The distant revving of engines comes first, then roaring and popping as the cars zoom down the paved track on a recent Sunday at Pacific Raceways, buzzing like a drone of angry bees. In the midst of this horde is No. 48, a 1982 bright blue Mazda RX-7 driven by Bambi Jilek of Renton.<\/p>\n
\u201cI get so excited about racing,\u201d says Jilek, 45. \u201cIt\u2019s just so fun. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s something that people realize is available. If you like cars at all, it\u2019s just a really neat world out there!\u201d<\/p>\n
Jilek has always liked cars. She grew up going to car shows and driving the Renton Loop. Her mom and aunt used<\/p>\n
to race home from church with kids in back. Both drove a muscle car.<\/p>\n
\u201cCars have always been part of my family,\u201d Jilek says.<\/p>\n
A Formula 1 fan, Jilek won\u2019t be watching the Indy 500 race this weekend. But she\u2019s rooting for woman racer Danica Patrick.<\/p>\n
An old boyfriend turned Jilek on to autocross (like a car obstacle course). But she wanted to race. She got her start in 2003 with driving classes, training and a racing license.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I\u2019ve been poor ever since,\u201d Jilek laughs.<\/p>\n
Racing is an expensive hobby. Each race costs a couple hundred bucks, plus club fees, gas and maintenance costs. Jilek\u2019s RX-7, which she calls a \u201cpretty bulletproof\u201d stock car, is one of the cheaper cars to maintain. Still, there\u2019s gas, and new tires every couple weekends. It costs $6 to $7 a minute to drive her car, she says, or $1,000 a day.<\/p>\n
But the costs aren\u2019t enough to slow Jilek. She broke her transmission during the recent Sunday race, but got a new one straight away. She ruined her motor another time, but had it replaced before the next race.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re so addicted, you\u2019re so addicted,\u201d her friend told her.<\/p>\n
Jilek acknowledges her addiction. She often skimps on buying shoes or plants in favor of car parts.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish I liked gardening!\u201d she says. \u201cI do, but it doesn\u2019t make me smile from ear to ear.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jilek races as a member of International Race Drivers Club (IRDC). Six other Renton drivers belong to this Western Washington club, which is a member of the International Conference of Sports Car Clubs (ICSCC, or conference), made up of clubs in British Columbia, Washington and Oregon.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s about 13 weekend conference races a year, held at Pacific Raceways, or other tracks in places like Portland, Canada or Spokane. Jilek, a Realtor, competes in most races, unless she has a real-estate showing. She tries not to schedule home showings on race weekends<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t let my job get in the way of my hobby,\u201d she jokes.<\/p>\n
What does Jilek like about racing? She throws up her hands. \u201cI like everything,\u201d she says. \u201cI like loading up my car; I love everybody out there at the racetrack; I like competition; I like going fast. When you win it\u2019s a lot more fun. I didn\u2019t realize how competitive I am.\u201d<\/p>\n
The black-and-white checkered flags, trophy and plaques in her home office show Jilek\u2019s success. She was nominated novice of the year in 2003, placed fifth in conference in 2004 and second in 2006 and has won three races. Conference wins are based on points earned throughout the season. She and her driving partner also won their class in a four-hour Enduro race in March. The first race after that was April 26 and the last is Sept. 27-28.<\/p>\n
Jilek\u2019s first race of the season \u2014 the recent Sunday race \u2014 didn\u2019t go well. That\u2019s when she broke her transmission, about halfway through the 30-minute race.<\/p>\n
Each lap at Pacific Raceways is 2.25 miles. Most racers can drive it in about 1 minute, 43 seconds. The winner is whoever can log the most laps in the 30 minutes. The winner of Jilek\u2019s racing group that Sunday was a man driving an open-topped, low-to-the ground red Alfa Romeo. But Jilek wasn\u2019t competing against that speedster. She was competing against cars that can go about as fast as hers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just so bummed; I\u2019m so disappointed,\u201d Jilek said after Sunday\u2019s race. \u201cNow I\u2019ve got to hook up my trailer, load up my car and put my tail between my legs.\u201d<\/p>\n
She had plenty of fellow racers to help. That\u2019s the good thing about IRDC, says past president Dave Bennitt.<\/p>\n
\u201cIRDC is just like a big family,\u201d Bennitt says. \u201cEverybody here is friends with everybody else.\u201d<\/p>\n
As one of only four women among IRDC\u2019s 204 members, Jilek had to earn her friendships.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy name was the worst thing,\u201d she says. \u201cThey\u2019d say, \u2018Bambi? You\u2019ve got to be kidding.\u2019 There\u2019s a lot of ego with men. But I earned their respect. They know I deserve to be out there with them.\u201d<\/p>\n
It took time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had one say, \u2018I thought you were just going be a rolling chicane (a driver who gets in the way), but you actually have skill.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bennitt agrees.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s a good gal, a good racer,\u201d he says. \u201cShe holds her own with the guys; and when she gets a chance, she\u2019ll outdo them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hal Hilton, who races a Porsche, also admires Jilek\u2019s racing.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe won\u2019t give an inch,\u201d he says. \u201cShe\u2019s careful, but she races very hard. I consider her on par with any racer out here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her good friend (and mechanic) Jeff Clark also calls Jilek a good racer.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe has what I like to call \u2018killer instinct,\u2019\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
He wishes more women would get into racing. His daughter had the opportunity but wasn\u2019t interested.<\/p>\n
Racing is either in your blood or not, Jilek says.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy sister-in-law, she just looks at me like \u2018Why?\u2019 She has no desire,\u201d Jilek says. \u201cI just scratch my head. Why wouldn\u2019t someone want to race? Being in a race car is so much fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Except when people get hurt. A wrecked car is the worst that\u2019s happened to Jilek. But a friend had to be pulled out of his smashed car by the Jaws of Life. He survived, after catching on fire, with a couple broken ribs and a chipped tooth. Another friend landed in intensive care after his car flipped last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s pretty safe. We have all sorts of safety gear \u2014 a fireproof suit and helmet and gloves and boots \u2014 but accidents do happen,\u201d Jilek says.<\/p>\n
Especially when cars are racing at more than 100 mph.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve seen people roll in front of me,\u201d Jilek says. \u201cIt\u2019s so intense, but you just do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Driving on the street is more dangerous than driving on the track, Clark says. Racing is nothing like street driving, he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy analogy is skiing,\u201d he says. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of downhill skiers, but to be a downhill ski racer takes a lot of work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jilek doesn\u2019t race on roads, but she\u2019s always practicing: setting up her mirrors, changing lanes, shifting. She likes to play on exit ramps. She drives fast, and sometimes scares other drivers, but doesn\u2019t get speeding tickets. Her everyday car is an Acura TL 6-speed.<\/p>\n
The next conference race is June 6-7 in Portland. Jilek won\u2019t be racing. She\u2019ll be in Montreal watching a Formula 1 race. But she\u2019ll be back.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an addiction,\u201d she says on that recent Sunday, pointing to a trailer for a fellow racer\u2019s car. The trailer is tagged with a bumper sticker that reads: \u201cIn this trailer lies \u201cTHE DISEASE\u201d ... for which there is no cure.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an addiction,\u201d Jilek repeats.<\/p>\n
Emily Garland can be reached at emily.garland@reporternewspapers.com or (425) 255-3484, ext. 5052.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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