Leilani Munter - Racing Career

Racing Career

Münter began racing in California in 2001 in the Allison Legacy Series. She debuted with a seventh place finish. In 2002 Münter made the move to Mooresville, North Carolina, widely regarded as the center for NASCAR racing. In 2003 she had her first start in the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series at South Boston Speedway, she finished ninth. She made her first speedway start in 2004 at Texas Motor Speedway and set a new record when she qualified fourth, the highest qualifying effort for a female driver at the track. It was also her first super late model race; she finished seventh. In 2006 she had her first full-time season in a race car. In just her fifth race of the season, she had one of the biggest races of her career when she finished fourth, setting a new record at Texas Motor Speedway for the highest finish for a female driver in the history of the 1.5 mile speedway. Later that year, Leilani became the first woman to qualify in the 45 year history of the Bettenhausen Classic at Illiana Speedway in Indiana. In 39 stock car starts, Münter scored 19 top tens and 9 top five finishes. She finished running 92% of the time. At the end of the 2006 racing season, she was set to make the move into the ARCA Series in 2007, a stepping stone series into NASCAR's top three series. In December 2006 she completed her ARCA rookie test at Daytona International Speedway. She was 24th quick of 59 race cars testing that day in a race car prepared by Andy Hillenburg, a retired driver who owns Fast Track Racing School, where Münter once worked at as an instructor. Shortly after her Daytona test Münter received a phone call from an Indy Car team to ask if she was interested in racing open wheel cars. By May 2007 she had completed her Indy Pro rookie test and made the move to open wheel racing. She got back in a stock car in December 2008, testing an ARCA car at Daytona International Speedway for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver James Hylton. In December 2009, she returned to ARCA testing at Daytona, driving the #59 NextEra Energy Resources Dodge for Mark Gibson Racing. In the final practice, Münter posted the seventh quickest lap with a speed of 181.77 mph, just 69 one-thousandths of a second behind Danica Patrick, who posted the fifth quickest time of the final practice. Patrick and Münter drafted with each other throughout the weekend. The two female drivers had previously worked together off the racetrack, in an ad campaign together in 2006 and 2007 for Hostess.

In 2007 Münter became the fourth woman in history to compete in the Indy Pro Series, the development league of IndyCar. In May, Münter passed her Indy Pro Series rookie test at Kentucky Speedway. In August she inked a deal with three time championship team Sam Schmidt Motorsports. She qualified fifth for her debut at Kentucky Speedway on August 11. She had trouble on a restart and dropped back to thirteenth but raced her way back to the front of the field. She passed five cars in a lap and a half and turned in the fifth-fastest lap of the race with a speed of 192.399 mph. She was about to pass for fourth place when she was involved in a multi-car accident. Four-time Indy 500 champion Rick Mears, IndyCar driver Jaques Lazier, and many others in the IndyCar community spoke very highly of Münter after her debut. Münter's current plans include both a return to the Indy Pro Series and the ARCA Re/Max Series, a development league in NASCAR.

In 2012, Munter will compete in the ARCA Racing Series, driving for Tony Marks Racing in the season-opening 200 mile event at Daytona International Speedway.