MARTINSVILLE, Va. (Sept. 23, 2015) – Like many drivers, Macy Causey was born into a racing family. Unlike many drivers, that family consists of a matriarch instead of a patriarch.
Causey, 14, is attempting to make the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 on October 4 at Martinsville Speedway. If she is successful in starting the race she will be following in the footsteps of her grandmother, Diane Teel.
In 1982 Teel became the first female to ever start a (now) Xfinity Series race, when she started the Dogwood 500 at Martinsville Speedway. She finished 29th, ahead of names like Tommy Ellis and Phil Parsons.
Now, 33 years later, her granddaughter, Macy Causey, will attempt to start a race, the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 on October 4, on the same track. If Causey is successful they will become the first grandmother/granddaughter combination to start races at the famous half-mile speedway.
“It means a lot to me, but it also means a lot to her,” Causey said. “Me being a third-generation, it’s really cool. There’s not many of them, especially female.”
One benefit to having a grandmother who raced at Martinsville is that the track hasn’t changed much in the time between generations, giving Causey someone to turn to for advice.
“She told me what she has done here and just guided me,” Causey said. “The braking was the main thing.”
Martinsville Speedway is no stranger to family ties. Current Martinsville Speedway President Clay Campbell is the grandson of track founder H. Clay Earles and last fall Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Goody’s® Headache Relief Shot® 500, 57 years after his grandfather, Ralph Earnhardt, made his first Martinsville start.
“I remember when Diane Teel made her first start here,” Campbell said. “To look out there now and see her granddaughter on the same track is pretty neat.”
For Causey, the goal for the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 is simple.
“At the least, make the race,” Causey said. “If I do, then bring it home in one piece.”
