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Eden appears in 18 month Women in the Winner's
Circle 2007 calendar along with 17 other women
throughout the motorsports field. 
Sondi is 27 from Crawfordsville, IN who was
North American Midget Auto Racing Series rookie of
the year - and a regional USAC midget champion this
year. edenracing.com/main_index.html
 (not
working)
Sondi Eden First Female USAC Champion
Ever!
Sondi Eden of Crawfordsville, Ind. became
USAC’s first female champion in the
organization’s 49-year history Wednesday as
she claimed the Speedrome Regional Midget Car
Series championship in the weekly series at the
Indianapolis Speedrome. In finishing seventh, she
beat Travis Young of Franklin, Ind., who claimed
his first victory in the series and third at the
1/5-mile paved oval of the year.
Young capped a second-place run in the series
point standings by winning the 50-lap feature in
the No. 80 Matlock Ford/Vogler-White/Ford Fontana,
his first regional triumph and third victory at the
Speedrome this season.
Young passed Keith Butler on lap 15 and was
never challenged again to finish ahead of Rex
Norris III, Butler, Adam Schuyler and Deano Lennon.
Eden, who became USAC’s first female champion
in the organization’s 49-year history, placed
seventh.
"I was just kind of coasting,” Young said.
“The car was awesome. We tweaked the car a
couple of times, and I just kept watching that
leader board, checking to see who all was behind
me.”
Butler, who won a heat race, led for the first
14 laps before yielding to Young. Behind them, Eden
tried desperately to cap off her championship
campaign with her second victory of the season.
Eden, driving the No. 15 Jonathan Byrd
Catering/Hawk/Brayton Chevy, made the moves early.
After starting 14th, Eden drove to seventh after
only 20 laps. And she didn’t stop there. Eden
toured the track on the outside and picked up fifth
by lap 22, then raced to third by lap 40.
Eden backpedaled ever so slightly though when
her left front wheel jumped Butler’s right
front. Though she lost only two spots, Eden nursed
the car home to finish seventh.
Young was the class of the field though. He led
by more than a straightaway at times and pulled
away when as many as four cars battled for
second.
“I knew Sondi pretty much had the
championship wrapped up and all, so I just kind of
hoping to come out here and finish on a good
note,” Young said. “I found out what it
took to win a Regional Midget feature out here, and
I’ll keep that in the back of my mind for how
hard I need to run the races next year.”
Eden, who won a feature July 28 at the
Speedrome, was ecstatic after picking up the
championship, 41 points ahead of Young.
“This feels great,” Eden said after
the race. “I’ve been nervous for a little
while, wanting to get the points deal over with,
and just be able to race. This just feels great to
have a USAC title.”
All Eden had to do was start the event to clinch
the title, and once she did so, she switched her
thinking from points race to car race
“I said it was ‘show time, time to gas
it up and go for the win,’” Eden said.
“There was nothing to lose once I start. I
just wanted to go for it, and I wanted to go for
the win. We had a pretty good shot there, but had a
little tangle there near the end. Once that race
started though, I was like ‘Yeehaw.’ I
knew we could finally go racing. That was
fun.”
Source: INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Aug.
18, 2004), images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.usadirtracing.addr.com/News/Associations/USAC/Regional/_derived/index.html_txt_eden_hs.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.usadirtracing.addr.com/News/Associations/USAC/Regional/&h=225&w=149&sz=20&tbnid=ixG28ox3QS_zuM:&tbnh=102&tbnw=67&hl=en&start=8&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2522sondi%2Beden%2522%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN
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