Women in autocross: Deanna Kelley

It took time for Deana Kelley to find her way to the Mazda family, but we're glad she did.

"When I was in high school I raced karts with my dad," says Deana Kelley. "Then I went to college and there was no money to go have fun." Luckily, a friend turned her on to SCCA autocrossing. "One of my roommates in college was like, 'Oh, you should go do this autocross thing – its kind of cheap, and you can use whatever car you have, you can hit cones and have a good time,'" she says. "It turned into a gateway drug."

Deana quickly became serious about the sport, making her first trip to the Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships in Lincoln, Neb. “In 2012, I got to drive Jim Harnish’s Street Touring Compact Civic, and that little car was a riot,” says Deana.