Leilani Munter

Infobox racing driver
name = Leilani Maaja Münter


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nationality = American
date of birth = Birth date and age|1976|02|18
place of birth = Rochester, Minnesota
current series = Firestone Indy Lights
first year = 2007
current team =
car number = 57
former teams =
starts = 2
wins = 0
poles = 0
fastest laps =
best finish =
year = 2007
prev series = Indy Pro Series, ARCA Series, NASCAR Elite Division, ASA, NASCAR Late Models, Allison Legacy
prev series years = 2001-2007
titles =
title years =
awards =
award years =

Leilani Münter (born on February 18, 1976) is an American race car driver and environmentalist. She currently drives the No. 57 [http://www.smartpapers.com SMART Papers] Dallara in the Firestone Indy Lights, the development league of IndyCar. Prior to her debut in open wheel racing, she was a stock car driver in the NASCAR Elite division. She was born and raised in Rochester, Minnesota, earned a degree in Biology in San Diego, California, and currently lives in Mooresville, North Carolina. Leilani also worked for three years as a special correspondent for [http://nascar.com NASCAR.com] and as a driving instructor for [http://www.fasttrackracing.com Fast Track High Performance Driving School] .

Stock car racing career

Leilani began racing in California in 2001 in the Allison Legacy Series. She debuted with a seventh place finish. In 2002 Leilani made the move to Mooresville, North Carolina, widely regarded as the center for NASCAR racing. In 2003 she had her first start in the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series at South Boston Speedway, she finished ninth. She made her first speedway start in 2004 at Texas Motor Speedway and set a new record when she qualified fourth, the highest qualifying effort for a female driver at the track. It was also her first super late model race, she finished seventh. In 2006 she had her first full time season in a race car. In just her fifth race of the season, she had one of the biggest races of her career when she finished fourth, setting a new record at Texas Motor Speedway for the highest finish for a female driver in the history of the 1.5 mile speedway. In 39 stock car starts, Leilani scored 19 top tens and 9 top five finishes. She finished running 92% of the time. At the end of the 2006 racing season, she was set to make the move into the [http://arcaracing.com ARCA Series] in 2007, a stepping stone series into NASCAR's top three series. In December 2006 she completed her ARCA rookie test at Daytona International Speedway. She was 24th quick of 59 race cars testing that day in a race car prepared by Andy Hillenburg, a retired driver who owns Fast Track Racing School, where Leilani once worked at as an instructor. Shortly after her Daytona test Leilani received a phone call from an Indy team to ask if she was interested in racing open wheel cars. By May 2007 she had completed her Indy Pro rookie test and made the move to open wheel racing.

Indy Racing League career

In 2007 Leilani became the fourth woman in history to compete in the Indy Pro Series, the development league of IndyCar. In May 2007, Münter passed her Indy Pro Series rookie test at Kentucky Speedway. In August she inked a deal with three time championship team Sam Schmidt Motorsports. She qualified 5th for her debut at Kentucky Speedway on Aug 11, 2007. She had trouble on a restart and dropped back to 13th but surprised and impressed many by racing her way back up to the front of the field. She passed 5 cars in a lap and a half and turned the fifth quickest lap of the race with a speed of 192.399 mph. She was about to pass for 4th place when she was collected in a multi-car accident. Four time Indy 500 champion Rick Mears, IndyCar driver Jaques Lazier, and many others in the IndyCar community [http://leilanimunter.com/testimonials.htm spoke very highly of Münter] after her debut. Münter's 2008 plans include both the Indy Pro Series and the ARCA Re/Max Series, a development league in NASCAR.

Media

Leilani is a special correspondent for [http://www.nascar.com NASCAR.com] , her [http://www.nascar.com/2006/multimedia/feature/munter/ Leilani Reports] videos air weekly. Leilani appears as one of three [http://www.hostesscakes.com/divas_calendar.asp "Hostess Race Divas"] alongside IRL's Danica Patrick and NHRA's Melanie Troxel on boxes of Hostess Twinkies and Cupcakes. The 2006 ad campaign for Hostess was significant because it was the first time the bakery has featured athletes on their products since professional baseball players were featured in the 1980s. The primary sponsor on her No. 57 Chevrolet is Konica Minolta. Leilani has appeared in several magazines including Italian Vogue, ESPN, "Men's Journal", and "Esquire". She hosted the television show "Auto Primer" on DIY and has been featured on ESPN, Fashion TV, National Geographic, NBC Sports, and Spike TV.

Trivia

Leilani holds a bachelor degree in biology from the University of California. She once worked as a photo double for Catherine Zeta-Jones. In 1999 her sister Natascha married Bob Weir, singer and guitarist of the rock band The Grateful Dead. The couple have two daughters, Shala Monet and Chloe Keilia. In 2008 during a scuba diving trip in Fiji, Leilani became engaged to her long time boyfriend Craig Davidson, who is from New Zealand and is nicknamed "Kiwi."

Environmental Efforts

Leilani is well known for speaking out about environmental issues. In March 2008 Leilani went to Capitol Hill with the National Wildlife Federation to speak with members of Congress on behalf of the Lieberman Warner Climate Security Act. During her visit Senator Elizabeth Dole called Münter "a woman on a mission." When asked to comment on her environmental activities, Frank O'Donnell (President of the Clean Air Watch) told the Washington Post "I thing it's a fantastic thing." Münter hosts an eco site called [http://carbonfreegirl.com Carbon Free Girl] which is dedicated to environmental issues and clean energy. She also has a [http://leilanimunter.com/blog.htm blog] where she is known to speak out about green issues. Every time Münter enters a race she purchases an acre of endangered tropical rainforest for protection from [http://worldlandtrust-us.org World Land Trust] to offset her carbon footprint from the race. The Indy Car Series runs on 100% ethanol and Münter has talked on her blog about the need for NASCAR to make the switch to a renewable clean energy source. Leilani graduated from the University of California San Diego where she earned a Bachelors Degree in Biology specializing in Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution. She is also a long time vegetarian.

News links

* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/05/AR2008030503152.html Washington Post: Race Car Driver Aims to Put Brakes on Global Warming]
[http://indycar.com/pro/news/story.php?story_id=9704 IndyCar: Münter Turns Heads in Her Open Wheel Debut]
[http://www.indycar.com/pro/news/story.php?story_id=9683 IndyCar: Lazier Coaches Münter to 5th Place Qualifying Effort in Indy Pro Debut]
[http://www.indycar.com/pro/news/story.php?story_id=9654 IndyCar: Münter Inks Deal with Championship Team Sam Schmidt Motorsports]
[http://www.nascar.com/2006/news/headlines/cup/06/15/lmunter.texas/index.html NASCAR.com: Münter Sets New Female Mark] *
[http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/story/5107946 Fox Sports: NASCAR Race Diva, Danica Join Forces]

External links

* [http://www.leilanimunter.com Official site]
* [http://www.leilanimunter.com/pix-video.htm Video highlights of Leilani]
* [http://www.leilanimunter.com/slideshow.html Slideshow of Leilani's Journey in Motorsports]
* [http://www.indycar.com/pro/multimedia/photos/gallery.php?drivername=leilani+munter&series_id=2&searchType=driver Leilani on IndyCar.com]
* [http://www.hostesscakes.com/divas_leilani.asp Leilani on the Hostess website]
* [http://www.nascar.com/2006/multimedia/feature/munter/ Leilani Videos on NASCAR.com]
* [http://www.esquire.com/women/women-we-love/ESQ0402-APR_OPENER Leilani in Esquire Magazine's Women We Love Gallery]