The 2018 September/October issue of Hagerty Magazine featured a nice profile on Minnesota Austin Healey Club member and racer Eileen Wetzel. Here is the excerpt and some photos.
Special thanks to Hagerty Magazine Editor Stefan Lombard for permission to reprint and to photographers Ben Woodworth and Jordan Lewis for their great photographs.
“My kids just shake their heads,” says Eileen Wetzel when asked about her new hobby of car racing. Their confusion is understandable because, until 2016, Wetzel had never driven over 100 mph. Her husband, Gary, bought an Austin-Healey 3000 in 2010, awakening Wetzel’s previously latent interest in racing. She was also inspired by the late Sue Joppa, another female Healey driver. The Wetzels started with autocross events hosted by the Healey club, and then, in 2016, they came across another 3000 already prepped for racing. That year, Wetzel enrolled in the Bondurant Racing School. She was 56. Her instructor was 22. The magic happened, and now she’s the driver and her husband is the mechanic. “I love the personal challenge,” Wetzel says when asked why she races. “When I’m on the track, I don’t think of anything else.”
Eileen Wetzel’s husband, Gary, serves as head mechanic and crew chief for her racing efforts. He was also the enabler, introducing her to the charms of the British sports car when he bought his first Healey in 2010.
Eileen Wetzel is a dental assistant, but on weekends, she’s hooked by the challenge of driving her Austin-Healey as fast as it can go.