Behind The Wheel - #23 - Trisha Tucci
Fueled by the support of both her mother and father growing up, Trisha Tucci has always had a love for cars and her life sort-of always revolved around them. Growing up, her dad had a 1969 Mustang, a couple of second-generation Camaros, and she always spent time helping him work on any project he had. She also found the support of her mother too, who always had the same passion for cars, and her family would spend time at the circle track races supporting their friends. Now, Trisha gets to spend her weekends with her husband and 3-year-old son at the drag strip and finds happiness in that.
Trisha’s start in drag racing leads back to her husband, she told me, “My husband wanted to go drag racing one time, the tires were too big and rubbed so he asked if I could pile his friends into my 2000 Honda Civic and follow him to the track. I told him only if he paid for me to make a pass!”. From then, Trisha was hooked and new she wanted to become more involved in drag racing. Life got in the way for a few years, and in 2015 she started searching for a new car. She wanted to find her way back to her roots and jump into a Mustang, but after the test drive, her husband wasn’t very pleased with the transmission, so they came back to square one. They saw a 2013 Cadillac CTS-V at a dealership in passing, she decided to test drive it, and from there it was all history. 3 weeks later, Trisha was back in the driver’s seat at the dragstrip for the 2nd time in her life to mark the beginning of her drag racing passion.
She now pilots a 2010 CTS-V after losing the 2013 due to a driver rear ending her. The daily-driven 2010 CTS-V is currently equipped with a 2.5 upper and 9.5 lower pulley, FIC 1300cc injectors, Vengeance PD1 camshaft, StainlessWorks headers, E-85 fuel system, cold-air intake, Nick Williams 103mm throttle body, ZL1 lid, and plenty of other goodies. Trisha’s goals currently include getting into the 9’s, and more than likely modifying it more to get there. Her car currently runs a 10.3 and she hopes to see that 9-second-pass soon. Aside from her CTS-V, she told me about the projects her and her husband have, “We have an abundance of cars here. My husband still has his NHRA Trans-Am, 01 WS6, and an F-250.
Trisha finds that her biggest supporters are her husband Terry and her son Mikey. “Without Terry, I doubt I’d be racing. He’s for it all from wrenching on the car, towing it, making sure it’s iced before a pass. He’s the one who has taught me most about cars in my adult life”, she said. But she also finds a lot of support from both her parents and the Vengeance Racing team. “My parents always cheer me on at the races and help with little-man. They’ve even trailered my car 3 hours away for an event. But, Vengeance supports as well. Trailer has a blow-out, they’ll stop to make sure you’re okay, if you need a part, they’ll help you get it, if you need tips, they’ll help. I almost didn’t race at Atlanta because I wasn’t able to find tires. One of the guys heard about that and let me borrow his just so I wouldn’t miss the last race ever in Atlanta”, she told me. Her biggest role model is her dad, who she said started her love for cars, and taught her life lessons including how if you want something you have to work for it. “He’s an extremely hard worker, has taught himself anything he wanted to learn, and I hope to have the drive that he has”, she said.
Racing in the women’s class at Atlanta was Trisha’s first-time bracket racing, but she still made it to the semi-finals where the race was called due to track conditions. She originally wasn’t planning on running in the class, “I saw a post on Instagram where originally Atlanta wasn’t on the schedule. I signed up for the 10.0 class just so I could race even though I wouldn’t be competitive. Then Gina told me about it and I swapped classes and jumped in!”. She told me about her favorite memory from the event, “The first round of competition was my favorite. I’ve index raced, but never bracket raced. I had to sit there and wait for the green light for 3-4 seconds and then chase the other girl down. It was so much adrenaline and so much fun!”
To end the conversation, I asked Trisha what she thinks Women & Wheels has done for her or any ladies in this industry. “It got me into a new style of racing I wouldn’t have tried otherwise. It also helped me meet some badass ladies. Overall, it helps women all over to be able to get into drag racing. The way this class is set up you can have an 8-second car or an 18-second daily and still have the same chance of winning. It gives women resources and other women to talk to whether it be learning about cars or racing”, she said. Her biggest piece of advice would be, “Don’t be afraid. Yes, getting on the track and racing can be intimidating, but it’s the best feeling once you’ve made your pass. There’s so much adrenaline and its just a stress-reliever. Also, feel free to walk up to a woman or message other women racers and strike up a conversation! We love talking cars and you’re doing us a favor so we’re not only talking to random men who want to chat. You can learn a lot from fellow female racers but ultimately you need seat time. This sport is always teaching me something!”.
You can find Trisha on IG @4dr_vixen