By John Goolsby, For the Tribune
BIRMINGHAM — Rising senior Raegen Moody, a Mechanical Engineering student at Auburn University, will get some serious hands-on training as she heads off to the world of the NTT IndyCar Series in a few days. The Cedartown, Georgia native was one of three females selected to be a part of Chip Ganassi Racing’s Women In Motorsports Powered by PNC Bank 2023 internship program.
Dixon’s No. 9 PNC Bank Honda.
Photo by: Chip Ganassi Racing
The Ganassi program was developed to drive awareness and support for gender equality and economic inclusion for women in the motorsports workforce.
Moody will begin her internship with Chip Ganassi Racing the day after the Indy 500. She will spend two months with the organization in Indianapolis. “I’ll work Monday through Friday, and then I’m traveling to four races throughout the summer.”
“I grew up a big race fan and always had all forms of motorsports on the TV,” she said. Moody got her first up close look at IndyCar at Barber Motorsports Park a few weeks ago.
“I came to Auburn and got involved in a couple of motor sports-oriented extracurriculars,” she said. “At that point, it opened my eyes to a career that could be had in this field.”
Moody served as the Director of Competition for Auburn’s iRacing team. “I set race schedules and planned how we would learn and grow on the technical side as a team throughout the semester.” The Auburn team competes in the eNASCAR College iRacing Series. While many colleges have separate entrants, Auburn’s team is run like a real race team. This past spring, the series, offering a $15,000 scholarship purse for each race, held events on the virtual tracks of Iowa, Dover, Michigan, and Daytona.
Racing allows Moody to use all that she has learned on the plains and pair it with her competitive spirit.
“I would say for me, the thing I love about making a career in racing is that I grew up playing competitive sports, and I see motorsport as an opportunity to marry the technical skills that I’ve gained in college, but also to have that experience of being on a team and working and competing for something.”
Auburn’s iRacing team.
Photo by: Auburn iRacing
Moody offers this advice for girls looking to pursue a career in racing. “The two biggest things would be, one, believe that you can do it. Nothing is stopping you from doing it,” she said.
“Two, once you start getting into it a little bit further, there is such an incredible community of women in motorsports that are all so willing to take time and offer advice and give feedback.”
Moody has found that a unique sisterhood exists among the women of IndyCar. “One of the most special things for me is just getting to meet all these women in the paddock, and they’re all so incredible and so supportive,” said Moody. “And you get to hear their stories about how there weren’t many of them a few years ago. One of the coolest opportunities for being a woman in motorsports is fostering those relationships with the other women in the sport.”
Race fans should keep an eye on Auburn’s Raegen Moody. You might just see her calling a race on a pit stand in the near future.
