Leilani Munter

She was 24th quick of 59 race cars testing that day in a race car prepared by Andy Hillenburg, a retired driver who owns Fast Track Racing School, where Münter once worked at as an instructor.

She ran Daytona in the No. 55 Go 100% Renewable Energy racecar, where she was wrecked by a spinning car on lap 28 and finished the race in 28th place.

Leilani Maaja Münter (born February 18, 1974) is an American former professional stock car racing driver and environmental activist.

She last competed in the ARCA Menards Series, and previously drove in the Firestone Indy Lights, the development league of IndyCar.

Münter is the child of a Japanese-American mother from the Island of Hawaii and a German father, who was working at the Hawaii State Hospital in Kāneʻohe.

Her father relocated to Rochester, Minnesota for work at the Mayo Clinic, where she was born on February 18, 1974.

Prior to becoming a race car driver, Münter earned a bachelor's degree in biology, specializing in ecology, behavior, and evolution from the University of California, San Diego.

During her college years, Münter was also a volunteer at a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation center.

Münter began racing in California in 2001 in the Allison Legacy Series.

She debuted with a seventh-place finish.

In 2002 Münter made the move to Mooresville, North Carolina, widely regarded as the center for NASCAR racing.

In 2003, she had her first start in the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series at South Boston Speedway, she finished ninth.

She made her first speedway start in 2004 at Texas Motor Speedway and set a new record when she qualified fourth, the highest qualifying effort for a female driver at the track.

It was also her first super late model race; she finished seventh.

In 2006, she had her first full-time season in a race car.

In her fifth race of the season, she had one of the biggest races of her career when she finished fourth, setting a new record at Texas Motor Speedway for the highest finish for a female driver in the history of the 1.5 mile speedway.

Later that year, Leilani became the first woman to qualify in the 45-year history of the Tony Bettenhausen Classic at Illiana Speedway in Indiana.

In 43 stock car starts, Münter scored 19 top tens and 9 top five finishes.

At the end of the 2006 racing season, she was set to make the move into the ARCA Series in 2007, a stepping stone series into NASCAR's top three series.

In December 2006 she completed her ARCA rookie test at Daytona International Speedway.

The two female drivers had previously worked together off the racetrack, in an ad campaign together in 2006 and 2007 for Hostess.

In 2007 Münter became the fourth woman in history to compete in the Indy Pro Series, the development league of IndyCar.

In May, Münter passed her Indy Pro Series rookie test at Kentucky Speedway.

In August she signed a deal with three-time championship team Sam Schmidt Motorsports.

She qualified fifth for her debut at Kentucky Speedway on August 11.

She had trouble on a restart and dropped to thirteenth but raced her way back to the front of the field.

She passed five cars in a lap and a half and turned in the fifth-fastest lap of the race with a speed of 192.399 mph. She was about to pass for fourth place when she was involved in a multi-car accident.

Four-time Indy 500 champion Rick Mears, IndyCar driver Jaques Lazier, and many others in the IndyCar community spoke highly of Münter after her debut.

She got back in a stock car in December 2008, testing an ARCA car at Daytona International Speedway for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver James Hylton.

In December 2009, she returned to ARCA testing at Daytona, driving the No. 59 NextEra Energy Resources Dodge for Mark Gibson Racing.

In the final practice, Münter posted the seventh quickest lap with a speed of 181.77 mph, just 69 one-thousandths of a second behind Danica Patrick, who posted the fifth quickest time of the final practice.

In the February 2010 ARCA Racing Series race at Daytona International Speedway, Münter was one of only three women to qualify for the race on speed alongside Danica Patrick and Alli Owens.

She failed to finish the race, becoming collected in a ten-car accident.

She is an almost lifelong vegetarian and became vegan in 2011.

In 2012, Münter drove in the ARCA Racing Series, driving for Tony Marks Racing in the season-opening 200 mile event at Daytona International Speedway, driving a car sponsored by donations from fans and carrying an ocean awareness paint scheme, featuring The Cove.

She then finished 12th on the lead lap at Chicagoland Speedway in the No. 66 PrairieGold Solar/The Solutions Project racecar.

Sports Illustrated named Münter one of the top ten female race car drivers in the world.

Glamour Magazine named her an "Eco Hero."

In 2014, Münter began racing in ARCA with Venturini Motorsports.

Her second race of 2014 was her first race at Talladega Superspeedway where she finished 14th in the No. 55 Blackfish (film) race car sponsored by activist and creator of The Simpsons TV show, Sam Simon.