Terri O'Connell

Terri Leigh O'Connell (born July 7, 1964) is an American former motorsports racing champion, artist, author, and fashion model.

Life

Terri O'Connell was born on July 7, 1964, in Corinth, Mississippi. She is an only child.

O’Connell was named James Terrell Hayes at birth and lived the first thirty years of her life as a man, though she did not identify that way from a young age. got her into racing at an early age, spending weekends at the Riverside Speedway in West Memphis, Arkansas, and the Devil's Bowl in Dallas, Texas.

In 1991, O’Connell was in a near-fatal accident while racing in Little Rock, Arkansas. From her 2007 Newsweek article, “I was trapped upside down, engine throttle stuck wide open, fuel running all over the racetrack and me. Once all the smoke had cleared and they got me out of the car, I thought, "You know, this could have been it." I've had a ton of accidents, broke half the bones in my body, had wrecks where I should have died. This one, I only busted a rib, but I was trapped like that. I suppose the accident didn't scare me as much as the thought that I hadn't lived my life to full potential.” and ran on a weekly basis in the 305 class in Scott Galpin's #71G in 2015.

In 2007, Newsweek published an article by O'Connell, which led to interviews with LGBT magazines Advocate and Pride Source.

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.)

Winston Cup Series NASCAR Winston Cup 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 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 Pts Ref 1990 Donlavey Racing 91 Ford DAY RCH CAR ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL CLT DOV SON POC MCH DAY POC TAL GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO ATL 101st 49