Laci Ferno: Fueled by the Grind

It was love at first sight for Laci Ferno. At 14, she started her racing career after watching Kyle Larson race. It's clear, she's never taken the easy route. Always determined to scratch the itch just at the surface of her skin, driving her to race. Even if life tries to pull her off track, she finds her way back. 

She started in outlaw karts. Jumped to Midgets, and landed in a Legend car by surprise. “I didn’t even know I was going to race one,” she tells me, half-laughing. “It just kind of happened. I’ll try anything once. If a sponsor wants me in it, I’m in it.” 

It's clear from the get-go, Ferno is an open book. Fast, direct, and determined.

Laci is a one-woman show, single handedly building a following of over 30K across two social media platforms without an agency. Behind the carefully curated feed is a 21 year old who’s spent the last two years messaging and connecting with anyone she thinks could help her, even a little bit, and learning the business end of racing on the fly. 

People don’t see how much time it takes. Like, 90% of my day is messaging people. Marketing myself. I got my first sponsor at 15

She recently hired a trainer who specialised in motorsport. She highlighted just how important that was for her transition from dirt to asphalt. The physicality of it all really hit her when she drove the Legend cars, but the heat didn’t get to her thanks to all her training. 

Now she’s back on track, but her return was far from easy. Ferno spent two years off track. It wasn’t her choice, life happened and things just snowballed.

Stuff just fell apart. Sponsors drop off when you’re not racing.

In spite of it all, Laci has poured everything into getting back into a car of any kind. She learnt from her mistakes, got clearer about what she wanted, and took more control of her racing career as a business, not just a passion.

For Laci, not racing felt like a part of her was missing, she wasn’t herself without the roar of an engine being the soundtrack of her day. 

Going back to training and being around her people helped Ferno find that missing puzzle piece. It’s beyond clear that she is determined to keep her head high and never give up her dreams of being on track.

Ferno’s done it all, from the dusty dirt tracks to asphalt, but that transition wasn’t the easiest. The Legend cars reminded her that there was still so much to learn. 

They told me I was going to stall it. I didn’t believe them. But yeah… I stalled it. Couldn’t even get it started.

Legend cars were different from anything she’d driven before. Despite having similar engines to the Micros she’d previously driven, she had a lot to figure out, especially with the knowledge that she'd been away from the track for two years in the lead up to this opportunity. The last car she’d driven were late models in 2023, and there was a clear difference to the Legends.

Laci credits her trainer for helping to make the transition easier, not getting overheated or too exhausted. 

Every discipline she tries teaches her something new, shaping her into an experienced and well-rounded driver, able to adapt on short notice. 

I love to talk. I’m the same with everyone. Could never act like someone else, even if I tried.

Laci wasn’t always a racing driver, playing basketball from year 2 to year 9. She described her younger self as socially awkward, but racing brought her out of her shell.

On the dirt tracks, she met people who matched her energy. In 2020, she decided to focus on building herself on social media, where she hoped to find likeminded people. A community of people who lived and breathed racing just like her. No doubt, she was successful in that. 

I’m so tired of people trying to pit us against each other.

For Laci, the future of motorsports is equal. When the helmets are on, visors down, they're all competitors, another person to overtake on track, not male drivers and female drivers. She wants to see more women, and see them find success, not just one woman we all put on a pedestal. Pitting the women against each other is not the way to a different future in the world of racing. 

In her own future, she hopes to race full time or as much as possible and be successful in it, so much so that she can focus solely on the racing, leaving the rest of the logistics to someone else. 

I want this to be the thing I do. And I want to be successful at it.

There’s no plan B for Laci (maybe SFX makeup but that's a different story). The dream in an ideal world would be to do the Cup Series or Sprint cars, but right now, it's all about persevering and finding sponsors who can help realise her dream. 

It’s easy to get discouraged, Ferno’s heard the word ‘no’ more times than a ‘yes’ or a ‘maybe’ since she’s started racing. Being authentic and real with fans, supporters and sponsors is what has taken the 21 year old from strength to strength. 

Laci is proof that persistence is key. Loving the grind and the not so fun parts of racing is just as important as winning the next race. She’ll continue to show up, get in the car, and drive like it's her last race all the way to the flag. 

To keep up with Laci’s journey, follow her on Instagram and TikTok as well as her website.