Granny puts pedal to metal

North Las Vegas resident has been racing since 2000

CRAIG L. MORAN/ViewBecki Torbergson?s race car reads "Pull up your granny panties and let?s go racing boys," a testament to her racing grandma image. CRAIG L. MORAN/ViewBecki Torbergson, 47, stands next to her race car in her garage in North Las Vegas. Tobergson moved to North Las Vegas in 2001 to be closer to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Advertisement

Forty-seven-year-old Becki Torbergson isn't your typical grandma.

The North Las Vegas resident has made a name for herself as a driver on the Las Vegas stock car racing circuit, and with her lap times improving every week, a great crew on her side and the love of her two daughters, Torbergson is showing no signs of slowing down.

"Racing is just a part of who I am now," she said. "I can't imagine my life without it."

Torbergson, a grandmother of three who was raised in Washington state, moved to North Las Vegas in 2001, after quitting her job as a buyer for Costco and taking a position driving a warehouse forklift to put her closer to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and the desert's ample sunshine.

"It is always rainy in Seattle," she said. "Racing is a real production there because the tracks are always slick and you have to drive for hours just to reach a safe track to run 20 minutes' worth of laps."

Torbergson slid into the seat of her first racecar in 2000 on a dare from her father.

"We were at the Richard Petty Driving Experience in (Fontana) California, and he convinced me to race him," she said. "I've always been a fan, but never dreamed of actually racing myself. Until he called me yellow. Then it was a dare, and I had to do it."

For safety considerations, the Richard Petty Driving Experience does not allow actual side-by-side racing on the track. Instead, participants drive separately and have their lap speeds electronically timed, giving them a basis for comparing performance to determine who would have won an actual race.

To Torbergson, whether they competed fender-to-fender on the speedway or not, it was still a race, and her experience on the track was life changing.

"My life became about racing myself," she said. "There's no cure for the addiction I have."

Torbergson said that she got her love of racing from her father, who was an avid drag racing fan and took care of his 1964 Pontiac GTO like it was one of his children.

"He was car crazy, and I have been since I was 3 years old," she said. "I've always been one of the boys."

Torbergson spends her waking hours (when she's not working) tinkering with her restored 1972 Charger, a car she bought from a friend nearly four years ago.

"I don't do major repairs myself," she said. "But I spend a lot of time in my garage, or in the car's trailer or practicing laps. Anything race-related occupies my free time."

Torbergson said that in the four years she has been racing, she has been in the top five of her league, the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Charger Division, a number of times, but has yet to make it to No. 1.

"It's tougher than you might think," she said. "But I'm on my way. I won't give up."

Crew chief and friend Fred Kiser Jr. has been working with Torbergson for the last two years and said she's a tough competitor with a lot of drive.

"It's great to see her do what she does because there are a lot of arrogant men out there who need to be shown up," he said. "And Becki does the job. It's great to have a female driver associated with the sport."

Torbergson said that the greatest challenge she's endured as a driver has been the blistering heat inside a car. Temperatures in the driver's seat of a racecar often surpass 200 degrees, with the heat coming from the car combining with the sweltering Las Vegas summer.

"It can be tough," she said. "But I won't let it stop me. I won't let anything stop me. I will be racing until the day I die."

Contact North Las Vegas and Downtown View reporter Amanda Llewellyn at allewellyn@viewnews.com or 380-4535.