| Molly Rhoads Motorsports |
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| Molly Rhoads Date of Birth: 2/13/1982 Height: 5’8” Weight: 150 Hometown: Hastings, Minn Residence: Goodhue, Minn Team: Molly Rhoads Motorsports Owner: Molly Rhoads Series: NASCAR Whelen All American Series- Super Late Model ASA Kwik Trip Midwest Series-Super Late Model Sponsors: Leos Upper Dells Bar, Hadley's Upper Dells Hotel Car: 2008 Ford Fusion-Lefthander Chassis Engine: B & B ACE Molly Rhoads started racing in 1998, after her brother AJ Rhoads held a mini tryout for Molly and her twin sister Megan. Molly and Megan both drove AJ’s bomber car (1983 Chevrolet Caprice) and come to find out since Molly was faster she was given the chance to race his car that season at Elko Speedway, (Elko Minn). Molly competed in a few races that year and also in 1999 but decided to put most of the her focus on high school sports. Molly went on to compete in volleyball and varsity softball and lettered in softball and the National Honor Society. After graduating in the top 10% of her class at Hastings Senior High School in 2000, Molly went to the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. Molly raced during the four years she was at River Falls and maintained a 3.5 GPA and graduated with honors. She earned a Bachelor of Science Degree-Animal Science with an Equine Emphasis. During the summer of 2001, Molly started racing at I-94 Raceway in Sauk Centre, Minn, where she competed in two divisions; the “Thunder Car” (1980 Chevrolet Caprice) class, where she finished ninth in points, and the “Super Stock” division (1988 Monte Carlo SS-Camaro stub metric car), where she finished seventh in points. Molly continued to run in the Super Stock class in 2002 at I-94 Raceway and Fergus Falls Raceway. Molly won the first night out at Fergus Falls in the “Thunder Car” class, but then was made to run with the late models. She competed in the late model division that year and finished ninth in points in the Late Model division and 4th in the Super Stock class. She was also “Rookie of the Year in the Super Stocks and voted Late Model Sportsman of the Year. In 2003, Molly drove a car that was prepared by Bryan Roach and herself, in the Limited Late Model division at I-94 Raceway and also competed in the Late Model division at Fergus Falls Raceway. Molly finished 3rd in points that year at I-94 Raceway, and was a contender to win every race, and 8th in points at Fergus Falls. Molly was voted “Most Popular Driver” & “Sportsman of the Year” at both tracks, and for both divisions. Molly moved up to the Super Late Model division in 2004, and competed at Fergus Falls Raceway, I-94 Raceway and Raceway Park in Shakopee, Minn. Molly finished 4th,8th and 7h place in championship points and received “Rookie of the Year” honors at one of NASCAR’S finest short tracks-Raceway Park and was the first female to win a Late Model race at Raceway Park. Molly competed in over 60 races that year and finished all but 4 of them, and also finished 5th in the Minnesota Late Model Challenge Series. Molly also holds the honors of being the highest qualifying female in the former Midwest All Stars Series (MARS) which was 9th at I-94 Raceway. She also competed in a NASCAR Autozone Elite Series race at LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway. Molly started the race 32nd and finished 16th. Molly continued to shine in 2005, where she competed at Raceway Park (Shakopee, Minn) and finished 7th in points and won multiple semi-features. She also competed in the Minnesota Late Model Challenge Series and finished 10th in points. . In 2006, Molly finished 4th at Raceway Park, and 9th in the Minnesota Late Model Challenge Series. She was also chosen out of over 300 applicants to compete in the Drive For Diversity Program. This national level program is a partnership between NASCAR and Access Marketing and Communications. During this program, Molly “tried out” against 16 other people, for a driver position with some of NASCAR’S finest teams. Although 2007 did not find Molly racing on a weekly basis, it did find her at the track every weekend. Molly worked as crew chief for Bryan Roach in the Kwik Trip ASA Midwest Tour. She was in charge of spotting, tires and setup changes for this team. In the few races Molly did compete in she had great success. In her first trip to Dells Raceway Park- Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, she won her semi feature. She also was awarded the “Hard Charger Award” for passing 23 cars at LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway (started 37th finished 14th). Because of her accomplishments and hard work off the track she was accepted into the Drive For Diversity Program for the second time. Molly competed at Raceway Park in the NASCAR Whelen All American Series- Super Late Model Division where she won 4 heat races, finished a very close second and also finished in the top 5, six times and had 9 top tens. Molly finished third in points and also helped Bryan Roach in the ASA Midwest Tour Series as spotter and crew chief. Molly was the crew chief for Bryan Roach during the 2009 season. She used her knowledge and experience at Raceway Park to help Bryan finish 3rd in points, collecting 3 feature wins, 2 heat wins and multiple fast times. Her commitment and hard work did not go unnoticed, as Molly was voted NASCAR Craftsman Mechanic of the Year by her fellow competitors and others at the track. Molly Rhoads sets herself apart from other drivers, not only because she is a female, but also because she owns and maintains her own cars and equipment (Molly Rhoads Motorsports). Towing her own cars to the track and also working on them at the shop and track has helped her to gain a lot of experience about the cars and the racing business in general. She often is at the track without any crew members therefore, a story she likes to tell is back in 2004 when she competed three nights a week, and raced in over 60 events, she had one crewmember and that was her Black Lab/Malamute Mix dog named Morgan. They traveled across the state of Minnesota racing Friday, Saturday and Sunday and never missed a race. Molly has worked very hard to improve her on track skills as well as her off track skills. Molly is at the track every weekend helping on race teams learning as much as she can. She also has participated in many different driver development seminars such as the Lyn St. James Driver Development Program, Mike Calinoff’s driver development clinic, Motorsports Marketing seminar and NASCAR media training. She also has attended Freddy Query’s and Race Car Engineering’s setup seminars, and is a graduate of Finishline Race School. Throughout the years while working on her racing career, Molly also has held a full time position at Dakota Rhoads Masonry, which is a family ran concrete and masonry company. Arlo and Renee Rhoads (father and step-mother) are the owners of the company and Molly is in charge of the bookkeeping and the scheduling and other office work, brother AJ is in charge of the shop and is a licensed pump truck and crane operator. Molly has proven that she belongs in the seat of a race car and has become a well respected member in the racing community. Molly looks to compete for the championship at Raceway Park in the Super Late Model Division in 2010 ! |
| Molly & Erin Crocker at the Women in the Winners Circle Luncheon- July 2008 |