NASCAR Weekly Series racer Julie Jorgenson offers her perspective on making waves in the racing community and being a model for the next generation of drivers.
By Rachael Van Rossum
Julie Jorgenson understands the addiction to the feeling of jumping behind the wheel and pushing her car to the limit. Growing up hearing stories of her dad racing and spending her weekends at Elko Speedway in Elko New Market, Jorgenson quickly discovered her passion for the sport that would become more than just a pastime — it was what she lived and breathed.
With two championships under the hood of her car, Jorgenson stands as the second female driver ever to win a championship at Elko Speedway. Racing alongside her good friend Taylor Goldman in her #83 purple power stock car, Jorgenson secures victories and proves herself in a man’s world.
Q: How did you get into racing?
A: Similar to [my friend Taylor Goldman], my dad has been racing for over 50 years, so I grew up at the race track, which is how I got to know her and meet her and that kind of stuff. So we had very similar racing upbringing backgrounds.
Q: What has it been like for you racing against one of your best friends?
A: It’s actually been really fun to race against [Taylor] because we’re still tough, and we’re not going to give each other anything… After the races, after everything, we can actually sit down and kind of process everything, and we’re able to come down and talk about the night. And it’s nice having somebody that gets it from a girl’s perspective, because there’s some people out there that have it out for us… but it’s just nice to have her to go back to and talk about everything afterwards. But it’s so fun racing with her because I’m cheering her on as I’m right next to her.
Q: How do you mentally and physically prepare for a race? Do you have any rituals or traditions that you have to do?
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A: I like to listen to music that’ll pump me up. I really like Falling in Reverse. That’s usually who I go to to get me in the mood of, all right, we’re gonna do this, we’re gonna go out there full throttle kind of thing. That’s kind of all that I do. Racing is literally my blood. I can’t do anything without thinking about racing. So it’s really easy to get me pumped up to go. But music is the one thing that usually gets me in the go mode.
Q: What is your relationship with your dad like at the track?
A: We go back and forth to each other, and since we’ve been doing it for so long, we understand how we need to go about some things. But it’s really fun having my dad be there with me because he has been my favorite driver forever, so getting to learn from him and him teach me things. The best thing I could ever think of to spend my summer doing is spending it with my dad at the racetrack.
Q: You’ve made track history at Elko Speedway. What was that for? And how did that happen?
A: I was the second female to get a championship, but I’m the first female to have two back-to-back championships. In 2023, I wanted the championship. So we worked really, really hard to get to that point… In 2024, I wasn’t really trying to get the championship. But I wasn’t not not trying, if that makes sense, but towards the end of the year, there were some DQ’s (disqualifications) and whatnot… so that’s how I got to be the champion. We had a good car, and I had been driving with those drivers, so I knew what to expect out there.
Q: From your own experience, what’s it been like being a female racer in such a male-dominated sport?
A: It has its ups and downs. Having a name that is well known in the race community can be a pros and cons. Some people will use that — they don’t like my dad, so then they will treat me differently, or they won’t give me the space and whatnot. You have to work harder at gaining the respect out of some of the drivers, where some of them have watched you grow up racing, and they’ll give you the respect… it’s fun trying to gain the respect of these male drivers… but sometimes it can be really frustrating with having to push back a little harder than most.
Q: What advice would you give to women who are looking to pursue careers in more male-dominated fields?
A: They got to have a strong backbone to be able to stand up to what you believe in, and that you have the right to be there, to just keep pushing, and [you] got to be strong, but it’s doable. You just got to be able to put in the work and keep fighting back to those that give you a hard time and just got to keep proving and proving and proving again that you’re just fine, even though that kind of sucks to have to do. But it’s so worth it to know that you can do it, too.
As a rising racer, Julie Jorgenson already inspires the next generation of female drivers with her successful career and ability to surpass expectations. Her own journey within the racing community highlights the importance of having resilience and standing up for what you want, even when the norms say otherwise.
Rachael Van Rossum is a sophomore Political Science and Journalism major at Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota. She has a passion for writing the voices of athletes, peers, political figures and even fictional characters to tell compelling stories both on and off the field or podium. She loves spending her weekends yelling at Formula 1 cars on TV at 4 a.m. and collecting ’80s rock vinyls for her record player.
