iRacing.com Expands Partnership with Lyn St. James Foundation Through “Women in the Winner’s Circle” Exhibit
February 16th, 2010 by DavidP
History of Women in Auto Racing Documented in Five-Year Traveling Interactive Exhibition
iRacing.com is joining the Lyn St. James Foundation in support of “Women in the Winner’s Circle,” a five-year traveling exhibition that recognizes the past history, the growing achievements, and the future growth of women in racing. iRacing.com’s support of the exhibit marks an expansion of the company’s relationship with the foundation, which was initiated last year through the company’s involvement with the Women in the Winner’s Circle Driver Development Academy.
The joint announcement by St. James and Kevin Bobbitt, iRacing.com’s director of marketing, was made prior to a reception at the opening of the exhibit’s first stop, the Daytona 500 USA.
“Last spring iRacing.com generously made its simulation service available to more than a dozen of the foundation’s Driver Development Academy,” St. James said. “The enthusiastic support iRacing is providing for our new historical exhibit will help us bring an appreciation for the rich but little-known history of women racers that has led to the current rapid growth of female participation in motorsport.”
Women in the Winner’s Circle is organized by The Henry Ford museum in collaboration with the Women in the Winner’s Circle Foundation. As a component of the project, The Henry Ford is developing an archive featuring women in racing, which will also be used to develop a highly experiential permanent American Auto Racing Exhibit for the museum.
iRacing.com’s goal is to give as many people as possible the opportunity to go racing, whether in support of real-world racing or through online competition in the virtual world,” Bobbitt said. “Through her foundation and all of its supporters, Lyn St. James has worked tirelessly to bring more women into motorsport.
“We were pleased to have members of the Women in the Winner’s Circle Driving Academy spend time in our Driver Development Lab last spring, and to provide them with memberships in our online service. And now we’re happy to be able to help expand the reach of the Foundation as it provides a historical context for women’s participation in the sport.”
The primary goals of the Women in the Winner’s Circle exhibition are to:
• Engage viewers, and inform them about, the history of women in motor sports.
• Raise awareness of the growing women’s presence and leadership in the sport.
• Provide role models for the power of determination and positive thinking.
• Showcase racing as a gender-neutral sport, where men and women truly compete together and against each other without handicaps; in effect demonstrating that racing is a “true example for society.”
The design of the Women in the Winner’s Circle exhibition is visually stimulating, interesting and informative. It is modular and expandable for such venues as museums, galleries, libraries, trade shows, racetracks, and auto shows. It includes graphic panels (with text and images), media, photographs and personal memorabilia. It also includes an interactive module featuring a database of both historic and contemporary women race drivers. The exhibit is designed so that where space is available it can include real race cars.
The target audiences for the exhibition include motor sports enthusiasts, general audiences (including non-enthusiasts), intergenerational groups and international audiences, with an age target of teens and up.
Following its premier at the Daytona International Speedway during Speed Weeks, the exhibition will travel to approximately 10 American venues.