Youth, Grit, and Horsepower: Inside Nicole Hecker’s Racing Dream

Did you know women make up only 10% of participation in motorsport? This percentage is slowly growing as more opportunities open up for women in the industry. One of these women paving the way is Nicole Hecker. A 28 year old race car driver from Ormond Beach, Florida. Her passion for racing stemmed from her family, specifically her father Randy Hecker and her grandfather Richard “Dick” Hecker, who both had successful oval track careers. 

Not only is she a talented driver, but also educated. With three bachelor degrees from Flagler College in Accounting, Business Administration, and Finance. Hecker also has an MBA from Jacksonville University. When she is not racing, she is working as an accountant. 

The adrenaline that comes with racing cars is not her only hobby, “I enjoy several things outside of racing as well, such as K-dramas, anime, reading, and have recently taken up aerial silks to help stay active and fit for racing!” 

Nicole Hecker grew up around racing from watching her father oval race. So naturally that interest was sparked inside of her.

She recounts the time when she realized she wanted to race, in her words, “I always wanted to participate in sports as a child, but my mom wouldn’t allow it for various reasons. I had grown up watching my dad oval track race and it occurred to me that racing was something that my dad was already actively doing, so maybe he would let me too! I asked him and the next thing I knew, we had a go kart and I was racing!”

She continued by saying, “Since the karts ran all the same nights as the oval track, my dad ended up selling his modified and joined me in karting. Unfortunately, in 2011 he was in a bad karting accident and broke his neck which ended his racing career. After that he started looking into an alternative form of racing for me, wanting to find something safer than karts and oval track racing.”

Her father and her eventually discovered the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). A club that hosts various types of racing. 

So at the age of 17, Nicole received her SCCA Competition License, which will  allow her to compete, and since then has been racing in Central Florida Region SCCA at Daytona and Sebring. 

Through the years however the biggest ongoing challenge is funding. Just as it is for so many drivers in the industry, especially female drivers. Without sponsors, the financial responsibility falls onto the driver or the small team they have. 

This is the case for Nicole Hecker, as she understands first hand the financial challenge of racing. 

In her own words she states, “I do not currently have any sponsors and it takes both me and my father to keep the car going and me on track. I really could not do this without him. Sometimes we have to make choices about what to go without because we don't have the budget for it. For example, the AC in our motorhome was broken for over a year before we could have it fixed. We do the best we can with the budget we have and make due where we can.” 

This is also the reason why she understands the power of social media and how marketing is important. Social media is a powerful tool that can open up a world of opportunities. She works hard to grow her presence on social media in the hopes that it will attract sponsors. 

The importance and value of marketing is something she wishes she knew sooner, saying,“I think if I had just known how valuable marketing is in racing before college, I would have gone for a different major. Racing is expensive and the higher up you climb, the more expensive it is. There's a lot of work that goes into getting and maintaining sponsors and I wish I had been aware of the process earlier so that I could have started it sooner. I feel that I could be so much further ahead of where I am now if I had started back then.”

While trying to win over sponsors, Nicole Hecker has other racing dreams. Which includes wanting to be invited to Mazda’s MX5-Cup Shootout so that she could have a chance to win a scholarship to compete in the MX5-Cup. Having that chance will allow her to have a shot at making a successful race career. Another dream of hers is to race in the Rolex24 at Daytona. 

“My biggest and most wild dream is to race in the Rolex24 at Daytona.” -Nicole Hecker 

Currently she is road racing with the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA), and since she resides in Central Florida, she is a part of the Central Florida Region (CFR) allowing her to race at Sebring and Daytona regularly. In CFR, there are about 9 races a year, with the option to travel to other regions. 

Nicole races in the ‘Improved Touring class’ also known as the ‘IT’ class. Which is, in short, a stock car that allows for a few modifications. 

There are several other classes to race in as well. As Nicole expresses, “Cars are classed according to type and modifications. Touring classes typically refer to lightly modified cars. The only modifications allowed are the required safety features and some minor performance modifications to help with class equalization. I run an ‘Improved Touring’ or ‘IT’ class, which allows for a few more modifications, but is still fairly close to stock. There are several other classes such as Super Touring, Production, Prototype, Formula, Spec, etc. If you have a car, they will find a place for it to run!” 

Nicole’s proudest achievement so far comes from the year 2017. She was able to chase a multitude of point championships and overall ended the year with winning 4 different points titles. 

There is still a long way to go for this young determined driver, but the drive and the willpower she possesses will take her far. With already years of experience under her, we asked her what the biggest advice that she would give to someone who aspires to become a racing driver. Her answer was this. 

“Give it your all! I have adopted this policy of just going for it so that I don't have any regrets in life. I already have some things that I wish I would have done in the past, but I let my shyness or fear of failing get in the way. I don't want to look back on my life later down the road and have a lot of regrets. Racing takes a lot of hard work, dedication, determination, the will to always keep learning and improving.. It can all be exhausting. When I am feeling unmotivated, I remind myself of the fear of having regrets later in life and tell myself that I just need to keep trying. Giving up will certainly get you nowhere, but trying might just eventually lead to somewhere you didn't think was possible.”

You can follow Nicole's journey on most social media platforms!