Amber Balcaen

Amber Balcaen (born March 7, 1992) is a Canadian professional NASCAR driver from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

Biography
Balcaen, a 24-year old Canadian driver, has her eyes set on becoming the first full-time Canadian driver in NASCAR’s top touring division. She is now one step closer as she looks to make her debut in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East at New Smyrna Speedway with Martin-McClure Racing.

“I am very thankful for the opportunity that Martin McClure Racing has given me to race in the K&N Series this season with them,” Balcaen told Speed51.com. “Super excited to start the season off at New Smyrna Speedway. It’s a track that I have watched at the past few years and have always wanted to race at and I am now getting the opportunity to.”

Balcaen looks to bring three sponsors with her to the season opener: Shead Racing, Glen Mcleod & Son trucking, and Winner Circle Sports Bar.

Last season Balcaen competed in her first full-season on asphalt where she ran Limited Late Models at Motor Mile Speedway for Lee Pulliam Performance. There she collected multiple top-five finishes and also became the first Canadian woman to win a NASCAR Whelen All-American Series race.

She is a two-time NASCAR Drive for Diversity combine participant as well where she competed at Langley Speedway and New Smyrna Speedway for Rev Racing.

The Winnipeg native comes from a family of dirt racers and she previously competed in winged Sprint Cars in Canada before making the move to the United States and asphalt racing.

With a family full of dirt racers, she is the first one to break off and pursue a career in NASCAR.

“I am very nervous for this race,” Balcaen admitted. “I feel like this is kind of the pinnacle of my career as I feel like this is the chance for me to prove that I deserve to be here. I am putting a lot of pressure on myself for this race. Especially with the lack of experience, it just adds to the pressure but I am just going to try and enjoy it as much as I can.”

With zero experience behind the wheel of a K&N car, she is taking advantage of any opportunity she can to be one step closer to the competition.

“I haven’t been able to be on track for actual testing in the K&N Car yet; however I am definitely aware of the longer races so I have been making sure I am working on my fitness in the off season and working pretty hard. As far as the actual race track and difference between the Late Model and K&N car, I just have been watching a lot of video of past races of K&N cars at New Smyrna.”

Fortunately for Balcaen there will be an open practice session the Friday before the race.

“Thankfully there is a test day the day before the race, so I am definitely going to use that to my advantage and try and improve as much as I can and get as much seat time as possible to really feel out the car and feel out the race track. “

Balcaen took the title on Saturday in the seven-car Limited Sportsman Field during the NASACR Whelen All-American Series. This means Balcaen is in the first level of NASCAR, and she said her plans are to make it to the top of the five tiers.

Racing is in Balcaen's blood. Her grandfather and father raced cars and she grew up in a racing family. She started on dirt tracks in go carts and moved onto the speedway in Winnipeg. She made her way into the races down south and transitioned to NASCAR earlier this year.

"It's all I know. I mean I have grown up at the race track and I wanted to race ever since I knew what a race car was," she said. "I wanted it so bad and the feeling you get in a race car is like no other feeling in the world."

The journey has been difficult and Balcaen said she's faced a lot of hurdles on the road to glory. "I've had to overcome a lot obstacles of being a Canadian in an American-dominated sport, a female in a male-dominated sport, someone that has no financial backing whatsoever in a very wealthy man's sport," she said.

"I just wanted it so bad that I wasn't going to let those excuses overtake my passion and determination to make my dreams a reality."

Although Balcaen recently moved to North Carolina to pursue her dreams she is back in Winnipeg this week to celebrate her historic victory.

Other information
Balcaen had a sponsor sign on the first race of the season, and a second sponsor came on board to fund the rest of the year. After her first race, the second sponsor did not come forth with its promised funding, causing her to miss the second and third races of the season -- so far.

Balcaen was Rookie of the Year in the Whelen All-American Series last season. She accomplished this in her first year racing pavement while also claiming the honor of being the first Canadian female racer to win a NASCAR-sanctioned race in the United States. Balcaen is a third-generation racer but the first to leave dirt for pavement. Her success in the All-American Series led her to move up to K&N East NASCAR's regional series, putting her on a similar but different path than her father and grandfather.

"I'm now at the place where I'm making a name for myself and not in the shadows of my grandfather and my father," she said.

After the success of last season, Balcaen expected more sponsorship opportunities to be pouring in for this season.

"I expected from my on-track success and off-track presence that I would have a lot easier of a time getting a sponsor this year," she said. "I actually was quite optimistic about it. So the fact that I don't currently have one kind of surprises me. I know how difficult the racing industry is and I was definitely warned that this wasn't going to be easy, but I also didn't expect it to be this challenging, especially coming off last season."

Balcaen sees what makes her different in the field as a big opportunity for sponsors.

NASCAR
(key) ( Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. )