KATHRYN PENNINGTON "KAT" TEASDALE - 12/25/1964 - 06/02/2016
(home - Toronta Ontario, CAN)
Teasdale was born December 25, 1964 and called Toronto, Ontario her hometown. She began riding horses at age 4, and later won a junior golfing championship. Her father Worden Teasdale was once president of the Royal Canadian Golf Association. As a teenager she was an alpine skiing racer, until quitting due to a knee injury in 1980. Teasdale began her auto racing career in 1988. Her first competitions that season were Formula Ford races in Canada. She joined the Landford Racing team in 1991, and participated in the Molson Indy Vancouver in the Atlantic Championship, becoming the first woman to compete in the series. Teasdale made her debut in the CASCAR series during the 1993 season. She had limited previous exposure to stock cars at the time, but achieved success immediately by winning CASCAR's Hard Charger Award as its rookie of the year. In January 1994, she raced in the 24 Hours of Daytona with a Porsche team and with an all-women team. Later in the season she raced in the 12 Hours of Sebring, and was recruited to drive with the Pontiac Factory team. From the 1996 to the 1998 season, she was the three-time Canadian national champion in the Chevrolet Camaro racing series. In the 1997 and 1998 seasons, Teasdale
drove Chevrolet #54 with Team IGA during the NASCAR Xfinity Series at the Lysol 200, held at the Watkins Glen International track; but did not qualify. The 1997 race marked the first time a woman had competed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. She later raced in the Xfinity series at Milwaukee Mile. She would start 40th; drive a clean race and be running at the finish. She brought her #54 IGA Chevy home in 31st. Teasdale had planned to race a full schedule during the 1999 season, but chose to retire from professional racing in 1998 due to ill health. She won
12 Hours of Sebring 1994
Xfinity Series 1997
over 180 races during her career, was the first Canadian woman to have an international racing license, and the first woman to race in the Indy Lights road racing series. Teasdale started her own Black Kat racing team in early 1988 when she turned professional. It later changed into Kat & Company (Katko) Racing when she joined the NASCAR circuit. Teasdale was infected with Lyme disease later in life. she died unexpectedly on June 2, 2016, due after a long battle with physical and mental health issues caused by Lyme Disease. Some info from Wikipedia
All Photos copyright and are property of their respective owners