Laura Hayes Racing: News

An Update From Laura

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:00:00 Eastern Standard Time

Hey everybody! Laura here. It's been quite some time since my website has been updated and I don't want you all to think I've fallen off the face of the earth, so I'll take a moment to quickly tell you what I have been up to and what my plans are for the 2010 race season.

Thank You, Joe And Sheryl

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 00:00:00 Eastern Daylight Time

Hey everyone, Laura here! I just wanted to take a moment and thank all of the people in Virginia who have made my transition and stay on the east coast one of the best experiences of my life. I especially want to thank two wonderful people, who have been so good to me. Joe and Sheryl Pelella, thank you for all that you have done.

As The 2009 Season Closes, New Opportunities Arise For 19 Year Old D4D Driver

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 00:00:00 Eastern Daylight Time

Laura Hayes has big dreams of racing in NASCAR's premier series, and after completing the 2009 racing season at South Boston Speedway last Saturday, she is that much closer to realizing her dreams. Hayes is a part of the Drive for Diversity lineup for the 2009 racing �

Drive For Diversity Initiative Adopts New Training Style

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:00:00 Eastern Daylight Time

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The evolution of the Drive for Diversity, NASCAR's leading on-track diversity initiative, will continue in 2010 as competitors relocate to Charlotte and enter "academy-style" development under a single team ownership structure.

Hayes On The Move: California Native Pursues Her Dream In Virginia

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 00:00:00 Eastern Daylight Time

Laura Hayes, 19, attended her first Drive for Diversity Testing & Evaluation Combine presented by Sunoco last October at South Boston (Va.) Speedway. Following the Combine, she had offers from three teams to drive a late model in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series. Two of those offers were from teams in her home state of California. The other was from Steve James Racing, located in Clarksville, Va., just 20 miles from the historic South Boston Speedway.

Hayes Continues To Improve At SoBo

Fri, 01 May 2009 00:00:00 Eastern Daylight Time

01 May 2009 Clarksville, Va Press Release While the 2009 season hasn't exactly started off the way Laura Hayes anticipated, she continues to learn and improve every race with her new team and new track.

Laura Hayes On The Morning Drive!

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 00:00:00 Eastern Daylight Time

Drive for Diversity's Laura Hayes will be on The Morning Drive with Mike Bagley and David Poole tomorrow morning at 8:30am ET. Laura will talk about her move from California to South Boston, Va. and her preparations for the 2009 season with James Racing and the Drive for Diversity program.

Promising Female Driver Takes Wheel

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 00:00:00 Eastern Daylight Time

There is something new this year at the James Racing shop in Clarksville. After years of winning track championships with a number of top drivers, Steve James will build cars for a promising young female driver.

Laura Hayes Announced In 2009 Drive For Diversity Line Up

Sat, 24 Jan 2009 00:00:00 Eastern Standard Time

24 January 2009 Wilton, Ca Press Release On January 22nd, at the NASCAR R&D Center in Concord, NC, during the annual Charlotte Media Tour, 18 year old Laura Hayes of Wilton, Ca, was announced as one of twelve drivers in the Drive for Diversity lineup for the 2009 season. Hayes will be driving for James Racing at South Boston Speedway in South Boston, Va. in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series.

Drive For Diversity 2009 Driver Lineup Announced

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 00:00:00 Eastern Standard Time

CONCORD, N.C. -- The Drive for Diversity initiative continues to move forward in 2009 with an expanded driver lineup and a new management group. Twelve drivers will participate in the sixth season of Drive for Diversity -- four in the Camping World Series and eight in the Whelen All-American Series. In addition, former Dale Earnhardt Inc. president Max Siegel and his new marketing and entertainment company, 909 Group, will take over day-to-day management of the initiative.

2008 Season Wraps Up

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 00:00:00 Eastern Standard Time

21 January 2009 Wilton, Ca Before the 2009 season begins for Laura Hayes, a quick recap of the 2008 season must be made. In October, Laura was invited to the 2008 Drive for Diversity Testing and Evaluation Combine presented by Sunoco. Twenty-five drivers from across the United States were chosen from hundreds of applicants to participate in the two day event held in South Boston, Va., all hoping to be a part of the 09 D4D driver line up. One day of the Combine consisted of media and sponsor relations activities and training. The other day took place at the famous South Boston Speedway, where drivers made laps in Camping World cars, while being mentored by a member of one of NASCARs most historic racing families, Wendell Scott, Jr. His support and feedback was absolutely invaluable to each of the drivers.

Laura Hayes Heads To NASCAR's Drive For Diversity Combine

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 00:00:00 Eastern Daylight Time

08 October 2008 Wilton, Ca On October 13th-14th, Laura Hayes will attend the 2008 Drive for Diversity Testing and Evaluation Combine presented by Sunoco at South Boston Speedway in South Boston, Va. Laura is one of 26 drivers selected from over 200 applicants to showcase their skills in the presence of NASCAR team owners, where only fourteen will earn rides in NASCAR's developmental series. The Drive for Diversity program is run by Access Marketing and Communications, who seek to develop minority and female drivers in NASCARs developmental Series, the Camping World series and the Whelen All-American Series.

Laura's Season Winds Down

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 00:00:00 Eastern Daylight Time

06 Septemeber 2008 Roseville Ca. For Laura Hayes, the end of the 2008 season at All American Speedway was a bit of a struggle. After a very successful and impressive middle part of her rookie season, the crew worked harder than they had all year in the three concluding shows, trying to find what was causing recurring performance problem with the car.

Knockin' On The Door Again!

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 00:00:00 Eastern Daylight Time

16 August 2008 Roseville Ca. With only 5 races remaining in the NASCAR Whelen All American Series at All American Speedway, Laura Hayes continues to search for the 2nd win of her rookie season in the late models. She came close again on Saturday night in a finish surprising to both Laura and her team.

Two Top 5's In Twin 50's

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 00:00:00 Eastern Daylight Time

09 August 2008 Roseville Ca. Laura Hayes added her 9th and 10th top five finishes to her 2008 record in an exciting and impressive manner. To start the day off, Laura qualified her #22 Peoplefinders.com Chevy in the 5th spot. When the invert was drawn, she would move her starting position to the outside of row one. Hayes ran 2nd for the first laps until she ran out of room in between the car to her inside and the wall on a lap 5 restart. From the contact, Laura got the worst part of it when she fell from 2nd to 9th in one turn. Keeping herself calm and composed, and with her dad encouraging her over the radio, Hayes was able to pilot her car back up through the field. Passing cars on the inside and outside, Laura was the one to watch in the first 50 lap race. When the checkered dropped, Hayes crossed the line in 3rd spot closing on the leaders, a great comeback!

Driver Laura Hayes Sets Her Sights On Sprint Cup

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 00:00:00 Eastern Daylight Time

In NHRA POWERade Drag Racing two weeks ago at Infineon Raceway, Ashley Force in Funny Car and Karen Stoffer in Pro Stock Motorcycle were the No. 1 qualifiers in their respective divisions. Top Fuel Dragster driver Hillary Will made it to the final elimination round against Tony Schumacher. There were a total of seven women competing in the top four divisions in NHRA. In the IndyCar Series, soon to make its stop at Infineon Aug. 22-24, there are three women competing. The only top professional series that does not have women competing is the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, but All American Speedway's Late Model driver Laura Hayes hopes to change that.

Hayes' Consistency Continues

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 00:00:00 Eastern Daylight Time

02 August 2008 Roseville, Ca. All American Speedway was back in action this weekend in Roseville Ca! With six races remaining, Laura Hayes finds herself just outside of the top 5 in the points chase, when only a handful of races ago, she was outside of the top 10. With consistent top 5 finishes, Hayes continues to improve in the standings.

Last Lap Luck Ends Very Impressive Run

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 00:00:00 Eastern Daylight Time

26 July 2008 Roseville, Ca. After a weekend off, the NASCAR All American Late Models returned to race #12 at All American Speedway for "Fan Appreciation Night." with a new left side body on her car, Laura was ready to get back behind the wheel!

Tough Night Ends With Another Top Five

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 00:00:00 Eastern Daylight Time

12 July 2008 Roseville, Ca. Laura Hayes and her team experienced one of their rougher weekends they have had this year. Coming off of last race's win, everyone was confident going into this weekend's Toyota TRD 100. During the week, track officials made the decision to divide the race into two separate 50 lap events, so double points could be awarded.

Laura Hayes And Crew Celebrate In The Winner's Circle!

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 00:00:00 Eastern Daylight Time

05 July 2008, Roseville Ca. After eight races at All American Speedway, running in the NASCAR Whelen Late Model series, Laura was able to get her first win on July 5th! In the two afternoon practice sessions consisting of a 20 car field, Hayes was 4th fast in both. Laura and her Peoplefinders.com Chevy were also 4th fastest in qualifying with at time of 13.915 seconds at 86.237mph. Once again, all three Golden State Racing cars were in the fast car trophy dash, with Hayes on pole, John Moore (#27) on the outside of her, and Kristin Bumbera (#00), starting 4th. Laura took the lead and walked away with the win! The car came in immediately and was very fast.

Knockin' On The Door, One Position To Go!

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 00:00:00 Eastern Daylight Time

28 June 2008, Roseville, Ca. Laura Hayes returned to All American Speedway to continue with the exciting summer schedule. After an impressive 4th place finish last weekend at the AT&T "Rumblin' at Roseville 150" Hayes was ready to return to best her finish in her Peoplefinders.com/ K&N Air Filters Chevrolet late model.

Two Strong Runs In Twin 75's

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 00:00:00 Eastern Daylight Time

21 June 2008, Roseville, Ca. The June 21st race at All American Speedway was a special points race. The AT&T "Rumblin' at Roseville 150" was a divided into two 75 lap segments, with accumulated points deciding the winner. $4000 was the winner's prize.

Strong Run Ending In A DNF

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 00:00:00 Eastern Daylight Time

14 June 2008, Roseville, Ca. Laura Hayes returned to All American Speedway for her 7th race of the season in her Peoplefinders.com Chevrolet on June 14th.

Laura Scores Another Strong Top 10

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 00:00:00 Eastern Daylight Time

07 June 2008, Roseville, Ca. Laura Hayes had yet another strong finish in her Peoplefinders.com Chevrolet late model on the weekend on June 7th.

First Podium Finish For Hayes

Sat, 24 May 2008 00:00:00 Eastern Daylight Time

24 May 2008 Roseville, Ca. Laura Hayes and her team were happy to be back this weekend after being forced to miss the May 17th race due to circumstances beyond their control. Laura was definitely itching to get back behind the wheel after a couple of weeks of not racing. Once again, the car was running well and the #22 Peoplefinders.com/GoneRacin.com Chevrolet was in the top five in practice. With All American Speedway's tire rule, teams are only allowed two new tires per race and because Hayes missed the previous race she was behind a set of tires compared to everyone else, being forced to race with an old set of tires. Throughout the day, the sky was overcast and there was a slight chance of rain. Before qualifying, it began to sprinkle and the track came to be a little slick. But old tires and a little rain didn't slow Laura down when she grasped her first fast time of the season! With a time of 13.80 against a second fast a 13.86, Laura was pumped and ready for the 50 lap main event.