Patty Moise

For Patty Moise, racing is a way of life. Born in this North Florida city to a racing family, Moise's childhood had always involved racing. Her father was a road racer so she has had racing in her blood since birth.

She was never interested to become involved in the sport however, until she got her driver's license at the age of 16. From then on she started racing road courses with the former IMSA Series.

In 1986, Moise ran her first NASCAR Busch Series race, where she became the first woman to lead a NBS event. It was a major starting point that began Moise's NASCAR career.

She has been involved in numerous races since then and has set many racing records, some of which include the first woman to win a NASCAR Busch Grand National qualifying race and best NASCAR Busch Series finish for a woman.

So with all these accomplishments, you might wonder how Moise feels about being a woman driver?

"Well, I never really looked at it from that point of view since I always see myself as a race car driver, not as a woman driving a car," she said. "This series is so highly competitive that my concerns are more about how my car is working as opposed to if I am the only woman competing."

In 1990, Moise married fellow NASCAR Busch Series driver Elton Sawyer. They met at an auto show and have been together ever since. Their time together was especially intense when they both raced in the Busch Series.

"I think it's great for us to be able to work together," Moise said. "It allows us to spend time with each other, share information and support one another. As for racing on the track with Elton, this sport takes such a high level of concentration that you really don't have time to think of other drivers, including my husband. But deep down inside I can tell you that passing Elton for a win would make for some interesting conversation during the ride home from the race."

Moise, who has mostly switched her love of horsepower to the four-legged variety of late, last raced in the Busch Series in 1998, when she made 19 starts in a Ford Taurus owned by NASCAR Winston Cup driver Michael Waltrip and his wife, Buffy.