MILLER: Who is Sierra Jackson?

Davey Hamilton grew up watching, has raced against and driven for some of the best open wheel drivers of all-time. From the bullrings of his dad’s Meridian Speedway oval to the half-milers scattered across the Pacific northwest to the Copper Classic at Phoenix to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the 11-time Indy 500 starter has a pretty good idea of who can and can’t handle it.

And he’s very impressed with Sierra Jackson.

“She’s fast, she’s good and she’s the real deal,” says Hamilton of the pretty much unknown racer from Boise, Idaho. “She’s stuck way up in the northwest and most people have never heard of her. But I’ve watched her race since she was 16 and I wish I had the money to bring her to Indy Lights and then the Speedway.”

You may think Hamilton is a bit biased since Jackson runs a sprinter in his King of the Wing series. But, when you consider it’s an 800-horsepower, 90-inch wheelbase beast – a World of Outlaws car on pavement – it adds a little perspective.

And when you consider she finished second in two of the last three races in California while competing against some tough pavement customers like Bobby Santos, Aaron Pierce, Jo Jo Hellberg and two-time Little 500 champ Jacob Wilson, it’s more impressive.

When you learn she runs a 360 against 410s and averages five wins a season, it makes you think maybe she’s the best kept secret in open wheel racing.

The 22-year-old attends Boise State and has a full-time job so she only makes about 20 races a season and her chances of making racing a career seem slim.

“She started racing when she was 14 and her first car was the famous Pink Lady sprinter and all along her dream was to run in the Indianapolis 500,” says Mike Jackson, her father.

“We’ve got a family friend that helps us stay on the track but you know it takes buckets of money nowadays so it’s tough to chase races all over America. I work 60 hours a week and maintain the car and, with school and her job, it’s double tough.”

Jackson was asked if NASCAR or IndyCar had ever shown any interest?

“We spoke with a woman a year ago about NASCAR’s diversity program but that didn’t go anywhere,” he replied. “I think Sierra has opened a lot of eyes the past couple years and people don’t refer to her a ‘girl driver’ anymore. Just a hard racer.”

Hamilton, whose series ran Winchester, Toledo and Grundy, Ill. this past summer in addition to other shows in Florida, California and the northwest, thinks running a winged sprinter around Irwindale Speedway in 13.7 seconds would challenge anyone.

“Nobody seems to think anybody from up there (northwest) can race but there are some damn good racers and Sierra is one of them.”

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