Angela began racing Karts at 10 years old, following in the footsteps of her older brother. After watching him race at I55 Raceway in Pevely, Missouri, she knew she wanted to be out on the track, too. Angie first raced in a Tag 60 kart in 2006 and earned several top five finishes in her first season. Soon, she moved into the Tag 60 Expert class, competing in the Central States Challenge and Championship Enduro Series. I asked Angie what she most liked about the Kart racing, “I really loved the road race challenges because the length of the courses allowed me to push top speeds in my Kart.” “I also have made many friends when competing who I still talk to today.”
One of the best memories from her second racing season in 2007 was when her Dad offered her a challenge. After finishing second in lots of races, he said that he would get her hot pink bodywork for her Kart after her first win. She met the challenge at 61 Kartways in Delmar, Iowa, with an exciting first place finish – earning her the nickname of “PinkAngie”. Angela went on to finish 5th in the overall CSC championship this year.
Angela really stepped up her game in her third race season 2008. “It was so exciting to drive a Bandolero car for the first time, it’s much different from a kart and I had to learn a lot about the car in order to be competitive,” says Angela. “One of the best days of my life was when I won both the Heat and Feature race for the day at Speedrome in my Bandolero.” After that weekend she was on a live On-Air interview by Race Fan Radio.
The following year in 2009, Angie was racing a TaG 125 Jr and shifter 125 Jr kart. She also experienced driving a Legends car. When asked about how she felt when driving the Legends car, Angie explained, “The car was a little daunting at first because of the huge power differences I had to adjust to – but I love driving it!”
The yearend had her back in her Kart where she competed with 80 other drivers in the Las Vegas Supernationals XIII.
The 2010 season, Angie continued racing Legends in the in the FAST Midwest series and finished the year 8th. 8th place with a story though. Angela and her brother Kevin were involved in a serious crash the weekend prior to the season closer. Kevin’s car was totaled and could not be raced. Angela gave up her car and a 6th place spot to allow her older brother to compete and secure 3rd place for the season. Words cannot express how she willingly gave up racing the last weekend of the season for her brother. Never hesitated to do it and expected nothing in return, that is Angie Donahue. Her season also included a great week at the Legends Million. She competed harder in that series then I had ever seen her do before despite numerous questionable spins and crashes. The season ended with her lighting up the tires in Graham Texas at an Arena dirt race and then road course in Dallas.
The 2011 season will involve racing in the Midwest, and some in the East. She even mentioned that she would like race in the Tag World Finals this summer, just to mix things up.
I asked Angie what she is doing to improve herself, “I am working out more to be in my best physical condition and I just push myself to the limit at every race. I look forward to doing amazing things in the future.”