Drive To The 25! A Newly-released Women in Motorsports Memoir

    SAINT AUGUSTINE, FL, April 15, 2020 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Lynn Schultz Kehoe took up sports car racing in her late 50's after winning a test ride at a charity auction. Absorbed with her new sport, Lynn also noticed that there were precious few women in motorsports as well as limited role models and resources for aspiring female racers. Listening to comments about the confidence and courage of these female drivers, including her own, Lynn realized that motorsports could be a source of inspiration and encouragement for girls and women. Wanting to help those women already in racing and hoping to encourage those with racing aspirations, Lynn Kehoe first formed a group of women for a single race, and then later founded an organization dedicated to aiding, inspiring and influencing girls and women–– on or off the track.

This was the origin of Shift Up Now, the collective of female racers, which today counts among its members some of the most accomplished women in motorsports. Shift Up Now has a mission to use motorsports to inspire confidence and courage and wants to "...see all women step on the gas, navigate the corners and use the brakes to drive through life on whatever road they travel."

Initiated by a conversation with veteran Indy 500 racer, Pippa Mann, Kehoe was encouraged to take on the challenge of mounting a female team for the 2018 25 Hours of Thunderhill. Lacking experience and overwhelmed with the enormity of this task, Kehoe was put in touch with racer and team owner, Karen Salvaggio, who has driven and fielded racecars and teams for more than three decades, and secured more than 200 first place finishes in driving competitions. More importantly, Salvaggio had tackled "The 25" seven times before with teams of her own.

Together, Kehoe and Salvaggio faced and overcame a seemingly endless string of setbacks and disasters, including the loss of their unique vintage racecar, loss of a key driver and destruction of their paddock camp the day before the race. Still, the grit and humor of these two determined women shines through and we enthusiastically follow them through the highs and lows of the rush to make "The 25" and proudly rejoice with them when–– incredibly, improbably–– they end up on the podium!

Founded by racer Lynn Schultz Kehoe in 2016, Shift Up Now is a collective of female racers who use motorsports to inspire confidence and courage in girls and women. The organization has attracted many talented professional and amateur racers to its collective. Learn more at https://www.shiftupnow.com/

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