Natalie Sather

Natalie Sather (born March 12, 1985) is an American auto racing driver.

Natalie Sather
Sather's No. 94 at Evergreen Speedway in 2009
Nationality American
Born (1985-03-12) March 12, 1985
Fargo, North Dakota
Championship titles
2007American Sprint Car Series Midwest
Awards
2009
2008
2007		Evergreen Speedway Rookie of the Year
Knoxville Raceway Rookie of the Year[1]
Knoxville Nationals (360 Sprint Car) Rookie of the Year

Racing career

Early career

Sather was first interested in racing when she was in kindergarten, bringing die-cast cars into show-and-tell.[2] When she was 9 years old, Sather started racing after acquiring a go-kart. Upon winning a karting championship in 2001, she moved to sprint cars.[3] When she was 17, in her fifth sprint car race, she was involved in a crash that created three compound fractures in her right leg, though she returned to racing four months later.[2]

In 2007, she won the American Sprint Car Series Midwest Championship, the first female to win the title.[2] She spent five seasons in the series, and won the ASCS Midwest championship.[4]

Sather also made starts in the World of Outlaws, qualifying for a preliminary A-Main in 410 sprint cars at the 2007 Knoxville Nationals. The following year, she returned to Knoxville, and finished in the top 10 in the 360 Sprint Car points standings, along with winning Rookie of the Year.[4]

To develop her racing, she attended the Skip Barber Racing School, Finish Line Racing School, Lyn St. James Women in Racing Program, and the Jimmy Sills Racing School.[4]

NASCAR

In 2008, Sather was invited to NASCAR's Drive for Diversity Combine at South Boston Speedway, and was eventually named to the program's 2009 class.[5] On April 11, 2009, Sather began racing asphalt super late models, finishing in the top-10, and competed full-time at Evergreen Speedway's 0.375 mi (0.604 km) and 0.6265 mi (1.0083 km) layouts;[6] she finished fourth in the points standings, and was named rookie of the year. In 2010, she joined the Whelen All-American Series' Late Model division at South Boston, racing for Sellers Racing Inc., owned by Peyton Sellers and H.C. Sellers.[4] In her first 17 races at the track, Sather recorded 13 top-fives and 15 top-10 finishes.[7]

On March 29, 2012, Sather joined MAKE Motorsports to make her Camping World Truck Series debut.[1] In her first attempt at Martinsville Speedway, Sather was 38th fastest with a lap time of 20.584 and speed of 91.994 miles per hour (148.050 km/h), and as a result, failed to qualify.[8] She later attempted to qualify at Iowa Speedway, but crashed before she could make a complete lap in qualifying.[9] An emotional Sather in her interview said that this race was her last chance to make it into the sport and that because of her second straight DNQ, her future looked very bleak. Unfortunately, her fear was realized and she never competed in auto racing again after that weekend.

Post-racing career

In 2014, Sather was hired by the National Sprint League as the series' Marketing Director.[3]

Personal life

The daughter of Brad and Tessa Sather, Sather is the eldest of three sisters, consisting of her, Whitney and Sidney. Her hobbies include shopping, dogs, hunting and fishing, and country music. In high school, Sather was captain of the cheerleading squad.[2]

In 2003, Sather participated in the Miss North Dakota Teen USA pageant, being named Miss Congeniality. She returned to the pageant three years later, winning second runner-up.[6]

In 2023 Sather married Paul Silva

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Camping World Truck Series
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 NCWTC Pts Ref
2012 MAKE Motorsports 50 Chevy DAY MAR
DNQ		 CAR KAN CLT DOV TEX KEN IOW
DNQ		 CHI POC MCH BRI ATL IOW KEN LVS TAL MAR TEX PHO HOM NA - [10]

References
  1. Ebersole, Amanda (March 29, 2012). "Talkin' Trucks: Natalie "Speed" Sather set to make her NASCAR debut". Skirts and Scuffs. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  2. Whitmore, Scott (May 15, 2009). "Evergreen Speedway driver shows you can still be feminine and succeed in a male-dominated sport". The Herald. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  3. Wright, Bill (November 12, 2014). "NSL Welcomes Natalie Sather as Marketing Director!". National Sprint League. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  4. Schaefer, Paul (August 19, 2010). "SPOTLIGHT ON: Sathers, Sellers Racing To Build Success At South Boston". NASCAR Home Tracks. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  5. "Drive for Diversity profile: Natalie Sather". Foxsports.com. June 6, 2014. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  6. Langley, Michelle (April 15, 2009). "Sather ready to get a little dirt under her nails at the race track". NASCAR Home Tracks. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  7. Tiongson, Rob (July 25, 2011). "Speeding To Success: Natalie Sather Making Strides At South Boston Speedway". Motor Authority. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  8. "2012 Kroger 250 qualifying results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  9. "2012 American Ethanol 200 qualifying results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  10. "Natalie Sather – 2012 Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
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