Kelly Conroy

Kelly Conroy is a rally racer, author, and mother of two who discovered motorsports as an antidote to exhaustion and found herself rewriting the script on what fun looks like for moms.

EARLY YEARS

Before rally cars and dirt tracks, Conroy’s life centered around motherhood and the daily grind of raising two kids. Like so many women, she found herself exhausted, worn down by the relentless demands of parenting, and searching for something that felt like hers. She wasn’t a car person growing up—there’s no childhood story of wrenching in the garage or dreaming about racetracks. Her introduction to motorsports came later, and when it did, it arrived like a bolt of lightning.

OTHER INTERESTS

Beyond the driver’s seat, Conroy is also an author and founder of Carrara Media, a publishing venture that reflects her love of storytelling and her belief in the power of sharing unconventional journeys. Her book, Your Mom Races Rally: Motherhood, Motorsports and the Revolution of Fun, chronicles her leap into racing and challenges the notion that mothers must sacrifice their own joy to be good parents. She’s also been involved in endurance athletics—in December 2022, she and Tom Cullum completed a self-supported FKT (Fastest Known Time) attempt on the Grampians Peaks Trail in Victoria, Australia, proving she’s no stranger to pushing physical and mental limits.[1][2]

EARLY SUCCESS

Kelly Conroy’s racing career began with a single decision: she signed up for a rally school at DirtFish, the renowned rally driving academy in Washington State. She walked in as an exhausted mom. She walked out as a driver. That experience ignited something fierce. Within a short time, she had purchased a 1985 BMW 325e—an E30, compact, easy to work on, and affordable in the aftermarket world—and set about learning to build and prep it herself.[3] The BMW E30 became her weapon of choice, a car that matched her scrappy, hands-on approach to the sport. Conroy didn’t just want to drive; she wanted to understand every bolt, every system, every decision that went into making the car competitive.

Her first competition came at the Northwest Rally Association’s inaugural Women’s Rallycross event, where she showed up at tech inspection in her E30, ready to prove she belonged. Over the next two years, she dove deeper into the sport, getting faster with each session, learning the art of car control on gravel and dirt, and carving out a space for herself in a discipline that doesn’t exactly roll out the welcome mat for newcomers—especially not moms in their middle years.[4]

NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS

• 2022: Completed self-supported FKT attempt on Grampians Peaks Trail (Victoria, Australia) with Tom Cullum.[1]
• 2023: Competed in first rally race, improving lap times with each session.[5]
• 2024: Participated in Northwest Rally Association’s first-ever Women’s Rallycross event in her 1985 BMW 325e.[3]
• 2024: Published Your Mom Races Rally: Motherhood, Motorsports and the Revolution of Fun, a book chronicling her journey into racing.[6]

INSPIRATIONS

Conroy’s inspiration isn’t a famous driver or a childhood hero—it’s the simple, radical idea that mothers deserve to have fun. She was driven by the realization that society’s expectations for moms often strip away personal joy, adventure, and risk-taking. Rally racing became her answer to that pressure. By choosing something as wild and demanding as motorsports, she’s challenging the narrative that motherhood means putting yourself last. Her journey has resonated with other women who see in her story permission to chase their own unconventional dreams.

REPUTATION

Kelly Conroy races under the Instagram handle @yourmomracesrally, a cheeky nod to the stereotype-busting nature of her story. She’s become a voice in the motorsports community not just for her driving, but for her willingness to be honest about the messy, hard, exhilarating process of learning to race as an adult woman with kids at home. Her work has been featured in Road & Track, Pretty Girl Motorsports, and the Race Day newsletter, where she’s described as a friend of the community and an example of someone living out the aftermarket dream.[4][5][7] She’s not just racing—she’s building a movement around the idea that fun isn’t frivolous, especially for mothers. Her book and media presence have made her a relatable, down-to-earth figure in a sport that can feel intimidating and exclusive.

FUTURE GOALS/PLANS

Conroy continues to race and develop her skills in rally and rallycross, with plans to compete in additional events throughout 2025 and beyond. Her focus remains on improving her driving, deepening her mechanical knowledge, and continuing to share her story through writing and media. She’s building Carrara Media as a platform for other unconventional stories, proving that her ambitions extend beyond the track. For Kelly, the goal isn’t just to win—it’s to keep showing up, keep learning, and keep redefining what a racing mom can be.

REFERENCES

[1] Kelly Conroy, Tom Cullum – Grampians Peaks Trail FKT
[2] Car Books and eBooks – Carrara Media
[3] This Rally-Driving Mom Is Finding New Purpose Through Racing – Road & Track
[4] Under the Car Lift Media – Pretty Girl Motorsports
[5] Who’s Really Winning in the Aftermarket? – Race Day
[6] Your Mom Races Rally: Motherhood, Motorsports and the Revolution of Fun – Barnes & Noble
[7] Press – Carrara Media