INDIANAPOLIS — A local foundation is working to close the gap for women in motorsport.
To celebrate Women’s History Month, the Shift Up Now Foundation awarded more than $250,000 in grants to 15 female racers across 12 different racing series.
One of those grant awardees was Taylor Ferns who races in the 500 Sprint Car Tour and USAC Silver Crown.
“It allows me to not worry about tire costs or making it to a handful of races and jump-starting our funding for the year to get the things going,” Ferns told WRTV.
Ferns has been racing since she was six years old and has seen firsthand how expenses can hinder athletes, especially females.
"We'd have a handful of girls when I first started back in the early 2000s but then as you go up the racing ladder, you start to see less and less girls," Ferns told WRTV. "The higher the competition level went, the more prices went up.”
Pippa Mann helped start the Shift Up Now Foundation in December 2022.
The British racer is a trailblazer in motorsport as one of only nine women to race in the Indy 500 and the second woman to win an Indy Lights race.
She hopes to continue paving the way for other female athletes.
“Motorsport is one of the few sports in the world where men and women can compete as equals. However, to compete as equals, we have to have equal opportunity, and so that's what we're working hard to provide,” Mann told WRTV.
"Women in sports are majorly underfunded compared to men and that applies in motorsport greatly,” added Rebecca Bormann, the Co-Chair of the Shift Up Now Foundation.
The foundation is working to close that gap by helping females succeed on the track.
“For racers who are working hard, who are putting their programs together, this money makes a difference,” Mann said.
The foundation told WRTV they’ve awarded athletes $350,000 in grants to athletes since they were founded two and a half years ago.
To learn more about how to donate or join the movement you can visit the foundation’s website.
