Davis scholarship winner heads to NASCAR college

When Kenna Primm left for college this year, living in a co-ed dorm like her friends at other university campuses was not an option. First, dorms don't exist at her school and second, only 3 percent of the student body is female.

Primm is a 22-year-old from small-town Arkansas attending the NASCAR Technical Institute in Mooresville, N.C., just down the road from dozens of race shops housing some of the sports most successful teams.

Kenna Primm

The Technical Institute is a predominately male school as is the sport of NASCAR; but today women like Primm are blazing unique career paths into the sport whether it's armed with an engineering degree, opportunities through diversity programs, or simple networking amongst industry players.

The percentage of females working in the industry has increased during the last several years from females driving in the developmental ranks and track executives to team owners and crew members.

Primm's opportunity to join the sport has come by way of a scholarship, as the first recipient of the University Technical Institute Foundation's Brienne Davis Memorial Scholarship.

Brienne Davis was a Technical Institute graduate and Sprint Cup official who died last year in a car accident coming home from a race. The $10,000 scholarship will fund a third of Primm's technical education. If not for the money, her family would not be able to afford to send her to the school, which has a high job placement rate within the NASCAR industry.

With an internship at Daytona International Speedway also on her resume, Primm plans to combine both her business and marketing degree from the University of Arkansas and her soon-to-be technician degree to pursue a career in or outside the NASCAR garage.

"You can't run a car without a good sponsorship and you can't run a car without an even better engine package, so I'm trying to learn both of those valuable aspects of the sport," Primm said. "I have big goals and I'm determined to make them happen."

Initially, Primm would like to follow Davis' lead and become a NASCAR official, then work toward other long-term goals such as becoming one of the few female team owners.

Brienne Davis

"I want to be doing something every weekend," she said. "I would love to be able to go to all 36 race weekends getting sponsorship and also be able to tell the teams why their engine blew up on Sunday."

Primm's expectations are set high but they need to be -- within a male-dominated profession, perseverance is paramount.

Her passion wasn't developed in a classroom or from a pamphlet she picked up at a job fair. Primm's love of the sport comes from spending Sunday's in front of the TV or at a NASCAR track with her father, Ken. Her strong academic involvement and 4.0 grade-point average in high school was rewarded with race tickets.

"My dad and I have followed the sport since I was little," Primm said. "It was something we always did after church. I knew there weren't really that many women in the sport but somehow I still wanted to be a part of it. This is where I want to be."

The sport also is how she bonded with her father and together they have been to Cup races at Texas, Daytona, Talladega and Bristol.

Primm is proof that with determination and persistence anything is possible in today's NASCAR for females looking for a career in an industry that at one point didn't even allow women in the pits.

The Brienne Davis Scholarship, given to students who write qualifying essays, now will be offered annually through the NASCAR Technical Institute.