Ashton Harrison is a 22 year old race car driver from Villa Rica, Georgia. This year she is driving the No. 03 Mazda MX-5 in the Battery Tender Global MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich Tires for Granny Barb Racing & Racing Analytics.

Ashton started participating in track days when she was 17 years old and began racing when she was 18. After her first race she was hooked! “It was the most adrenaline-pumping moments of my life,” Ashton reminisces. She finished mid-pack in the beginning of the season but improved every race.

Ashton is new to the Global MX-5 Cup series, and like all of the drivers participating this year, they are racing the all-new 2016 MX-5 cars.

“The car… keeps the history of Mazda and the Miata, with it being light, with it being nimble, with it being fun,” observes Ashton.

She explains why the opportunity to race in the MX-5 makes the series so popular amongst drivers: “Being light and also being fast, but being a little bit down on power, you can really get at it, and then that’s where the driving aspect comes in, which is why we enjoy the series so much.”

Ashton explains how she’s persevered to accomplish ambitious aspirations despite being a female outlier in a traditionally male realm: “I’m just a small town girl with a dream of being a race car driver in a male-dominant sport. But, for some reason, I found myself a spot and plan on keeping it.”
We had the opportunity to speak to Ashton during rounds 7 and 8 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park near Toronto, Ontario. Ashton takes us through the similarities and differences of the Mazda MX-5 race car and road car: