Profile On: McKenna Haase!
Friday, May 23, 2014
McKenna Haase, #55 305 Sprint Car
By Joanne Cram
Most high school juniors are prepping for finals and making their summer plans this time of year, but McKenna Haase is not like most 17 year olds. With big dreams of a future in open wheel racing, she is not only prepping for the finals to uphold her 4.0 grade point average, but strategizing for her future racing career.
McKenna, or Sassy as she is known around the track, doesn’t have a typical story getting her to the track. Unlike most of her competitors who have grown up racing and climbing the ranks, McKenna comes from a self-described “ball sport family”. Racing is about as foreign to them as a beauty pageant would be to a racer. McKenna got her first taste of racing when she was just nine when she ran into Kasey Kahne at the mall. She was intrigued by his passion for racing and started to follow his career. Her grandparents took her to a micro race, further sparking her interest in motorsports, which then took her to Slideways where she could experiment racing go karts. The next season she took to League Night, where she began racing against mostly men on the track. McKenna’s favorite kart was the Napa 55, quickly becoming known as “her kart” at Slideways and influencing her choice in car number when she began racing her own equipment.
At the end of racing League Night at Slideways, McKenna knew she was ready for something more. Some of the guys at Slideways told her about English Creek Speedway, south of Knoxville as being a great place to get started in motorsports. Being close to her hometown of Des Moines, McKenna was able to catch a race. After the race, she was encouraged to get in an Outlaw Kart to test it out. It was all down hill after that, and she began her official racing career at the age of 12.
Haase raced at English Creek for two seasons, in 2010 and 2011, where she quickly racked up numerous top three finishes in her rookie season, and didn’t finish any race outside of 3rd place in the Box Stocks class.
The following year of 2012, Haase and her team decided to move up to a micro sprint, chasing races all over the Midwest; including Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Wisconsin, Kansas and Oklahoma, hitting at least 30 races per season. They targeted some of the bigger shows to gain more experience. McKenna had two feature wins in her rookie year; the first being a restrictor race at Sweet Springs on only her second night out. The second win came in the A class at Warren County Speedway. Her favorite tracks include Warren County Speedway, Sweet Springs, and Cedar Lake Arena. The Tulsa Shootout is her favorite race to attend.
Racing as a student can have its obstacles. McKenna is dedicated to her education, so prioritizing school and racing can be a juggling act. She and her dad have been careful to choose races they can get to without missing much school. On top of her busy race schedule, McKenna is also very involved in the Golf Team for Carlisle High School, as well as many activities such as Taekwondo (she is a 2nd degree black belt), tutoring, National Honor Society, STAND (Students Taking Action Not Drugs), and CCC (Carlisle Creating Change).
Knoxville has been a great place to start racing sprint cars, Haase says. Everyone in the pits has been supportive and helpful. The people at the track have become her favorite part of racing and the competitors are great. McKenna’s first five outings have been successful, with only one night ending in a damaged car. Her highest finish so far has been 8th in the feature, and has two top 10 finishes and has won 2 heats. As a rookie this year, she hopes to be in contention for the Rookie of the Year award and is aiming for a top 5 in a feature, something no other woman driver has accomplished at Knoxville. Her parents come every week to the races; dad, Kevin in the pits, and mom, Kelly in the stands with her head between her lap when McKenna is on the track. McKenna jokes about her mom not being able to handle watching while Sassy is on the track! Even McKenna’s grandparents come down now that she is racing so close to home. McKenna also has an older sister, Makaila who tries to catch McKenna’s racing when she can get away from college, and helps by handling McKenna’s You Tube uploads.
McKenna’s future racing plans are to take her open wheel career as far as she can; with hopes of racing with the World of Outlaws some day, taking advantage of the open frontier for women drivers. She will be a senior next year, and after graduation, hopes to attend Drake to study finance and investments. Drake is close enough to home where McKenna can focus on both of her dreams. She looks up to Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart and Danica Patrick.
Sponsoring the Maxim/Ostrich 305 are Iowa Select Farms, Wreck A Mended Collision Center, LaJoie Seating, Lady Eagle Safety Wear, Women’s Sports Foundation, Project Podium, Select Trucking, Larry Huff, Schabel Trucking, Stine Seeds, Des Moines Industrial Products, and Tom and Terry Wilson. Crew includes Jimmy George, Dustin Ellis, Steve Fitzpatrick, and Ron Wignall.
You can follow McKenna’s racing on Facebook, Twitter and You Tube by searching for Team Haase Racing.
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