Behind The Wheel - #2 - Tiffany Hockett
I knew with the first racer spotlight article, I should spotlight a lady who possessed these 3 traits: good sportsmanship, a drive to support other women, and love for the automotive industry. I had to look no further than the first woman to bring home a 1st place win in the Women & Wheels x Street Car Takeover all women’s drag racing class, in OKC. Tiffany Hockett took the time to speak to me about how she got involved in the automotive industry and later in life became involved in drag racing by both supporting as a crew chief to her husband of 10 years and being a driver herself.
Tiffany told me she first started turning wrenches when she was young, spending time in the garage with her grandfather building a 1973 Super Beetle. “Luckily he never yelled at me to hold the flashlight still”, a phrase that still rings in the heads of most people who spent their younger years in the garage with family. From her childhood to now 35, Tiffany has become well-versed in drag racing and has set some goals for herself, “About 6 years ago, my husband took up drag racing. He races motorcycles, and I serve as a crew chief for him. I have my own goal to just be out there and be a part of racing. Not that being my husband’s crew chief isn’t amazing, but I want to be out there and go fast”. She continued to tell me about her experience racing a Yamaha R6 and how as a mother of a 7-year-old, her motherly-instincts kicked in and she felt if her husband was going to race on two-wheels, then she should be out there racing on four.
The four wheels that she took home 1st place with are chrome 22’s on a 2005 Chevrolet Tahoe. What started as the common Chevy lifter tap on her daily driver turned into a Texas Speed stage 2 camshaft swap, ported heads, long-tube headers, and a tune on her still-daily. Tiffany told me about how her Tahoe has two 12” subs and because she didn’t want to hear some of her interior panels rattling while competing, she “bumped down the track like I was cruising the highway”. I then asked her what drew her to competing in the women’s class and she answered with, “I just wanted to go out there and be supportive of women. If girls don’t go out to the first event, what does that say about the rest of them”? Tiffany took the time during her day to support and coach multiple women. From getting them lined up, to explaining the tree for some that had never raced and were red lighting, her only goal out there was to have fun and help others.
Aside from her 2005 Tahoe that she took home 1st place with in OKC, Tiffany told me about her other project, a turbo LS swapped new-edge mustang with a 4l80. She has put a tubular front end on it, Deatschwerks fuel system, and Holley Terminator ECU, with hopes to be in the “streetcar” by end of race season this year. As the reigning champ of OKC, of course I had to ask her if we would see her in the final women’s class of the year back at OKC. She said yes, but with her 4l60 in her Tahoe having lost 2nd and 3rd gear and her new edge mustang still not 100% together, she isn’t sure what she’ll be out there defending her title with. “I cannot tell you if it’ll be the Tahoe, the mustang, or the trailer-pulling Chevy 2500HD out there. If I had it my way, I would have the Tahoe out there as a returning contender in the women’s class and the mustang out there just to Test-N-Tune”, Tiffany said.
The advice Tiffany would give to other ladies wanting to compete but unsure of how to begin would be “Show up to an event and go for it. I gave my niece the same advice. Come to an event, get involved. It’s the sink or swim motto, jump in and learn to swim! I invite a lot of girls to Women & Wheels and tell them to ask about events and come meet other women on the same level of them”. Tiffany feels like Women & Wheels has brought a light to women in the car world and proving that you don’t have to have the most horsepower or fastest ET to take home the win. “I’ve built really empowering friendships with other ladies. I think it’s showing women you don’t have to have a racecar. You can be with a group of girls and enjoy yourself whether you have a Prius or a GT-R.” She was a prime example of that by bringing home the winner’s trophy at OKC. Although the women’s class is something she thoroughly enjoys, she wants to have a trophy collection from other events and classes, and to empower other women through that, “Yes I am a girl and I DID THAT”, Tiffany said, “It’s not just a man’s world and women can do it too. We all turn wrenches of some sort or know something about cars.”
You can find Tiffany on IG @purrtychubs.