Courtesy PhotosMackena Bell's conversation with Gen. William D. Frink, Jr., above right, on a flight to Florida led to her speaking in Los Angeles for Women's Equality Day.
On her way to Daytona, Fla., for the NASCAR Coke Zero 400, Mackena Bell was having a terrible trip.
The 19-year-old Carson City race car driver's flight was canceled, and she had been re-routed on a four-stop route.
She looked at the ticket in her hand.
"Where is seat 2B?" she asked herself.
Upgraded to first class for the first time in her life, she arrived at her seat as an older gentleman was just settling in.
"I looked at him and said, 'S'up,'" Bell said.
It turns out that greeting, and the conversation that followed, intrigued the gentleman - Army Gen. William D. Frink, Jr. - so much so that he tracked Bell down through the NASCAR offices and invited her to speak to his staff at the 311th Expeditionary Sustainment Command in Los Angeles for Women's Equality Day.
Bell received two commemorative coins in appreciation of her appearance, and added a new fan base for her racing. She also got an invitation to come back and speak to Gen. Frink's troops when they return from Iraq in three months.
"That worked so well, I guess I should greet everybody with 'S'up' from now on," laughed Bell.
Bell is a young woman on the move. The Carson High graduate is finishing up her first season of racing in the NASCAR Super Late Model division at Toyota Speedway in Irwindale, Calif., as part of NASCAR's Drive for Diversity program.
Bell has had an excellent rookie season, steadily improving her finishing positions and recently making history with a third place finish, the highest ever by a female competitor in the division.
Bell started her career with Super Outlaw Karts of Nevada, a racing organization much like Little League in baseball or Pop Warner in football.
Beginning at age 10, Bell learned her craft in a kart powered by a modified lawnmower engine. She soon moved up to faster, motorcycle-engined karts, racing at Champion Motor Speedway in Carson City, Thunder Bowl Speedway in Mound House, and at Red Bluff in California.
She won races and championships, and at the age of 14 graduated to Legends cars, which are scaled-down replicas of '30s and '40s jalopies powered by 1200cc motorcycle engines. She became the first female Legends champion at the now-defunct Champion Motor Speedway in the track's final season.
With her eyes on the goal of a racing career, Bell attended driving schools such as the famous Jimmy Sills' sprint car school, and was accepted to the prestigious Lyn St. James academy for aspiring racers.
This led to her application for NASCAR's Drive for Diversity program, an organization geared toward helping female and minority drivers advance their careers. On her third attempt, she was one of 24 selected from hundreds of applicants to attend the D4D "combine" at South Boston Speedway in Virginia.
Bell had by this time moved into stock cars, racing at All American Speedway in Roseville, Calif., and competing in her Outlaw Kart on the off weekends.
She impressed the Drive for Diversity panel with her driving skills, poise, and personality, and was one of the 12 racers chosen for the 2009 program. This put her into a sponsored ride, the Super Late Model Chevrolet fielded by Position One Motorsports at Toyota Speedway.
The 550 horsepower Super Late Model is a serious race car, and a step up on the ladder to the top levels of racing, NASCAR's Sprint Cup, Nationwide, and Camping World Truck series.
Although getting a professional sponsored ride is the goal of every race driver, it does have its down side.
Bell is racing far from home without the support of her local fans and supporters.
"It makes me sad that I can't still work with the people who have really helped me," she said. "But the Position One team provides the crew, the shop, and all the things my family and friends used to do for me."
Her father Kelly, who has always maintained Mackena's race cars, is now cheering her on from the stands, mom Shannon does her PR and race reports, and younger sister Kellcy is her biggest fan.
"I want to thank my family for all their support. Without them, I wouldn't be here," Bell said.
When asked to summarize her season, Bell was proud of her improvement.
"Learning is the most important thing. To be able to improve every week, to show progress, is what the Drive for Diversity program is all about. We have been consistently in the top 10 for the last eight races, and to get a third place exceeded everybody's expectations," said Bell.
In addition to her recent appearance before an Army audience in Southern California, the Drive for Diversity program has also provided Bell with exposure to the top levels of the sport. In addition to attending the Coca-Cola 400 at Daytona to promote the diversity program to young female and minority drivers, she also attended the Women in the Winners Circle event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where female racers were recognized for their accomplishments and were able to network with the movers and shakers in the racing world.
"I have been on more airplanes in the last year than in my whole life before that," said Bell of all the travels.
Mom Shannon concurs.
"They keep telling us that this is just the tip of the iceberg. If she keeps moving up in the sport, it will just get more intense. I don't know if I can take it," she said, laughing.
So what's next for the 2008 Carson High prom queen and rising racing star?
For one thing, she is enrolled in a business marketing program at Western Nevada College to improve her marketing skills. But if she is selected for her second year in the Drive for Diversity program, she will be in a stock car somewhere in 2010.
"I might be back at Irwindale, or maybe racing at a track back east," she said. "Where ever it is, I just want to be in a race car."