Reader's Digest: Leilani Munter One of "10 Reasons to Love Our Country"
July 14, 2009
Leilani Munter
Race Car Driver Conservationist
Reader's Digest has featured Indycar driver and conservationist Leilani Munter as one of the "10 Reasons to Love Our Country".
Here's what they said:
"Life is short. Race hard. Live green." Leilani Münter's motto sets her apart from the race-car pack, as does her champion status and distinction as one of her sport's few women. "You can care about the earth and love fast cars too," she says.
Münter, 33, who's both a stock-car and open-wheel driver, has made it her mission to "green" big-time auto racing—which, at 100 million strong, may have the most enthusiastic fan base on the planet. Her goals: renewable biofuels and recycled tires for the cars and recycling programs at the tracks. For doubters, she has a message: "Never underestimate a vegetarian hippie chick with a race car."
Not at 200 mph, certainly.
Münter raced horses as a kid in Minnesota. "I've gone from one horsepower to 800," she jokes. She studied biology at the University of California, San Diego, where after class she'd drift down to an old stock-car track and a friendly team owner who encouraged her to drive.
She began her racing career in 2001 and has racked up 28 top-ten finishes.
Before every contest, she buys an acre of rain forest ($100 from the World Land Trust) to compensate for the 22 gallons of fuel she uses per race. She has also climbed a 252-foot windmill in Abilene, Texas, to push for alternative energies and spoken to the Cleantech conference in Washington, D.C.
If she wins her points on biofuels and recycling, she says, she'll pursue another dream: to speed around the track in an electric car, currently not allowed.
Crazy? "The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world," she says, "are the ones who end up doing it."
Munter, who has seen tremendous success in a male-dominated sport, is available to speak about courage, motivation, dedication, diversity, integrity and perseverance. For information on how to bring her to your next event, visit www.premierespeakers.com/leilani_munter.