Kat Teasdale

Kathryn Pennington Teasdale (December 25, 1964 – June 2, 2016) was a Canadian auto racing driver and businesswoman. She began racing Formula Fords in Canada in 1988, and later switched to stock car racing. She was the CASCAR rookie of the year in 1993, and a three-time Canadian national champion in the Chevrolet Camaro racing series from 1996 to 1998. She achieved several firsts for female drivers which included being the first Canadian woman to have an international racing license, the first woman to compete in the Indy Lights road racing series, and the first female driver in the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series. She succeeded in earning her own sponsorships in motorsport, and was later her own racing team owner. She was described by Andy Pilgrim as both a fearless driver and a talented athlete. She won over 180 races during her career, and retired from professional racing in 1998.

Early life Teasdale was born December 25, 1964, and called Toronto, Ontario her hometown. She began riding horses at age 4, and later won a junior golfing championship. Her father Worden Teasdale was once president of the Royal Canadian Golf Association, and her uncle Al Balding played on the PGA Tour. As a teenager she was an alpine skiing racer, until quitting due to a knee injury in 1980. As a high school student, she attended The Woodlands School in Mississauga, Ontario.

Auto racing career Teasdale began her auto racing career in 1988. She later competed in the Player's GM Motorsports Series, the Trans-Am Series, and the International Race of Champions. During her time in the Player's series, she was recruited by the Baker Racing Chevrolet Corvette team. She joined the Landford Racing team in 1991, and participated in the Molson Indy Vancouver in the Atlantic Championship, becoming the first woman to compete in the series. In 1992, she participated in the Indy Lights series. After five years of racing, she owned her own team which competed in Canadian Automobile Sport Clubs races and the IMSA GT Championship, and had earned 150 race victories.

Teasdale had planned to race a full schedule during the 1999 season,

Brian Stewart was the team owner on the 1992 Indy Lights series, and said that Teasdale insisted on as much practice as she could. He recalled that during a practice session in Michigan the input shaft on her transmission broke, and Teasdale arranged to meet another team at 5:30 in the morning on the Indiana Toll Road to get a replacement part and practice some more.

She initially struggled to find the money to compete as sponsorship deals were tentative in her early years, but she was determined as she felt that she was good enough and deserved to be on the same race track as men. 1998 DAY CAR LVS NSV DAR BRI TEX HCY TAL NHA NZH CLT DOV RCH PPR

MYB CAL SBO IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV CLT GTY CAR ATL HOM 109th 70 Busch North Series NASCAR Busch North 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 Pts Ref 1997 Katko Racing 94 Chevy DAY LEE JEN NHA NZH HOL NHA STA BEE TMP NZH TIO NHA STA TRO GLN26 EPP RPS BEE TMP NHA LIM29 73rd 162

Indy Lights (key) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Rank Points Ref 1992 Leading Edge Motorsport PHX LBH DET POR MIL LOU TOR14 CLE VAN14 MDO NAZ LS NA -