ALUMNAE NEWS
Practice Makes Perfect for Pi Phi Racecar Driver By California Delta CONSTANCE DILLON GIBBS
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itting behind the wheel of her silver 1993 BMW® M3, Michigan Alpha KRISTA PEDEN WILLIAMS reaches speeds up to 142 miles per hour. The acceleration is reached on long straightaways, in between turns, elevation changes and blind corners. Don’t worry; Krista isn’t driving on the highway. She’s a racecar driver. Unlike the oval tracks popularized by NASCAR®, Krista competes on road-racing courses. Each track ranges from two to four miles in length and Krista must loop the course many times before reaching the finish line, sometimes driving 90 minutes at a time. During team competitions, Krista and her teammates complete relay races lasting up to six or eight hours. “I always liked to drive fast, but racing wasn’t originally something I wanted to do,” Krista said. It wasn’t until her husband joined a Lexus® car club that Krista felt the itch to race. The couple would spend weekends driving through the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina and Eastern Kentucky where the two-lane roads are windy and narrow. Krista always looked forward to her turn to drive. After seeing how much his wife enjoyed the scenic drives, particularly the hairpin mountain turns, Krista’s husband surprised her with a special Christmas present: lessons at the nearby racetrack, complete with an instructor to teach her how to drive fast while staying in control of the car. She first participated in lessons using her beloved Acura® NSX, a small sports car, but quickly traded it in for a Porsche® 911, a high-performance vehicle, so she could reach faster speeds on the track. Krista attended numerous driving schools for the next several years. After demonstrating her expertise and ability to communicate clearly, Krista was invited to become a driving instructor — a role she still holds today — to advise other students how to stay safe and have fun. The hours spent at the racetrack include socializing with other racing enthusiasts as well as fellow students. Krista credits the driving schools for teaching her new skills and building her confidence but also for providing her with a community.
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Above: Michigan Alpha KRISTA PEDEN WILLIAMS (center) reaches speeds of up to 142 miles per hour behind the wheel of her silver BMW M3. She started racing cars after joining a car club and attending numerous racing schools.
“It’s very fun, and it’s very social,” Krista said. “Before and after your time on the track, your car is parked in a paddock area. People are checking their oil and adjusting their tires and brakes, and there’s a lot of camaraderie and helping one another out. I’ve seen people take pieces off their own car and put them onto someone else’s car to make sure everyone is able to get out on the track and have fun.” After years of racing school, Krista registered with her local racing league. The league is responsible for competition logistics, from renting the racetrack to hiring officials and safety workers to organizing drivers. Drivers compete in different weight classes, much like boxing, depending on the size of their car and how much the vehicle weighs. Before each race, the league completes an evaluation process for drivers and their cars to ensure both are safe for competition. Today, Krista has traveled up and down the East Coast and as far west as Texas to participate in races. She has competed alone and as part of teams, and was recently a member of the all-female endurance racing team that competed at Watkins Glen, a famous racetrack in upstate New York. She stores her racecar in her home’s two-car garage and handles nearly all the vehicle repairs and mechanical upkeep on her own — skills learned from fellow drivers over the years. Krista does it all in addition to her full-time job as a technology support specialist for business process management software. “When I first started racing, I felt a lot of adrenaline and exhilaration,” Krista said. “But now it has become much more moderated. Like trying to reach the perfect stroke in golf, I am always trying to figure out how fast I can navigate the track. It’s a very mental and physical exercise, and I enjoy the process and the ability to improve.”