Grace Hackenberg

Grace Hackenberg is a mechanical engineer and motorsports professional who founded Smith College’s first racing team, built a race car from scratch on an $1,800 budget, and currently works as a damper engineer and tire changer at Arrow McLaren SP in IndyCar.

EARLY YEARS

Grace Hackenberg grew up in Gainesville, Florida, where cars weren’t just a hobby—they were the family language. Her grandfather, a NASA engineer, kept a garage full of vintage cars that needed constant attention, and she was there for all of it, hands greasy, absorbing everything. While other kids were reading chapter books, she was flipping through Grassroots Motorsports magazine, already dreaming in horsepower and lap times.

The local racetrack became her second home, though she noticed early on that she was almost always one of the only women there. People looked at her and assumed she was someone’s girlfriend or daughter, not someone who understood what was happening under the hood. It was annoying, sure, but it also lit a fire. She wasn’t going to let anyone’s assumptions dictate what she could do.

When it came time for college, Hackenberg chose Smith College specifically for its Picker Engineering Program, which allowed her to tailor her mechanical engineering coursework directly toward motorsports. Most engineering students graduate with theoretical knowledge and some lab work. Hackenberg had other plans—she wanted to build an actual race car before she got her diploma.

OTHER INTERESTS

Beyond racing, Hackenberg’s interests have always circled back to making things work. She taught herself race car fabrication—roll cages, spoilers, the whole deal—by watching DIY videos on YouTube. No fancy training, no professional shop, just her, the internet, and a lot of trial and error. It’s the kind of resourcefulness that defines her approach to just about everything: if you don’t know how to do something, figure it out.

EARLY SUCCESS

Hackenberg’s racing career officially kicked off in 2012, but things really got interesting during her time at Smith. In her first year, she attended a summer class at Portland International Raceway in Oregon, where she got professional instruction and actual track time. It was a revelation—being behind the wheel, feeling the car respond, understanding in real time what all those hours in her grandfather’s garage had been preparing her for.

But the defining moment of her college career came when she founded Smith’s first racing team. The goal was ambitious: compete in the Grassroots Motorsports $2017 Challenge, a competition that requires teams to build and race a car on a strict budget of—you guessed it—$2,017. Hackenberg and her team raised $1,800, found a scrapped 1999 Mazda Miata, and got to work. They had no lift, no proper automotive tools, and were competing against colleges with full automotive programs and actual shops. None of that mattered.

They built the car anyway. Engine work, a steel tube roll cage, a spoiler—all fabricated and installed by students who were learning as they went. In October 2017, they shipped the car down to a track in Gainesville, Florida—Hackenberg’s hometown—and competed against the clock on a dragstrip and autocross course. A teammate later praised Hackenberg’s welding and fine-tuning skills, the kind of abilities you don’t get from a textbook.[3]

The achievement caught the attention of the Wall Street Journal, which profiled the team, and cemented Hackenberg’s reputation as someone who didn’t just talk about racing—she made it happen.[1] After graduating in 2018, she dove into Spec Miata racing and continued competing while building her professional career.

Her internship at Donovan Motorcar Service, working under Brian Donovan, turned into a full-time position after graduation. Donovan saw something in her immediately: “Right from the beginning, you could see the drive, the willingness to want to get into this field and work. For Grace, this was not just going to be a job but something that was really a passion for her.”[4] She worked on Jaguar engines and vintage European cars, sharpening her technical skills in a professional environment.

Eventually, Hackenberg moved into higher levels of racing. She worked with Ivey Racing Engines in Portland, Oregon, and made a strong impression with Cindi Lux’s SCCA Pro Racing Trans Am team. By 2021, she had landed a role as an engineer with Lux Performance and achieved what she called her greatest accomplishment: going over the wall for the first time as an outside rear tire changer during the 2021 Mid-Ohio IndyCar race.[2]

NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS

• 2017: Founded Smith College’s first racing team and competed in the Grassroots Motorsports $2017 Challenge on an $1,800 budget, building a 1999 Mazda Miata from scratch.[1][3]
• 2018: Graduated from Smith College with a degree in mechanical engineering, tailored to motorsports.[1]
• 2021: Went over the wall as an outside rear tire changer at the Mid-Ohio IndyCar race.[2]
• Current: Serves as damper engineer and tire changer at Arrow McLaren SP.[2]

INSPIRATIONS

Hackenberg’s grandfather, the NASA engineer who let her tinker with vintage cars, laid the foundation. But her idol is Lyn St. James, the trailblazing IndyCar driver who became a mentor after they met through RPM Foundation programs. “Through RPM programs, I met a lot of people in the industry, including my idol, Lyn St. James,” Hackenberg said. “She’s become a mentor and has given me a lot of career and life advice.”[1]

Sue Froehlich, her engineering advisor at Smith, also played a crucial role in helping her shape her education around her racing ambitions. The combination of family encouragement, academic support, and industry mentorship gave Hackenberg the network and confidence to carve out her own path in a male-dominated field.

REPUTATION

In an industry where women are still the exception, Hackenberg has built a reputation for being scrappy, skilled, and deeply committed. Her peers and mentors consistently note her work ethic and passion. Brian Donovan’s assessment captures it perfectly: she’s not in this for a paycheck—this is what she lives for.[4]

Her story resonates because it’s not about privilege or lucky breaks. She built a race car without a lift. She taught herself fabrication on YouTube. She walked into tracks where people assumed she was lost and proved them wrong, not with attitude, but with competence. “People would mistake me for someone’s wife or child, not an engineer,” she said, reflecting on those early experiences.[3]

The racing community has embraced her. “Racing is just such an awesome community,” she noted, and her journey from college student to professional engineer and tire changer proves it.[3] She’s not trying to be a spokesperson for women in motorsports; she’s just doing the work, and in doing so, she’s become one anyway.

FUTURE GOALS/PLANS

Hackenberg has her sights set high. She’s expressed aspirations to work in IndyCar—a goal she’s already making progress toward with her role at Arrow McLaren SP. Her broader ambition is clear: “to be an exceptional engineer and to spend my life making the sport faster and safer.”[3]

Early in her career, she dreamed of working as a mechanic in NASCAR or Formula 1, and while her path has taken her into IndyCar engineering, the underlying drive remains the same. As she told aspiring racers, “Discipline, work ethic, and passion are the most important attributes race teams are looking for in young people, your skill set and experience will come with time.”[2] It’s advice she’s clearly taken to heart, and it’s gotten her exactly where she wants to be—behind the scenes, in the thick of it, making fast cars faster.

References:

Gracie Hackenberg: Driver, race-car fabricator, and Smith College student
ENGINEERING & MECHANICS Profile
Build and Compete: Gracie Hackenberg ’18 Leads a Smith Race Car Team
Engineering and education: The Gracie Project
Badass Women Of Automotive: Gracie Hackenberg
Trans Am News
Smith College Alumnae News