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You know the feeling. You're walking along minding your own business when suddenly you see a young woman tucked into the driver's seat of a stock car. "Cool," you think, knowing full well that racing still is unfortunately for the most part a man's world. Then, as you continue walking, the head jerk happens. It's not planned, it's not intentional, and there is nothing bad meant by it.
But how can that be?
How can the same driver be behind the wheel, then pushing the race car into the qualifying lineup at the same time? Can't be, can it?
No, but 22-year-old identical twins Molly and Megan of Hastings, Minn., sure get their share of double takes at race tracks around Wisconsin and Minnesota. Friday at the La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway, Molly was hoping people would notice her for something else her ability to drive a Late Model stock car.
Before the 35th annual running of the Oktoberfest Race Weekend is over, she just might. Rhoads, in her first year of racing Late Model-type cars, has done quite well. She's no one-race hit, no flash-in-the-pan either, as she competed three times a week this summer, entering more than 60 races.
She's still searching for her first Late Model win, but she was certainly competitive this season. In fact, she finished fourth in the season points at Fergus Falls, Minn., seventh at Raceway Park in Shakopee, Minn., and eighth at the I-94 Speedway in Sauk Centre, which is near St. Cloud, Minn.
"I work hard at it. I don't like it when I suck," Molly said. "So I try really hard not to. I know what I am doing. I've been around racing for a while."
If you haven't figured it out yet, Molly's not shy. She's not boastful, or seeking attention, but she's not going to back down from much either. You don't jump behind the wheel of a 400 horsepower race car if "timid" is any part of your personality. Molly, who raced for two years in a Sportsman type car before jumping up to the Late Model class this season, got hooked on racing by tagging along with her brother.
A.J. Rhoads happens to be a top 10 driver in the NASCAR AutoZone Elite Series, Midwest Division. In fact, he enters this weekend's competition sixth in the season points chase. Megan actually spends more time with A.J. than she does with Molly as she serves as A.J.'s spotter, and helps out on his crew, too.
"Molly knows far more about the cars than I do. I just do what they say," said Megan, a realtor in Hastings, Minn. "She knows how to set then up and she certainly knows how to drive them."
Molly was busy Friday trying to find a way to get some more speed out of her car, which she is racing in the Central Wisconsin Racing Association class at the Oktoberfest Race Weekend. She qualified 45th out 46 drivers in the division, which didn't sit well. She had her race suit rolled down to her waist, and she would have had her sleeves rolled up, too, if her shirt had them. In other words, Molly and Megan weren't afraid to get their hands dirty.
"I was third in points last year (in a Sportsman type car), so I was ready to make the jump (to Late Model)," Molly said. "I helped A.J. when he raced, and I jumped in one of his backup (Late Model) cars a few times. It's hard work, but I love it."
Racing a Late Model stock car wasn't really the primary career path for Molly, or having an all-female pit crew (Tara Schafer of Fergus Falls is helping this weekend) wasn't something they thought about, either. It just happened.
A little more than five months ago Molly and Megan were living in River Falls, Wis. together, of course while attending UW-River Falls. Molly graduated with a degree in animal science, while Megan earned a degree in business management.
"I wanted to work in a zoo," Megan said. "If nothing else, I have something to fall back on."
Molly went to work for her father in the family business Dakota Concrete in Hastings, Minn. and started racing. And racing, and racing some more.
"I want to go as far as it (racing) will take me," Molly said. "I just love it. If I don't make it, hopefully my brother will make it big and take me along."
Just a hunch here, but Molly seems like the kind of person who is happier behind the wheel. She's confident, and in control.
"When she was in high school, she would tell people, 'Some day you will see me racing on TV,'" Megan said of Molly. "I'd like to see it. This is what we do. In the summer, this is all we do (outside of work). Our family (mother Peggy Mays, stepfather Ed Mays, father Arlo Rhoads and stepmother Renee) will all be here this weekend)."
What make's Molly early-career success even more impressive is the fact that she spent most of her races without a pit crew. Megan would be with A.J. most of the time, and Schafer works in Fergus Falls, Minn., some 3 ½ hours away from Hastings. Yes, she was a solo act for most of the season.
"I have to know how to do things myself," Molly said. "It was a busy week when I got in a wreck on a Saturday night and had to replace the front clip. I was kind of shaken up after that I hit full-throttle. You wonder a little, but you know it is going to stick the next time and you're not going to die or anything."
Molly isn't worried about her safety, knowing race cars are equipped with numerous safety features. And she's not worried about what other people think either.
"Some guys are still stuck on getting passed by a girl," Molly said. "I don't want to be known as that. I want to be just another driver."
Jeff Brown can be reached at (608) 791-3403, or e-mail at jbrown@lacrossetribune.com
