Name: Verena Mei
Age: 23
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Currently: Drifter And Model
As long as there's been racing, there've been race babes. Sometimes they're hired to look pretty and hand out trophies. Sometimes they're hired to look pretty and pose next to cars. But drive? Never. At least, that is, until Verena Mei.
Verena is, as far as Hot Rod knows, the first race babe to take her career and re-aim its trajectory at driving. She was a model at sport compact drag racing and drifting events for years before she decided to get the behind the wheel herself, and she's currently competing in Formula D drifting events. This is the equivalent of Linda Vaughan coming down from her Hurst Golden Shifter in 1964 and mixing it up with Garlits, Prudhomme and Nicholson.
"I was a Toyo Tire model for three years," Verena says to explain her conversion experience. "That's where I learned about racing... from going to the drag racing events. And I basically got bored standing around the cars."
So on the advice of friend and mentor Bobby Unser Jr., Verena enrolled in the Motion Picture Stunt Driving School at Los Angeles County Raceway in Palmdale, California in 2002. It was on the asphalt pad there that she first slid the school's Caprices. With that under her tiny waist's belt, she went to the Frank Hawley Drag Racing School and earned her NHRA Super Gas professional competition license. Finally she attended the Bondurant Drifting School where she got an advanced degree in creative sideways tire destruction.
So drag racing is on hold for the time being (she's having an all-motor car built) while Verena slips through the world of drifting behind the wheel of her turbocharged 1991 Nissan 240SX. "I'm learning a lot from my mechanic friends," she says about bolting together the Nissan. "I've done most of the work myself. It's a really cool learning experience. As far as drifting goes, I'd like to win a championship. Then I'd like to crossover to NASCAR or anything. I like racing in general."
Verena is still doing some modeling work, has made a few appearances on TV and had a small role in Rush Hour 2. But can a driving career mix with a high-profile media presence? Could she model and drive at the same event? "At SEMA," she explains, "Motegi had me in a little dress. But when I race I'm very focused and it's tough to do both."