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Part 2
ROLE MODEL -Newbury Park's Belinda Endress says that gender
shouldn't inhibit women from pursuing their dreams.
Newbury Park resident Belinda Endress stands 5-foot-6. However,
what she lacks in height does not take away from Endress' stature as
a professional athlete. In fact, the pro racecar driver said the
more important aspect to motor sports is that one needs to be
incredibly fit, physically.
"Physical condition is so vital," Endress said. "The
inside of the cockpit of most of these cars can get to well over 100
degrees."
As crucial to being prepared physically, Endress said is to be ready
mentally.
"You're communicating with the car", she said. "If
you've got a problem emotionally, that day, these cars will bite
you. They're a handful."
Endress says she incorporates mental preparation with physical
fitness.
"When I'm doing the physical training," she said, "I
implement the mental training as well. I quiet my mind, focus all of
my energy, and just try to stay centered. The harder you work out in
the gym the easier it is in the car."
Before a race in the heat in Texas, Endress said she drank two
gallons of water before even getting into the car. "I felt like
'Okay, hippo, hippo, hippo,' " she said. "But you sweat it
all out, just like that."
What you eat also plays a vital role when getting ready for a race,
Endress said.
"The day before you've got to have a good balance of
carbohydrates and proteins."
Endress described motor sports as a microcosm of life for all
involved in the sport. It's particularly interesting to see the bond
between a racecar driving father and his daughter, who aspires to
follow in her dad's footsteps.
"I really appreciate when I see a father and daughter,"
Endress said. "Not necessarily father and son, but the father
with his daughter who is giving it everything she has - blood, sweat
and tears, to help her dad at the racetrack."
But gender is unimportant. Rather it is the love for the sport that
matters.
"Motor sports can be such a lesson in life," Endress said.
"To learn how to compete, to learn how to focus. To learn how
to be creative, how to be ingenious, to work with other people, as
well as to learn to work as a team."
"Learning to be responsible," she added. "It can
teach kids so much, kids and adults alike."
One thing Endress said she continues to learn and tries to teach
others is the idea of giving back.
Lyn St. James, a noted female racer who has taken part in seven
Indianapolis 500 races and has a driver instructor school, has
provided inspiration.
"Someone like her comes along, and she's not only an
exceptional race-car driver," Endress said of St. James.
"But she's also a fantastic business woman, and she's really
broken through a lot of 'glass-ceilings.' That has made it easier
for the rest of us."
Like St. James, Endress believes it is part of her purpose to
motivate others.
"I like to empower anybody if they have a desire, to go for
it," Endress said. "God only gives you one life to live.
Why not take advantage of what He gives you." And she added,
"Why not take the time to put out your hand to someone less
fortunate?"
Often that hand she lends will be to other women because Endress
said women have to work that much harder to achieve the same things
as men do in motor sports. She wants to give women a message that
they should persevere and have faith that good things will follow.
Also, she thinks it's important for female racers to know that they
are marketable, that people are interested in seeing them be part of
the sport.
"Because they may work ten times harder, the women in racing
tend to have that much more passion for the sport," Endress
said. "The females in racing tend to be, not only incredible
human beings, they possess entertainment value as well, due to
fierceness they need to compete against men."
Endress said, "Percentage wise, women do exceptionally well in
racing. For the amount of women participating in the sport, the
results are very good."
Belinda Endress didn't begin her career as a race car driver with
the idea that someday she would be a role model for other women. She
said it just happened that the sports she's taken up have generally
been associated with men.
"I didn't start off thinking that I would be some kind of role
model," Endress said. "That really wasn't a consideration.
I've always been involved in sports that have been predominantly
male. I just pretty much followed my heart."
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