Emilee Medeisis (formerly Ballard) is an up-and-coming driver and builder in the drag-and-drive scene. It\u2019s an area that\u2019s mainly dominated by men, but she doesn\u2019t let that intimidate her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As a matter of fact, she wants to be a beacon of encouragement to show other women that they can do this as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cI definitely have a lot of room to grow,\u201d Medeisis answers. \u201cI think that as long as you have a good group of people by you that are willing to help you learn and grow with you, that\u2019s key. I think that a lot of females need to dive in and not be scared.\u201d<\/p>\n
Medeisis was first introduced to drag racing through her dad but admitted that she wasn\u2019t ready to start racing herself at first.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201c[My dad] actually wanted to put me in a Jr. Dragster, and when we went to go purchase it, I sat in it. We started it up,\u201d recounts Medeisis. \u201cI didn\u2019t cry or get afraid of it. I just didn\u2019t like it. I\u2019m going to assume I was probably just feeling claustrophobic.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The experience didn\u2019t deter her, though, from going to the track and helping her dad while he was competing. After her 2014 high school graduation, Medeisis\u2019 dad surprised her with a 1968 Camaro that she still owns.<\/p>\n
\u201cI bracket raced with him for a couple of years, and then I met Cody, who was building his truck for Drag Week,\u201d she explains, referring to her now husband, 2016 30 Under 30 honoree Cody Medeisis. \u201cI went and spectated that, and I fell in love with that side of racing, more of the heads-up, the LS stuff, than just a regular bracket car.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cody saw her enthusiasm and put together a budget-friendly engine so Emilee could begin racing in the new-to-her style of competition. After two years of competing, in 2019, she and Cody rebuilt her car \u201cfrom scratch,\u201d and it\u2019s evolved into what the 27-year-old is fielding today \u2013 an 8-second, supercharged 1968 Camaro.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy husband did a lot of the bodywork, but I was at the shop every night with him, helping wherever I could, and I\u2019ll be honest, I\u2019m not a fan of wet sanding,\u201d she chuckles. \u201cNow I realize how much time and energy goes into it, but it\u2019s all a part of it. We have also built the engines in our garage here at home together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then, in 2022, right before HOT ROD Drag Week, she took the car out for testing and blew up the engine. So, back to the home garage she and Cody went to rebuild Labor Day weekend. \u201cThat was like a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me to be so hands-on with it and just a bonding moment for us,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
After putting everything back together, Medeisis made Drag Week and finished fifth in her class with an 8.569 average.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When she\u2019s not on the road, Emilee is competing at her local track.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I\u2019m doing now is a lot of heads-up, no-time racing. There\u2019s actually a series, the Central Illinois Streetcar Shootout, that I ran this year, and they created a new class called the Blue Collar Street, and of the two events, we took home the win in both of those so that was very exciting to start the year off with,\u201d Medeisis explains.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She had planned on attending Drag Week this year; however, she opted to withdraw because of the timing of the event and her wedding, plus a delay on parts. Instead, Emilee entered the final Central Illinois Streetcar Shootout.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe took the win home, and following that, we did the NHRA 8.60 exhibition [during the NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway], which we also took the win home in,\u201d she says. \u201cThis year is the first year that I\u2019ve ever won an event, so to win every time we\u2019ve gone out was just something that I can\u2019t even begin to explain. To go from not winning an event to winning every event that you go to is just a really good feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n
Medeisis acknowledged that she wouldn\u2019t have been afforded these opportunities if it weren\u2019t for her support system around her.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to say thank you to my husband for teaching me over the years this side of racing, my parents for not only introducing me to the sport but getting me into it, and to all of my sponsors,\u201d says Medeisis. \u201cMy program is where it is today with the help of everybody, and I couldn\u2019t do it without all of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The post DI 30 Under 30 2023: Emilee Medeisis<\/a> first appeared on Drag Illustrated | Drag Racing News, Opinion, Interviews, Photos, Videos and More<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Emilee Medeisis (formerly Ballard) is an up-and-coming driver and builder in the drag-and-drive scene. It\u2019s an area that\u2019s mainly dominated by men, but she doesn\u2019t let that intimidate her.\u00a0 As a matter of fact, she wants to be a beacon of encouragement to show other women that they can do this as well. \u201cI definitely […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91657\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}