BY SARAH DOSE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Not all sports are separated by gender, and that's fine with drag racer Laurie Cannister.
Cannister, who is competing this weekend in a Federal Mogul Drag Racing Series event at Edgewater Sports Park in Cleves, helps make up the five percent of female drag racers in the country.
But she doesn't mind being among the minority. Especially when she wins.
"Any time you have a bunch of hot rod cars and guys in the same area, there's going to be some testosterone thrown around," she said.
This weekend's event is the fourth of six races in the North Central Division. More than 400 drivers in eight categories -- Federal-Mogul Dragster, Federal-Mogul Funny Car, Competition, Super Stock, Stock, Super Comp, Super Gas and Super Street -- will compete for cash and contingency awards of $145,105.
Cannister, who competes in the Super Comp category, spent Friday and Saturday fine-tuning her car in the time trials for today's final elimination competitions.
Cannister started racing four years ago in the Street Legal Class with her 1983 Cutlass -- after doing some engine work. She said her husband, Dale, was partly responsible for her racing. He had been racing ATV's and was ready to give it up.
But neither Cannister was ready to quit racing entirely, so Laurie Cannister started racing cars. First it was the Cutlass, now it's her Super Comp dragster that does the quarter mile in about 7.8 seconds.
Last year, her first year at the Super Comp level, she won four times and finished second in the Super Pro class at one competition. But this season hasn't been going as well. She said her car has had a carburetor problem and the furthest she has gotten all season is to the third rounds at two national events.
"You start losing confidence in yourself and in your car," she said. "If I do well at this race, that could get me back on track." What started out as a hobby has turned into a business.
"Because of the sponsorship, it's a business," Dale Cannister said of their relationship with Aquafresh. "But there's only a handful of people in the country who can make a living off it (in the Super Comp class.)"
Perhaps someday the Cannisters will be able to live off the money they make on the racing circuit, but until then they'll be content listening to the rumble of suped-up engines. And Laurie Cannister must deal with being in the minority.
"It's OK," she said. "We haven't met any idiots out there or people who are hard to get along with. But I think some guys think they can let up on me because I'm a girl."
