TAMMY POWELL TO RACE ON SUNDAY IN CHARITY EVENT AT TRI-CITY
by Brian Spaid

June 16, 2006 

   A racing widow is a term of art used in motorsports. Although it sounds morbid, it has nothing to do with the surviving spouse of a driver killed while racing.

   A racing widow is the name given to all of the wives and girlfriends of the men who love racing so much that they devote a large portion of their lives to it. These are the men that spend countless hours in garages across the country tearing apart race cars and putting them back together week after week.

   In victory lane, each driver thanks his wife or girlfriend, those racing widows, and the support she gives him to be able to continue to compete despite those thankless hours lost to time.

   And when you talk to racing widows, they all seem to share the same bond - love of the sport and the men in their lives.

   Tammy Powell of Cochranton is one of those racing widows. Her husband, Bruce, pilots their Intimidator No. 35 E Mod at Sharon Speedway and Tri-City Speedway every week during the summer. Powell supports her husband with all her heart.

   Bruce Powell started racing in 1995. At the time, the Micro Sprints were a huge division in our area racing weekly at tracks like Sportsman’s Speedway in Knox and Hickory Speedway in New Castle. He was successful in that class, and moved into the Super Sprint division in 1998. There, he competed for three seasons before the financial stress of running a sprint car overcame him and he ended his career in 2000. He then returned in 2002 to start racing E Mods full-time.

   “I want him to have what he needs to be competitive, and I want him to win a feature race,” said Tammy Powell. “He had a lot of success when he ran Micro Sprints. Then, he ran Super Sprints for a while, but it was just too expensive to run your own team and compete with some of the top dollar teams. With the E Mod, we’re spending less money and having a lot more fun.”

   Sometimes though, racing can be scary business. In 2005, Powell was in the grandstands at Sharon when her husband was involved in a horrifying wreck. A car flipped on top of his car, which crushed the roll cage down. He was trapped briefly, but escaped with minor injuries.

   “That shook me up pretty bad. But it also affected me in a positive way because it reaffirmed my feeling in the safety of the E Mods. They’re safer than the automobiles we drive everyday.”

   The Powells son, Tyler, is now pressuring his parents to let him race. The 12-year-old future star had a successful go kart career and is already talking about racing on the big tracks next season.  In fact, Tyler would like to race in the Young Gun Teen division at Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Motor Speedway in Imperial. That class is designed for drivers 13 to 19 competing in four-cylinder American stock passenger cars converted into race cars, such as the Ford Escort and Chevrolet Cavalier.

   “He’s made it clear that he wants to race,” said Powell. “I have mixed emotions about it. I want to support him in anything that he does, but I’m still his mother and I’ll worry about him.”

   Powell, who is a teacher at Polk Elementary School, has driven herself. Twice she has won the Powder Puff Pro Stock event at the Venango County half-mile oval. Sunday night, she intends to climb behind the wheel of her husband’s car and compete in the Victim’s Resource Center Ladies E Mod Charity Race.

  “I don’t know about my chances,” she said. “I hope to do well. I enjoy doing it. It’s a real adrenalin rush. I have a whole new respect for drivers on the track because you see it differently in the car than from the grandstands.”

   This is the first year that the E Mods will be used for this event. The DIRT Modifieds ran in it last four years. Cheri Schiffer of Franklin won the first race in 2002. In 2003 and 2004, Megan Greenlee of Cochranton picked up the victory laurels. Last year, Alexis Shingledecker of Polk won in a car normally driven by her husband, Jeremiah.

   “This event supports an important cause in our community,” noted Powell. “I’m really proud to be a part of it and I’m looking forward to Sunday’s race. We got some practice laps in this past weekend. We don’t go as fast as the men do, but after a few laps, we’re able to turn some fast times.”

   Sponsors on the Powell team include Ferry’s Transmission of Cochranton, Bob Powell’s Auto Service and Mom n’ Dad Inc. of Meadville, McKeans Sur Fine of Sandy Lake, Anchor’s Away of Stoneboro, Homerwood of Titusville, Barker’s Poly Fab of Titusville, Hooter Hobby Shop of Utica, and Die Broke Racing of Pemberville, Ohio.