JULIE STEPAN
FACT SHEET

RACING WITH JULIE

JULIE STEPAN WILL TALK TO ONLY ONE OF THREE PEOPLE WHEN SHE’S WEARING HER HELMET INSIDE THE 1,000-HORSEPOWER SUBARU/SPT/ESX MOTORSPORTS WRX STI: EITHER OF TWO TEAM CREW MEMBERS OR HER FATHER. WHAT’S GOING ON INSIDE HER HELMET AS SHE WAITS IN THE STAGING LANES? SHE’S LIKELY TO BE SINGING “ROXANNE” BY THE POLICE, AND SOMETIMES SHE SINGS THAT SONG ALL THE WAY TO THE FINISH LINE.

A FAMILY SPORT

Like many of today’s young racers, Julie Stepan was inspired to go drag racing by her family. But her interest in drag racing didn’t begin just from going to the track with her father, John Stepan. Others were involved, too: Julie’s uncle, cousins, and grandfather raced as well. So drag racing is literally in her blood.

Since she was six weeks old, Julie’s second home has been a race track. She grew up at tracks on weekends with family members. By the time she was nine, Julie was ready to try racing, too, and she loved it. The family bought a junior dragster for Julie and her cousins, Brandon and Justin Wallace, to share on alternate weekends.

BUT THAT WASN’T ENOUGH FOR JULIE.

Recognizing Julie’s talent and wanting to give her an opportunity to pursue drag racing on a regular basis, her father sold his race cars and bought a new junior dragster for Julie.

Through more than 10 years in the sport, Julie has had a number of interests. Very athletic, she participated in volleyball, basketball, ballet, gymnastics, and ran hurdles while she was in school. Julie wanted to be a school teacher and never considered racing for a career. Still, she says, “Racing’s the only thing that’s stuck with me,” she says. “It’s my passion.”

GOING PRO

Not just an award-winning driver, Julie Stepan has a number of duties on a typical race weekend.

Two years ago, Julie’s father found an article about Ali Afshar’s ESX Motorsports holding a contest to find a female driver. Along with her mother, Julie put together her racing resume and filled out the application, including her school history and photo.

At the time, Julie was in her first semester of college. After the call came to tell her she was one of eight finalists, Julie flew – for the first time – from her home in Grand Prairie, Texas, to Easy Street Motorsports in Los Angeles. Along with the other finalists, she competed in stock Subaru vehicles and was judged on her reaction time and how well she paid attention. Easy Street also could see how well Julie interacted with the crowd.

According to Julie, “From the way we raced, they could see right away that I knew what I was doing.” On the Tuesday following the judging, Easy Street called to say that she had won.

Today, Julie has established herself in the National Hot Rod Association Sport Compact Series.

RACING WITH JULIE

A race weekend consists of more than just strapping into a car capable of more than 150 miles per hour and flooring the accelerator. And not all of the events with the team are racing events. In addition to her appearances at the tracks, Julie makes 30 to 50 personal appearances a year on behalf of Subaru and ESX Motorsports. These include appearances at dealerships and Subaru performance events around the country, as well as large conventions like the SEMA Show in Las Vegas in the fall of 2006.

Julie spends hours with her fans, signing posters, hats, shirts, programs, and anything fans can find, as well as talking about racing. Women fans often ask how they can start. “I tell them that drag racing is one of the easier types of racing to get into, but they should start young.” At the track, Julie has a number of tasks as part of the team. She lists the event’s schedule and creates check-off lists for the team to follow. She also prepares her equipment, making sure it’s ready for Tech 1 inspection and the passes down the quarter-mile track.

“The racers are a great group of guys who support me 100 percent. And the team always takes care of me. There’s always a bottle of water for me in the car before a race and one ready for me afterward.”

Where does Julie Stepan want to go from here? “Eventually, I want to own my own team and get into Pro Stock – that’s an ultimate dream. They run about 200 miles per hour.”

“Then, of course, there’s always Top Fuel!”