For the first time in her racing career, Erica Thiering is going to run the full NASCAR Canadian Tire Series schedule. The Alberta native announced earlier in the off-season that she has joined Canada’s Best Racing Team in 2015 as a teammate to Joey McColm.
“I can’t wait,” she said. “I think it’s going to be a good season with Joey and the CBRT team. It’s awesome.”
Thiering made five career starts last season, scoring a pair of top-10 finishes. One of the five events that she ran last season was Edmonton International Raceway, which is her home track. She has had success there in a late model, winning the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Championship for Alberta five times. Reflecting back on last season, she said it was fantastic to run in front of the hometown crowd.
“I think it was a little more motivation to do well because that’s where I raced every weekend,” she added. “I really had a good time, and I’m really looking forward to going back there this year and doing better than I did last year.”
Earlier this month at the Custom Car and Motorsports Show, Thiering unveiled a special livery that was designed by a six-year-old.
“About a month ago, a young girl named Ava tweeted what she thought the car should look like and I thought, ‘Why not surprise her with it?’,” Thiering commented. “She was beyond surprised to see the car.”
Ava commented at the show that she had the idea in mind, and while bored on a Snow Day, she got her dad to put it together in a racing game that he has.
Beyond the success that she has been able to have behind the wheel, Thiering says it means the world to her to inspire little girls, like Ava.
“It means the world to me, honestly,” Thiering said. “What I do on the track is great, but it’s what you do off the track. Being involved in stuff like this and inspiring other girls like this to do what I do, and showing them that you don’t have to be a boy and you can set your own pace and do great things. That’s what so important, and it really shows.”
