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Melissa has always been attracted to adventurous and challenging sports . This includes long distance bicycle tours , mountain climbing and long distance trail hiking. She completed a thru hike of the Appalachian Trail covering 2193 miles over 143 days in 2021. This love for adventure translated into Racing cars starting in 2015 on Performance tracks leading to completing professional high speed track training courses with Porsche and Ferrari by 2022. She selected the Ferrari Challenge Race series to sprout her wings starting in 2023 and will complete the 2024 Race season soon. She has been on the podium several times and is emerging as one of Ferrari’s fastest female Challenge Race car drivers.

Driving Highlights

  • 2015: Started Performance Track driving in street / track cars. This included Porsche GT track cars and Ferrari GT street cars.

  • 2021: Attended all Porsche Driving Experience (PTX) courses at Barber Motor sports in Birmingham, AL, completing her Masters RS course and achieving her SCCA Racing License.

  • 2022: Attended all of Ferrari Corsa Pilota courses concluding with completion of the RACE course at Daytona Raceway in November where she achieved her IMSA Racing license.

  • 2022: Acquired first race car, a Ferrari 488 Evo Challenge, in July. Retained Conquest Racing for preparation and management at various test days and races.

  • 2022: M1 Concourse American Speed Festival Speed Ring winner (Ferrari Class)

  • 2022: Multiple test days with Select Motorsports/David Murray at iconic tracks including Barber Motorsports Park, Daytona Int’l Speedway, Homestead Miami Speedway, Road America, Sonoma Raceway, Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Grattan Raceway, Grand Rapids Speedway, Circuit of the America and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

  • 2023: Started racing in Ferrari Challenge North America, Club level. Retained a professional coach, Sebastian Saavedra (IMSA Silver level driver).

  • 2023: Successfully completed Ferrari’s Track Attack events winning fastest Woman driver at Sonoma Raceway in July.

  • 2024 Jan-May: Driver in Ferrari Club Challenge North America.

  • 2024 June-Dec.: Driver in Ferrari Challenge Racing North America, starting at Round 3 Watkins Glen in Coppa Shell Am class. Fastest race lap time during her race at Watkins Glen. Retained a professional coach, Cameron Lawrence (IMSA Silver level driver).

  • 2024: Took delivery of her new 2024 Ferrari 296 Challenge race car on July 1st and moved up to Ferrari Challenge Race level for Round 3 at Watkins Glen Int’l Raceway. Podium both races at Sonoma Round 4 and achieved Ladies Cup at Indianapolis Round 5. In October at the American Speed Festival in Pontiac, MI, won P1 in the Stelleto Cup Challenge competition. successfully won P2 ( both races ) in Las Vagas at the F1 Grand Prix Ferrari Challenge Race and finished the year qualifying for the Formula Woman Nations Cup in Dubai at the Dubai Autodrome.

  • 2025: Melissa will race the entire Ferrari Challenge North America Race Series including the Ferrari Finali Mondiali at The Mugello Circuit in Italy.

  • 2025: Melissa will embark on a new Racing challenge and will head to Dubai to Race Radical SR3s in an All Woman’s Race series called Formula Women. At this time, Melissa is the only woman to represent the USA.

    Formula Women aims to revolutionize the world of Motorsport by training & creating opportunities for talented female drivers to compete at the highest levels, challenging stereotypes and inspiring the next generation of female racers.

    Melissa will head to Dubai in May of 2025 to represent the USA in the Formula Woman Nations Cup. 

    Melissa has taken delivery of her new 2025 Radical SR3 XXR and is currently testing and preparing for the race in Dubai.

Melissa is quickly emerging as one of the fastest Female drivers in the Ferrari Challenge Race series.

Melissa is quickly emerging as one of the fastest Female drivers in the Ferrari Challenge Race series.

Ferrari Challenge North America

Melissa races in Ferrari Challenge North America, a single-marque motorsport championship that began in 1993 for Ferrari owners who wanted to race their cars. It’s a competition for Ferrari customers and enthusiasts who want to compete in top-level sprint races on scenic tracks around the world.

The Ferrari Challenge has four official series: Europe, North America, Japan, and the United Kingdom. Competitors from each series compete in the annual World Finals (Finali Mondiali) event.

The races are hard-fought but professional and safe, with a focus on the drivers. To ensure this, participants are limited to dealers or authorized race shops, and drivers are grouped into four classes based on speed and experience. The cars are closely matched, allowing drivers to fully enjoy the excitement of the track.