CAUTION >> SNOW AHEAD!

Melanie Snow, part of the winning GT3 entry at the first American Le Mans Series at Sebring in 1999, has made her return to the Series in the new ALMS Challenge class. Teaming with her husband, Martin Snow in Snow Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup entry, the team boasts the only husband-wife due to win a Series race. Melanie is enjoying a phenomenal season and has four wins out of five ALMS starts.

Her winning streak continued as Melanie claimed Pole Position heading into the 11^th and 12^th round of  IMSA Patron GT3 Challenge by Yokohama at Road Atlanta on Thursday, September 24^th . Melanie is the Gold Cup Leader during the 12^th running of the Petit Le Mans.

Torrential rainfall beset Atlanta earlier in the week, shutting down interstates, schools, and businesses. The weather forecast looked grim for Road Atlanta as the weather front remained stationary for days; there were concerns that they would not be able to overcome Georgia’s notorious red-clay mud to host a safe event. But luckily, the skies cleared and Road Atlanta’s team worked diligently to somehow pull off a miracle. The 12^th running of the Petit Le Mans and all the festivities that surround it were underway … and the ladies and gentleman competing were able to start their engines.

Melanie Snow’s beaming face said it all, as she shared her story with Track Chic just minutes after her successful qualifying run.

Getting here in all the rain must have been a challenge. How did you find the track this morning, something obviously clicked considering your successful qualifying!

Something definitely clicked, we did very well.
We came in on Monday night. We waited out the huge storm over Georgia by stopping in Arkansas. I was nervous about possibly missing qualifying but we didn’t want to take a chance with the bad weather. We actually did arrive in time for practice, and that always gives you a little more confidence.

What condition was the track in?

I was extremely worried. I kept telling my husband, “don’t drop a wheel anywhere, or we’ll go flying it’s so wet.” But Tuesday morning, we were the second people out, and you could see that the track was black from being wet, but there was a chill in the air. The condition of the air made for good grip and good horsepower; it was surprisingly good. As the day went on, the track dried out, so we are keeping our fingers crossed that these conditions last.

Tell me a little about your qualifying run, you must be excited to hold the Pole Position!

The car is running extremely well. We are running new Penske shocks, so we are doing a little testing and adjusting, but the car is set up extremely well.

I met with Patrick Long last night and he helped me review the track and gave me some advice and pointers regarding a few of the turns. So I went over his advice in my head repeatedly, and tried to do everything he told me I needed to win, and it worked great. The car felt great, I felt great. I ran a terrific four laps, and then saved the tires. Then the nervous part was waiting just hoping that no one would beat my time.

Tell me a little about the new, environmentally-friendly Yokohama ADVAN ENV-R1 orange oil –infused tires on the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Cars

The tires are very good, they are holding up very well. If you find you are pushing too hard and overcook the tires, then I’ve learned to back off a couple turns to give them time to cool down. They are very responsive.

And it’s satisfying to help reduce our carbon footprint. The tire’s new technology is eco-friendly and mixes natural rubber with orange oil to form a new compound called “Super Nano-Power Rubber”. It helps the environment because they reduce petroleum and increase recyclability while maintaining high performance. It’s good to be part of Yokohama’s testing process and be environmentally responsible at the same time.

How did you first get started in racing?

I got started in 1984 with my Grandpa; he was a POC Club Racer. My father died when I was young so my Grandpa was my father figure and I did everything with him. When I was 18 or 19 he took me out to the track and we ran time trials. Then they started wheel to wheel racing with club racing and that was exciting. Grandpa and I shared a car. His car had broken at the track once and my husband, Martin, was there and he had some equipment. My Grandpa asked him for help and Martin jumped right on it. We started talking; next thing you know, one year later we were married! It was perfect.

We have four kids now and they are into racing also. The youngest is four years old and she is learning to drive the go-kart by chasing us around the paddock area and the parking lot. She doesn’t compete yet but she really wants to. She keeps asking, “Am I old enough now, I had my birthday, am I old enough now?” The other three children do race; their ages are 13, 11 and 8.

In fact, our two boys are racing this weekend, unfortunately we are missing it. I get a little nervous when we aren’t there but my husband has some people helping out and they are very diligent.

We are giving the children the opportunity to race if they want, but we don’t want to push them in any way. The opportunity is there if they want it, but they need to learn what works best for them.

How in the world do you do it, manage four children and a successful racing career?

It’s busy! Adding the ALMS Challenge Series along with the IMSA Challenge Series definitely keeps life a little hectic! But we have good help at home. We keep telling our children that it’s too much, and maybe we should quit; but our children always tell us that they like what we are doing and what us to continue.

We enjoy racing as a family. When we aren’t at the track we sit down as a family and watch the race together on TV. They are so excited and point us out whenever they see us on TV. So they enjoy it and we enjoy it. We just try to be certain that when we are at home together we give them quality time.

You must be the coolest parent at the PTA!

For sure! We are always asked to speak at school. We usually take the go-karts down and all our gear, including the HANS device, etc. We talk a lot about the safety issues and try to teach them the science of racing. The kids love it; we are there often, believe me!

You are “Superwoman”, balancing the enormous responsibilities of motherhood with the demands of a competitive race car driver!

It is hard sometimes because you have to double duty. But I am very detailed, and the week before I leave I make very detailed lists: soccer practice at this time, round up so–and-so across town at another time, etc. With four kids, no two schedules are the same.

My mom lives a few houses down and she helps a lot. The lists are critical; and everything usually stays under control.

You have a challenging afternoon ahead of you. Will you make any changes to your car set-up this afternoon?

No, the car was extremely hooked up. The only changes we might make will be to the tire pressure if the temperature of the air changes much. The shocks are great, the car is really great. Mentally, I just have to stay focused and do what I did this morning out there again this afternoon.

This has been a phenomenal year for you. In the ALMS Series you have four wins out of five starts. That’s pretty impressive! So when you aren’t racing, and you aren’t taking care of four children, what does Melanie Snow do to relax?

Photography is my hobby, I love it. There are tons of pictures of the kids around the house. I have a little studio in the house where I can go and get creative. I haven’t had much time lately, though. My camera is collecting dust right now!

I started photography of motorsports when I was pregnant and couldn’t race. So I would go to the track with Martin and photograph the event. But my interest grew beyond the track. My husband is Canadian and we have a cabin in Canada where we enjoy escaping from time to time. It’s abundant with wildlife, particularly bears. So I’ll say “I’m going bear hunting”, but it doesn’t mean I am killing them – I am just going to take beautiful pictures that I can keep on the walls and everyone can enjoy while the bears still enjoy their environment. I love escaping there to the peace and quiet, no loud race cars!

I also enjoy running and I am training for another marathon that we will do in Vegas in December. I enjoy it. It keeps me busy and it also keeps me in shape for racing.

How are you preparing for this afternoon’s run?

This afternoon, I’ll probably take a nap! I’m trying to overcome a cold.
About an hour before the race is when the butterflies start. I’ll go over the track in my head and try to learn from this morning’s run.

Do you have any good luck rituals?

It’s kind of funny – a person I know is a big fitness guru. I don’t drink soda, I just never did as a kid, and it’s just the way I was raised. So, in my cooler you will typically find water or Gatorade. My friend advised me to drink an energy drink before qualifying for a little extra “oomph”.

I started doing that a few years back. A friend of mine owns Playboy Energy drink, so they started giving me those to try. It’s now my new ritual before every race. It gives me a half hour surge of stamina and keeps me focused with no crash afterward. It’s sort of a silly thing, and probably more mental than physical actually, but for me it seems to work so I’m sticking with it!

 What should we look for from Melanie Snow in the future?

We are looking at that now. We have had great success this year and want to continue the momentum!
We are hoping to have M+M co-racing ALMS Challenge next year, and maybe the Patron Challenge, but we aren’t committed yet.

This is a perfect fit for me. I love racing, but all my life all I wanted was to get married and be a mom – so racing is a bonus!

It’s a special time to share with family. My grandpa is enjoying our success. He is in his 80’s now, but he still comes to the track sometimes when to support us. So, racing is very special for all of us – it’s who we are as a family.

We have a great team. My husband works on the cars quite a lot. We compete in different classes but out cars are very similar, so we go over data together and compare where I may be faster here or he may be faster there. It helps us to identify what we can do, and where, to get the fastest lap time possible.

It’s working well! This has been an amazing year for us. We really don’t have time to take a breath and suck it all in because we are constantly preparing for the next race.

We are enjoying the success while we can and are hoping it lasts throughout the year. We have a few more races left and want to do the best we can until then and start next year out on a good note.

 

Season Finale - Monterey, CA October, 10, 2009 MELANIE SNOW wins 2009 CHAMPION IMSA Patron Challenge Gold Cup Class 2009 CHAMPION ALMS Challenge Class 2009 ALMS ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

Follow Melanie's Racing Career: 
www.melaniesnowracing.com
www.americanlemans.com

Awards image courtesy of American Le Mans Series.