Julia Landauer: Determined To Live Her Dream



(Credit goes to Julia Landauer.)

Julia Landauer was born on November 12th, 1992 in New York, New York. She attended a specialized public high school for math and science in New York City called Stuyvesant High school. Julia said,"I missed about 130 days of high school over four years which made it very difficult to balance. However I loved being at the track and at school so I made it work. I was disciplined, worked hard, and wanted to do a lot. Naturally I missed a lot of high school events, but  I was 100% ok with that. If I wanted to do school stuff more than I wouldn’t have pursued racing as aggressively as I did." Julia is currently a sophomore at Stanford University in California."I am majoring in an Interdisciplinary major called Science, Technology, and Society,"said Julia. Julia is a very successful college student and a race car driver. Her dream of wanting to make a career out of racing started when she was just a young girl starting out in go-karts.

Julia got involved in go-karts when she was 10 years old."It was a family sport that my younger sister, brother, and I did with my parents. I loved it from the start and by age 12 I knew I wanted to be a professional race car driver."She won many races and championships in go-karts. Julia climbed the karting ranks to the national level,where she visited the podium and won many times. At the age of 13 she  joined the Skip Barber Racing Series, were she raced in her first car race. She made history at the age of 14 as the youngest and first female champion in the Skip Barber Racing Series. She joined the Formula BMW USA Series when she was 15 years old. Julia was the youngest driver to compete in the 2007 Formula BMW USA Series. She had a best finish of 5th and she earned three top ten finishes ( 5th, 8th , 9th) in the Formula BMW Series. At the age of 16 she started racing in the USAC Ford focus Midgets with Bob East. She moved up to the NASCAR Late Model Stock Car series with Bill Mcanally racing part time when she was 17. She also ran a part time  NASCAR Late Model Stock Car Season  with Sellers racing when she was 18 and 19 years old. Julia said, "I’m planning on racing late models in the NASCAR Whelen All American Series and some K@N Pro Series races for the 2012 season." Her goal for her racing career is that she wants to make a living racing cars.

I  had the privilege to communicate  with Julia via email and ask her a couple more questions. This is what Julia had to say:

  "My favorite part about racing is that it’s like solving a puzzle. A driver has to make so many factors work perfectly in order to win. The entire process, including the excruciating hard work, the team work, the speed, the passing, and so much more , making racing so magical. Finding proper funding is definitely the hardest part of racing,"said Julia.

When I asked Julia if she has a best racing memory she said,"One of my best memories is my first win in  a  car when I was 13. I led the whole race, crossed the line in first, and I knew I was the best that race. Another one is a practice day in go-karts in New castle, IN, where I was so intensely in the zone that it felt like I was gliding on the track. I didn’t have to think about it. It was truly the most amazing feeling that I will never forget."

Julia has been on many race tracks throughout her racing career. When I asked her If she had any favorite race tracks she said,"My favorite road course is Road America, and my favorite oval is South Boston Speedway."

"There is no real "off" season for me. When I’m not in the car I’m working on the business side. I am developing my Julia Landauer Racing brand, meeting with investors, strategizing for sponsorship , working out and going to school. Racing is a 24/7 job. My favorite things to do outside of racing is that I like being in school, I love being outdoors, building things, exercising, and exploring my hometown of  New York City."

Julia said,"I’m inspired by anyone who puts their heart and soul into something, racing or not. Lyn St. James is a huge inspiration and mentor, as is Carl Edwards, but there are so many inspiring people out there in the world."

When I asked Julia what are the skills required to become a good race car driver she said,"There’s no one way to be a racer, but you have to be talented, aggressive, smart,  business and media savvy to name a few things. You have to have  great endurance and physical strength to be physically prepared to be a race car driver. It gets extremely hot in the cars, and you race for hours. You have to be in great shape if you want to be a race car driver.”

The final question I asked Julia was what advice would you give to other women who want to be race car drivers? "Find people who will support you because you are a racer. Surround yourself with those people, be ruthless in asking question and learning, and never let adversity stop your  desire.”

To Julia Landauer:Thank you very much for taking the time to answer some questions so this article could happen. Good luck with college and your racing career! 

Race fans: Click on the link below and "like" Julia Landauer's facebook fan page!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Julia-Landauer/147344155300065

2011 Racing Season. Credit goes to Julia Landauer.