got a degree in fashion marketing and became a sales representative for clothing buyers. She earned a great income, but it wasn’t her passion. She decided to leaver her job, move back home to Oklahoma and work with her family tow-truck business. During a conversation with her mother one day, Candace suddenly realized what her passion was and what she was meant to do… Racing! “I actually started late,” states Candace. “I suggest that people start around four years old and evolve with racing. But it really is never too late to start.”
After much training and in her first official race, Candace started 29th and finished 14th. She began running a late-model car from her then fiancé. As she continued to race, she hit a dry streak and had a problem securing a sponsor. He fiancé encouraged her to relocate to California. Once she moved there, she locked in a sponsor and in 14 days, worked with her fiancé to build a race car from the bottom up.
Her fiancé raced in the new car and she kept his old car. “It taught me a lot,” says Candace. “Not having the best equipment really helped me to learn how to drive.” At the end of the season, Candace finished 7th in points. She then continued to race for four years until life took a very unexpected turn.
Life moves on In 2007, life changed for Candace when her fiancé passed way. Instead of letting his passing hold her victim, she pushed forward. After encouragement from friend and car sponsor, Jesse James, of West Coast Choppers, Candace moved to the Southeast, settling in Mooresville, NC, to continue her dream of becoming a strong and viable NASCAR driver. She started her own shop and built a new race car to fit into the specifications held in our area.
Though last season didn’t rank on Candace’s list of breakout years, this season she is making a strong run in her division with nine top five finishes and four top three finishes.
Candace aspires to progress to the NASCAR K&N Pro Series in the coming season and continuing to progress to the Camping World Truck Series, where she would initially like to run 5-7 races to get her feet wet. Beyond that? “I want to make it to Sprint (the premiere division of NASCAR),” says Candace. “We haven’t had a very strong woman driver since
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