Tuesday 26th December 1972

Born on this day, Peggy Llewellyn, the first woman of color in the world to win a professional motorsports event. Of American, Jamaican and Mexican descent, Peggy Llewellyn wins the 2007 NHRA POWERade Prostock Motorcycle title in Dallas, Texas, becoming the first woman of color to win a professional motorsports event.
Riding motorcycles since she was seven, Llewellyn was seemingly born with the need-for-speed. In 2001 Peggy was able to get six NHRA starts but, unable to secure a sponsor, she found herself studying for a real estate license as a means to eat and keep bill-collectors off her ass. It didn’t take long to realize selling turf wasn’t to be the career for her, so back to the track she went. With natural talent and a gritty determination she finally locked up a sponsor and was able to race full-time.
Then, in 2007, as well as qualifying for the inaugural NHRA ‘Countdown to 4’ and ‘Countdown to 1’, allowing her to finish in the POWERade Top 5, she also did a career-best time with a 6.928 seconds at a leg-wetting 193.24 mph.
Peggy Llewellyn made history again in 2010 when she became the first woman of color to own, operate and race for an NHRA drag racing team, 2 Wheel Woman Racing.