“‘Do you have a typo? On your roster? Should this say Gino?’”

“‘No, no, it’s Gina.’”

“‘A woman?’” They questioned.

“‘Yes.’”

“‘She cannot work in our pits,’” said Formula One in 1991, and again in 1992.

Unknown to many students at Apex, Track and Field and Cross Country Coach, Mrs. Pennisi, worked as a race official for the International Motorsports Association. It was an exhilarating job that included duties like technically inspecting cars, first response, computer engineering tasks, checking legalities, and running safety measures. All assignments were predominantly in the pit lane. Her interview was abound with countless memories from her experiences in the 80’s and 90’s era of racing, yet there was no doubt a grim trend lay behind each story; Racing is a severely male-dominated sport.

“[Women] make phenomenal drivers, but for some reason they just feel that women don’t have the killer edge that men do,” Coach Pennisi stated.

Pennisi recalled the first time she was the lead for NASCAR, and her team had asked her to deliver a message to Bob Wollek, a French driver competing in the International Racing of Champions (IROC) at the time. When she tried to get into the garages, they held her back despite Pennisi providing the full credentials needed to enter. They spoke through a radio explaining that there was a “girl” outside the doors, and a few minutes later they let her inside.

“As I’m walking through the garages… the stares. It got really quiet, and I heard somebody go, ‘We’re all doomed.’ I then got down to see Bob, and he was like, ‘Gina! How are you?’ and I said, ‘I need to deliver a message and get out of here.’ […] They made me feel so uncomfortable. Then I found out later… it was a taboo thing… that it was bad luck if a woman was in the garage.”

With full EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) status, a competition license, and experience in Daytona, NASCAR, and more, there was no denying that she was qualified. “I don’t think I ever doubted myself because I knew what my capabilities were, but there were times it just got so frustrating to deal with people testing you or treating you in such a way just because you were a woman.”

“Patty Moise is probably the best example of discriminatory practices,” she said. Pennisi went on to explain how Moise held more than half of the records on Nascar tracks, yet she wasn’t even allowed to paddock in the garages where the teams camped. They had to set up out on the grass in the field. “They were never given the same knots that some of the men got. Michele Mouton was one of the greatest European drivers, but Formula One would not give her a seat.” It was a battle of the sexes, yet the women were rarely allowed to grasp a chance to enter the fight. 

“I sometimes questioned if I really needed this kind of grief. But every time I kept coming back saying, you’re doing what you like. You love this.” Despite all of the negativity in the field, Pennisi still adored her job. She spent lots of time surrounded by people with a dangerous, yet pure passion. “I actually have a burn mark on one of my old fire suits from when a car whooshed by with a side turbo that just kinda hit right,” she chuckled. The memories are bittersweet to her. “You develop a thick skin,” she said. “You just have to.” 

When asked what her message would be to the females who wanted to work in motorsports, she gave a tremendously insightful statement.

“Do it. Find your path. Make sure you know where you want to be. You have to have a direction. If you don’t, you will get distracted and get lost in the system. Make sure you know how to get there, because people will try to derail you. It still happens today.”