "I've been racing Late Models my whole life and this is the next step. I'm ready to take it."
Long was impressively quick behind the wheel during tests with the team at Caraway (N.C.) Speedway and Gresham (Ga.) Motorsports Park.
"After a few test sessions, I've learned that Late Models are a lot different than trucks," she said. "Late Models are a lot lighter, and when you go in the corners, you can slam on the brakes and turn the car wherever it needs to go. You have to be a little easier in the trucks. They're a little lazy. You have to let off the gas and then start turning it. It's a lot different to get used to."
The ORP debut is one that has both the team owner and driver optimistic.
"I'm really excited to have Johanna in our truck at ORP," said Ballew. "She's extremely talented and has been very successful up to this point. The Truck Series is a great venue for her to grow as a driver. She's got all the tools to be successful, and I think this will be a good opportunity for her to develop her talent."
"I've been to ORP before in Late Model competition," said Long. "It's an awesome race track. It's definitely a racer's track. The turns are really wide, so you're all over the place. I did pretty well with my Late Model, so I'm excited to go back."
