Ashley Freiberg

Ashley Lynn Freiberg (born November 22, 1991) is an American racing driver who has competed in open-wheel, sports car and endurance racing.

Freiberg was born on November 22, 1991, and raised in Homer Glen, Illinois.

She is the daughter of Chuck and Donna Freiberg; no members of her family had any prior involvement in auto racing.

Freiberg made her go-karting debut at the age of 13, and her father took her to the Jim Hall Karting School in Ventura, California in 2004.

In December 2004, Freiberg made her national debut in a World Karting Association (WKA) event at Daytona International Speedway's road course.

Her father supported her financially.

In her first season, Freiberg finished fourth overall in the regional Championship Enduro Series (CES) and seventh overall in the national WKA points standings in 2005.

In 2006, she raced in the Junior Sprint category because she was too young to progress to other classes.

Freiberg took her first race wins in regional and national karting series, and went undefeated in CES, winning two championship titles.

She also won her first WKA title in 2006 and two more karting championships over the next two years.

Freiberg's achievements in karting led to her enrollment in both the two and three-day Advanced Skip Barber Race Schools in Daytona, beginning her open-wheel racing career.

Soon after, she also joined Lyn St. James's Women in the Winner's Circle Driver Development Academy in Phoenix, Arizona, setting for herself the goal of reaching the IndyCar Series.

In 2007, Freiberg finished fourth in her debut Skip Barber race, finishing six times in the podium and taking nine more top-five finishes during the 2008 Skip Barber season.

Freiberg placed fourth in her debut Formula Mazda race in 2008, and Mazda Motorsports invited her to enter a round of the Skip Barber National Championship, in which she finished sixth.

In 2009, Freiberg won the races held at Sebring International Raceway, Road America, Road Atlanta and the Carolina Motorsports Park.

Freiberg also raced in the 2009 Skip Barber National Championship, becoming the first woman to claim a podium finish in that race and placing sixth overall in the points standings.

In mid-2009, Freiberg drove in both of the Autobahn Country Club races in the Star Mazda Championship for Team GDT.

She became the first woman to win a Skip Barber Racing championship title in 2010, and the first female to claim outright race victories in the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge and the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge in 2013 and 2014, respectively.

After working as a timing and scoring official at her local kart track, Freiberg began karting at 13, achieving early success by winning five championships.

She later progressed to car racing in Skip Barber and Formula Mazda, winning 25 races and two series titles in the former in 2010.

Freiberg is a 2010 graduate of Lockport Township High School; she graduated early due to a good academic performance.

Freiberg does cyclo-cross, hiking, rock climbing, and skate skiing in the mountains of Vermont to prepare herself for auto racing events.

Freiberg's earliest racing experience came at the age of ten, when both her elder brothers took up the hobby.

At the time, she did not believe girls could compete, but after skateboarding, playing basketball and soccer and studying karate, she was attracted to racing.

At the age of 11, she acted as a timing and scoring official at a local kart track.

She won 25 Skip Barber races and two series championships in 2010, making her the first woman to win an overall Barber Series title and a Skip Barber National Championship race.

In addition, Freiberg was the first woman to win a Skip Barber National Series feature race at the New Jersey Motorsports Park, and the first to take a race victory in the Skip Barber Mazda MX-5 Sedan Championship.

She also finished fifth for Team GDT in the 2010 Star Mazda Championship race at Autobahn Country Club.

Freiberg's results over the course of the season led to her receiving the Coach's Choice Award as "the best all-round driver in the series."

She was also the second woman after Danica Patrick to earn a nomination for the Team USA Scholarship that year.

Funding issues caused Freiberg to drop out of Skip Barber after four wins in 2011, but she later drove for JDC MotorSports in the 2012 Star Mazda Championship, finishing ninth in the points standings.

Freiberg won four races in 2011 before she was required to withdraw from racing due to funding issues.

As a result, she visited race tracks and spoke to team owners who declared an interest in her through various channels because she was unable to employ a publicist.

Towards the end of 2011, Freiberg was contacted by an official from TrueStar's driver development program Women Empowered Initiative, which had watched her compete in the Skip Barber championship season.

This led to JDC MotorSports signing her for the full 2012 Star Mazda Championship, partnering her with Juan Piedrahita.

Although she entered the series with the goal of finishing in the top-five or on the podium, Freiberg frequently changed her expectations over the course of the season.

She took six top-ten finishes, with a sixth place at the Grand Prix of Baltimore being her best result of the season.

Freiberg moved to sports car racing in 2013, entering the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge before moving to the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge in 2014 and 2015, earning two outright victories.

She debuted in the IMSA SportsCar Championship in 2016, running a partial schedule in the Prototype Challenge and Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) categories.

Her best finish was second in GTD at the 12 Hours of Sebring, taking class and outright podiums for DAC Motorsports in the 2017 Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America Championship.