“I started racing less than 2 years ago, so I’m in the middle of my second season right now and it’s been wonderful experience. I’ve been a race fan my entire life, and just never thought that a woman my age could actually be a race car driver.”
Clarity Newhouse now has no doubt that a woman her age can become a race car driver. Last season she finished 14th out of 42 drivers in the Super Late Model stock car racing at Flat Rock Speedway here in Michigan.
Even though her racing career is quite the accomplishment, Newhouse knew she wanted more.
She says she asked herself “What can I do to inspire other people. What can I do to make this a worthwhile experience? When I was a kid, I was definitely a nerd. I love taking things apart and putting them back together and science related activities,” she says.
So Newhouse turned her race car into what she calls a mobile science lab and now she’s using it to get kids passionate and excited about science..
“I think every time I see kids -- especially girls -- that notice that I don’t look like the typical car mechanic or the typical race car driver, that’s great and I hope whether that means that it inspires them to go into science or racing or if it just helps them discover that they can do things in other perhaps make dominated fields or just things they didn’t think they were capable of,” says Newhouse.
She uses the car to educate kids on things like friction and aerodynamics. Sounds complicated, but Alayna and Lina say it’s all about the delivery.
“She doesn’t explain it like it’s hard to understand, but she like explains it easy. So then we understand,” says Alayna.
They say they enjoyed their new-age science lesson.
“It was cool,” says Alayna. “It was weird but cool,” Lina adds.
Newhouse says she loves to see the awestruck reaction from the kids, and she hopes her mobile science lab has a lasting effect.
“Hopefully I can help encourage the next generation of engineers and scientists to pay a little extra attention in science class….it’s pretty cool.”
