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Erin Mary Crocker Evernham is one of the most decorated women in American open-wheel racing — a sprint-car pioneer who became the first female winner in World of Outlaws history and carried that momentum all the way to NASCAR.

EARLY YEARS

Born on March 23, 1981, in Wilbraham, Massachusetts, Erin Crocker was the youngest of five children in a family where racing was simply part of the furniture [1]. Her father, William, worked on cars and encouraged her older brothers to race quarter midgets, which meant that from an early age she was a regular presence at the track [1]. She wanted her place in it. As she later put it: “I grew up at the race track. I wanted my turn.” [2]

Her father arranged a test session at Thompson Speedway when she was six — he meant to engage the car’s governor but missed it [2]. She began competing in quarter-midget racing in 1988, at age seven, through clubs based in Thompson and Meriden, Connecticut [1] [3]. It did not take long to establish that she belonged there.

Crocker attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and graduated in 2003 with a degree in industrial and management engineering, a field she chose partly because of its connection to racing mechanics [1]. Getting there required some creative problem-solving. Sprint-car driver Mike Woodring offered her a seat in a second car if she could secure sponsorship; she sent approximately 100 proposals without a response. A professor suggested she approach RPI directly. The school agreed [2]. While at RPI, she balanced varsity lacrosse and coursework during the week and raced on weekends [1]. She credited RPI’s support as a major break in her career [1].

The sponsorship barriers were not the only friction. She described dealing with sexism as an ongoing part of pursuing racing at a higher level, and noted that people became less friendly once she started winning and had to be taken seriously [4]. She said she received support from established racers but heard dismissive comments from people she characterized as not really involved in the sport [4].

OTHER INTERESTS

Crocker played ice hockey with her two older brothers and has said she loved soccer, played lacrosse, and ski-raced [4] [5]. In high school, she explored programs that would let her ski full-time while taking classes at night, and selected colleges in part based on their ski teams [5]. She has said that her varied athletic interests made her a more well-rounded person and exposed her to different experiences [5]. She and Ray Evernham also volunteered for the Ronald McDonald House [5]. In 2011, she said she was working on television projects, though the nature of those projects was not specified [5].

EARLY SUCCESS

The quarter-midget years were not merely a starting point — they produced results. Crocker became a three-time Northeast Regional Quarter Midgets of America champion and earned the Female Driver of the Year title from 1993 to 1995 [1]. In 1998, she won a mini-sprint feature at Whipp City Speedway, becoming the track’s youngest winner [1].

Moving into sprint cars, she joined Woodring Racing in 2002 and made an immediate impression, winning five feature races and 12 heat events in a 360 winged sprint car [1]. The National Sprint Car Hall of Fame recognized her with its Outstanding Newcomer Award that same year [1].

In 2003, she became the first woman to qualify for the 410 winged sprint class at the Knoxville Nationals — the most prestigious dirt-track sprint car race in the country — and was named that event’s Rookie of the Year [1]. Then came 2004. In October of that year, Erin Crocker won a World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series feature at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, California, becoming the first woman in series history to win a feature [6]. The World of Outlaws itself later confirmed the milestone [6]. She also received the USAC Kara Hendrick Spirit Award in 2004 [1].

The transition to asphalt came in 2005, when she competed in the ARCA/RE MAX Series with Evernham Motorsports, recording two poles and five top-ten finishes in six starts, and won the Superspeedway Championship — another first for a woman in that series [1]. In 2007, she returned to ARCA and won the pole for the season-opening race at Daytona, finishing 20th in that event [3].

The 2006 season brought a full campaign in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with Evernham Motorsports, driving the No. 98 Dodge Ram. She finished 25th in the series standings [1]. The Henry Ford Museum described her as the first woman to run a complete Craftsman Truck Series season [1]. In 2008, she toured in support of the newly developed SpeedSTR class [1]. She returned to open-wheel racing in 2013, when Team WIX announced her for seven races in the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series in the No. 98 midget, with the first scheduled event at Bloomington, Indiana, on June 28 [7].

NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS

• 1993–1995: Three-time Northeast Regional Quarter Midgets of America champion; Female Driver of the Year [1].
• 1998: Youngest winner at Whipp City Speedway, mini-sprint feature [1].
• 2002: Five feature wins and 12 heat wins in 360 winged sprint car with Woodring Racing; National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Outstanding Newcomer Award [1].
• 2003: First woman to qualify for the 410 winged sprint class at the Knoxville Nationals; named Knoxville Nationals Rookie of the Year [1].
• 2004: First woman to win a World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series feature, at Thunderbowl Raceway, Tulare, California [6]; USAC Kara Hendrick Spirit Award [1].
• 2005: First woman to win the ARCA Superspeedway Championship; two poles and five top-ten finishes in six starts with Evernham Motorsports [1].
• 2006: First woman to complete a full NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season, driving the No. 98 Dodge Ram for Evernham Motorsports [1].
• 2007: Won the pole for the ARCA season-opening race at Daytona [3].

INSPIRATIONS

Crocker has cited Dale Earnhardt as an example of a successful driver who came to racing relatively later, and has said that starting young helps develop car control and an intuitive feel for communicating with the car [5]. She has spoken about noticing many girls competing at the quarter-midget level but far fewer as the ladder gets higher — and about not having known, as a girl, that opportunities to continue in racing even existed [5]. In 2011, she said she was glad to see more women pursuing the sport and praised the progress of Danica Patrick, Sarah Fisher, and Johanna Long [5].

REPUTATION

Crocker was featured in the 2006 Biography Channel series NASCAR: Driven to Win [1]. The Henry Ford Museum, which has documented her career extensively, frames her as an outlaw pioneer — a descriptor that fits: she got to the World of Outlaws when women simply did not win there, and then she did [1]. The series’ own records later confirmed the significance of her 2004 Thunderbowl victory, describing her as “the first female winner in series history” [6]. In 2003, with IRL ambitions clearly on her mind, she was direct about how she wanted to be understood: she said she wanted to be known as Erin Crocker, not as a replacement for Sarah Fisher — and that she wanted to race Fisher, not stand in for her [4].

References:

[1] The Henry Ford — Erin Crocker: Outlaw Pioneer
[2] Racing News — Erin Evernham Reminisces on Sprint Car and NASCAR Racing
[3] Women in Racing — Erin Crocker
[4] Autoweek — Making Good Grades: Female College Student Erin Crocker Aiming for Ride in IRL
[5] Skirts and Scuffs — In a Man’s World with Erin Crocker Evernham
[6] World of Outlaws — Checkered Past Stunners
[7] Speedway Media — Erin Crocker Back in Racing Saddle with Team WIX