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Leading From the Front with Stephanie Cemo

Stephanie Cemo She has a ZR1 AND a Z06?! That’s what I said when I first talked to Stephanie Cemo last year. My first introduction to Stephanie began with spotting her car at 2013 Extreme Auto Fest in San Diego. You really don’t see many race cars at these shows, so her ZR1 definitely stood out. I had the opportunity to catch up with her and "Sasha" during the recent Redline Time Attack Round 1. KG7A6211 As a diehard driver originally from Houston, Stephanie has tallied up track time at various tracks across the nation to include: Texas World Speedway, Motorsports Ranch Houston, Laguna Seca, Buttonwillow Raceway, Nashville Superspeedway, Spring Mountain, Streets of Willow, Willow Springs Raceway, Chuckwalla Raceway, Auto Club Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Sebring International Raceway. KG7A5940 She goes on to say she doesn’t have a favorite track. “I love them all! But if I was to have to choose one, it would probably be Buttonwillow, although I have work to do there. The reason is, the track is uber technical and not only demands a lot of the car, but of the driver. And then there is Laguna. Who doesn’t love Laguna!” Ferrari-1999 You’d expect that a driver like Stephanie has deep-rooted racing ties within her family, but to my surprise, her only racing history is her dad racing his friend's Porsche a little when Stephanie was young. That short exposure sparked Stephanie’s need for speed and her vivid dream to become a race car driver. DSC_0284 So what does one do when you don't have a racing lineage? You make your own history. Her first car was a red Mustang convertible, although her parents insisted on the more economical v6 model. To their dismay, it only meant "I would drive the piss out of the car,” Stephanie remembers. “I broke everything, down to the motor mounts,” she says chuckling. Clearly, she takes pride in driving hard. KG7A9412 “Throughout my life, I have always been a speed demon on the road. I cannot tell you how many tickets I’ve received over the years. I cannot keep my foot out of a car!” exclaims Stephanie. After going though several cars that were broken all the time, she got a brand new 2002 black convertible Corvette. Purchased by her father, Stephanie goes on to tell us that she's pretty sure he was terrified she would end up killing herself in it. skip-barber By this time, Stephanie had done a short stint of drag racing before getting hooked on road racing after a friend invited her out to Texas World Speedway (TWS). Within a weekend, Stephanie advanced from the beginner group to the advanced group and was hooked. She was asked to become a driving instructor at TWS two months after, and held that job for four years. In 2003, she chose to attend the Skip Barber Driving School at Laguna Seca where she placed 3rd in class. KG7A9653 Stephanie experimented with various performance upgrades and by 2004 was trading in her convertible for a Z06. Fast forward to 2010, and Stephanie found herself living in California. She now works as a driving instructor for Speed Ventures and BMWCCA in SoCal. “While I desperately miss my family and friends in Houston, I just couldn’t do the heat any longer. SoCal is such a beautiful place to live with so much to do. And did I mention the tracks!” KG7A5883 By now Stephanie has owned five Corvette’s over the past 10 years and currently owns a 2009 Corvette ZR1 and a 2009 purpose-built Z06 racecar. The 2009 ZR1 is stock with aero and slicks while the 2009 Z06 has an extensive line-up of modifications to include: a new LS7 block with too many engine goodies to list, mated to the road through robust Penske Double Adjustable Coilovers, Pfadt Engineering spherical bearings & sway bars, and a Brembo braking system. KG7A6431 Putting down 589 RWHP, the Z06 is backed by APR Performance, Sparco, JP Logistics, K & N Filters, JE Pistons, Crower Cams, Kooks Headers, PurÖl Lubricants, MGJ Transport, Redline Synthetic Oil, HRE Performance Wheels, Pit Posse, and Rehv Clothing. KG7A6728 Aside from numerous appearances at various shows such as SEMA and PRI, Stephanie’s list of accomplishments during her racing career is long. Enough to make most rethink their game plan on how to advance their racing careers. Her notoriety in the 'Vette scene landed her a spot in the May 2007 issue of Vette Magazine and May 2008 issue of Corvette Fever. Her current accomplishments include: 2012 Targa Trophy - Orange County Rally for Fastest Time, 2013 and 2014 Speed Ventures Corvette Challenge Season Winner, 2014 Redline Time Attack Season Winner, as well as four Global Time Attack first place finishes and a second place finish at SuperLap Battle in 2014 - all in the unlimited class. Stephanie-Cemo-race-car-driver-frank As we continue pushing into 2015, Stephanie tells us she’ll be competing in SCCA GT2, NASA ST1, Global Time Attack and Redline Time Attack. She won her first SCCA Majors race at Auto Club Speedway in January and second overall out of 4 classes with 28 cars on track. You just can’t beat the marketing potential of collaborating with a female driver at the top of the leader board, with a SCCA National Competition License and NASA Regional Competition License! And what lies beyond? Stephanie says “My goal is to someday race in World Challenge, but more than anything just be out there racing, getting better and HAVING FUN!” If you can keep up with her, make sure you to follow her at her website www.stephaniecemo.com or via Instagram at @stephaniecemo.
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