MARCY AND LYLE NOWAK #32

Hope you all have been enjoying the Women of Mid-Am stories. We all have had a story to tell.

Mine starts way back in 1974 when I met this guy my junior year in high school. I would have never imagined at that time what my future would bring.

On one of our first dates he asked me to go to the races. I was convinced I wouldn’t care for that type of thing, LYLE'S FIRST CAR - MY FIRST JOBbut I went.

First Mistake…... Had no clue what to wear, so why not a cute white skirt, dressy blouse, and nice little heels.
Second mistake…… Wore hard contacts at the time, not the nice soft ones we have today. Dusty, learned later it was oil dry. Not the stuff you like to see on the race track near your car.
Third mistake…… I couldn’t wait to get out of there. People cheering when the cars crashed. Loud. Was not my idea of fun.

Read about other Women of Mid-American on our "WOMA" link.

NAME: Cathy McClintock

HOMETOWN: Onalaska, WI

RACE TEAM: The Fatlawns.Com Mid-American Race Team #4 "Racin' with an Attitude...to benefit Ronald McDonald House Charities"! OKTOBERFEST TRUCK WIN

TEAM POSITION: Wife, Race Team Spotter, and Sponsor.

YEARS INVOLVED IN RACING: 14 Fabulous Years.

HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED IN RACING: I’ve always had the interest in cars since I was a kid. My Dad owned a autobody shop and used to take the family to the races on Wednesday nights to the LaCrosse Speedway. It was then I discovered at a young age, my need for speed. So when I met my golfer husband Tom, it was exciting to learn that he enjoyed the sport as well. It was then the Race Team was born.

Another "WOMA" Story

Name: Bethany GannonRYAN'S PRIDE

Hometown: Oak Creek, WI

Race Team: Gutknecht Racing #01 & #10

Years involved in Racing: 4 years

Team Position: Girlfriend/Crew

How I got involved in Racing: Ryan and I started dating.

Bill and I met when we were just about 16. He took me to Hales Corners Speedway the following summer. Although it took a few trips to the track to get the bug, I finally did get it. I stayed in the stands due to the fact that women were not allowed in the pits and we always brought our kids. In 1976 Bill built a new sportsman and I raced his old one. I finished about 57th that year. That was when we had a field of over 100 cars.

JAN & BILLLater when Bill ran the Mid-Am car and Supertruck, I did get to race the truck at Council Bluffs and Road America, both road courses. I have done other racing throughout the years but that elusive checkered flag has never found it's way to me. The closest I got was second in a 200 lap enduro at Hales Corners Speedway, finishing second to Bill Strom, who had 25 years experience in modifieds and late models. I did get my first trophy in an enduro at Madison finishing 5th in that race.

NAME: Stephanie Church

Love and HappinessHOMTOWN: Waukesha, WI

RACE TEAM OR MID AM AFFILATION: Dan Church racing #9 & 89

TEAM POSITION: WIFE

YEARS INVOLVED IN RACING: 12

HOW YOU GOT INVOLVED IN RACING: Dan was racing at Lake Geneva when we met at the end of race season. He then went back to dirt so I consider my first home track Hales Corners where he raced a dirt modified.

Julie Strasburg of Fort Atkinson, WI is Co-owner of the Mid-American Stock Car Series. She enjoys travelling with her husband Doug, reading, Sudoku and crossword puzzles. They attend Willerup Methodist Church in Cambridge, WI. (the oldest Scandinavian Methodist Church on the world).
Julie was raised on a small dairy farm near Helenville in south central Wisconsin with two sisters and one brother.

She started driving school bus at 18 to pay for college. Now in her 26th year, she says this is her favorite job! Her main employment is office manager at J-N-L Wrought Iron – creator of hand crafted wrought iron work. She also teaches piano and is church pianist. Every year in July she helps her family make Georgia Snow cones at the Jefferson Co. Fair. This has been a family tradition for 25 years.