{"id":48506,"date":"2024-08-22T17:06:08","date_gmt":"2024-08-22T21:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dirtcar.com\/?p=48506"},"modified":"2024-08-23T09:47:06","modified_gmt":"2024-08-23T13:47:06","slug":"jessica-power-building-recognition-modified-career-with-super-dirt-week-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dirtcar.com\/dirtcar-ne\/jessica-power-building-recognition-modified-career-with-super-dirt-week-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Jessica Power Building Recognition, Modified Career With Super DIRT Week Success"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Joe Grabianowski<\/em><\/p>\n Some of the most historic moments in motorsports the last couple years have belonged to women; from Jade Avedisian winning the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota championship to four women finishing in the top 10 in an ARCA race this month. Kingston, ON\u2019s Jessica Power will try to add her name to that list during Super DIRT Week 52 in October.<\/p>\n Looking to make her 11th start in the Northeast\u2019s biggest dirt track event \u2013 currently tied for second most starts there \u2013 Power is again entered to compete in the DIRTcar Sportsman Chevrolet Performance 75<\/em> at Oswego Speedway.<\/p>\n She\u2019s been on a trajectory of career-best Super DIRT Week finishes the last two years, finishing eighth in 2022 and fifth last year. And along with outracing her competition, she\u2019s also starting to outrace outdated views from early on in her career.<\/p>\n \u201cSome nights are easier than others,\u201d Power said. \u201cEven after all this time, there are still nights that you can tell people are not happy about getting beat by a girl. But for the most part, I\u2019ve earned the respect. When I first started, they tried to push me around and it wasn\u2019t really cool that a girl was driving against them. I\u2019ve proven that I work on [the cars] just as much. I work just as hard as everyone else, and when I put the helmet on, everyone is the same. It doesn\u2019t matter to me, and I don\u2019t think it matters to them anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n For Power, it\u2019s all about presence. The more women we have racing, the more girls will be inspired to follow.<\/p>\n \u201cMy family wasn\u2019t involved in racing at all, so I didn\u2019t watch when I was really young,\u201d Power said. \u201cBut when we first started racing our four-cylinder car I remember seeing Jessica Zemken [Friesen] in a Sportsman at the time at Brockville. We are the same age, but I thought it was really cool that she could race a Modified and be competitive.\u201d<\/p>\n On Aug. 15, 2024, headlines across the nation called out Venturini Motorsports and its four women who raced at the Springfield Mile dirt track in ARCA competition to great success.<\/p>\n \u201cFour women finishing in the top 10 in an ARCA race? We need more of that blazing the trail for young girls in the sport and any other sport that is traditionally male dominated,\u201d Power said. \u201cWe can be just as competitive. I want all young girls to know that whether it is hockey or racing or any other sports, that includes work too, never let anyone hold you back.\u201d<\/p>\n Power excels on long tracks like the 5\/8-mile Oswego Speedway, but competition is at its highest at Oswego. More than 100 of the best Sportsman drivers from the United States and Canada venture to the iconic track for the Chevrolet Performance 75 <\/em>\u2013 now on Saturday, Oct. 12, paying $5,000 to win\/$500 to start.<\/p>\n It’s a high-pressure situation for all with only 36 starting spots available in Saturday\u2019s finale, but for Power \u2013 whose day job is being an associate director of business systems and analytics \u2013\u00a0it\u2019s no sweat.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you are out on the track it\u2019s a pretty high-pressure situation with 100 cars there,\u201d Power said. \u201cYou want to qualify and do well. When I am out there, I just try to stay calm and hit my marks.\u201d<\/p>\n