Leilani Munter attended the University of California in San Diego and earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology. During her school years she worked as a model, and also began to attend racing schools and amateur races. She was hooked. Her talents behind the wheel were obvious.
“My passion is racing. Biology would have been the secure, responsible choice but I went with my heart.”
In 2007 Leilani became the fourth woman in history to race in the Indy Pro Series, the developmental league of IndyCar. She impressed the open wheel racing world when she qualified 5th for her debut.
Declared by Sports Illustrated as “one of the top ten female drivers in the world”, Leilani has earned respect from legends in her sport, including four time Indy 500 Champion Rick Mears, IndyCar Driver Jaques Lazier and others.
Question: How did you enjoy the road rally competition, with the combination of hill climbs, slaloms and drag race competitions throughout Norway’s scenic southern and western coasts. What was most memorable about the experience?
The Norwegian countryside was beautiful and along the way I met some really fantastic people that are working hard to bring zero emission vehicles to the world. One of the most memorable moments was running into Prince Albert of Monaco in a hotel bar in Stavanger. He loves racing and we had a nice chat about motorsports. It’s not often you run into a Prince!
Question: How did your car handle the stresses of the competition?
My driveshaft broke on the second day of the competition. It had nothing to do with the car, it was actually damaged during transportation from Germany. They did their best to fix it for day three, but we didn’t have all the right parts so we sort of limped home on the third day. On the bright side, we could relax and take photos of the countryside since we were no longer competing for the win.
Question: What is your proudest accomplishment behind the wheel?
My debut in the Indy Pro Series at Kentucky Speedway was a great day, even though it ended too early. It started out great, I qualified 5th for my first open wheel race. I fell back on a restart all the way to 13th but it was great because it gave me the opportunity to pass and show people that I could race. At one point I passed five cars in a lap and a half and raced my way back up to 6th place where I had run down the cars running in 4th and 5th place and I was setting up to pass them when the car in front of me cut a tire and I got caught up in a wreck. But I know I earned a lot of respect in the open wheel garage that day because I got a lot of phone calls after that and Jaques Lazier and Rick Mears said some really nice things about my driving to the press which is just a huge honor.
Question: Who do you admire most in the racing world?
I have great respect for the women who came before me, that paved the way for more women to get into our sport. It must have been so difficult for them. I admire the determination and courage it must have taken to knock down those gender barriers.
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