Mallory Kutz Shares How Advocacy, Grit, And Community Turned A Pageant Title Into Real Trackside Change

Welcome And Show Mission

Welcome to the Women's Motorsports Network Podcast, the show that puts the spotlight on the incredible women who fuel the world of motorsports. From drivers to crew members, engineers to fans, and everyone in between, we're here to celebrate the trailvisers, dreamers, and doers shaping the sport we love. Each episode, we share inspiring stories of females of all ages from every corner of the motorsports universe, past, present, and future. It's a journey through the seasons of life filled with heartfelt moments, laughter, and a whole lot of horsepower. So whether you're a lifelong fan, a racer yourself, or simply curious about the extraordinary women behind the wheel, settle in, relax, and enjoy a fun and uplifting ride with us. This is the Women's Motorsports Network Podcast, connecting and celebrating women in motorsports one story at a time. Let's hit the track.

Meet Mallory Coots

Hello everyone. This is Melinda Russell with the Women's Motorsports Network Podcast. And I have a friend with me today. Mallory's back. We did a show a while ago, probably about a year ago, maybe, Mallory. It was before pageant season, as you mentioned to me. And so I want you to just share a little bit about yourself for those who haven't heard. And then tell me what have you been doing this last year? Because I know you've been busy.

Yes. Thank you, Melinda. So for those of you that don't know, my name is Mallory Cootz. I am an asphalt street stock driver from Pennsylvania, uh, currently racing at Evergreen Raceway. And I've had quite the journey in life to get to where we're at right now, which was actually a big focus of my first interview. Just my background, my family, how we got here. But in the past 12 months, I have done some absolutely amazing things in the motorsports world. And I am so excited to talk about all of them with you.

All right. Well, let's just go back, start wherever you think we may have left off and take me on your journey. Yeah,

Pageant Season Highlights

of course.

So last we talked, it was actually right before motorsports 2025. Last year, and I was getting ready to compete, and I was telling you all about all of the advocating that I've been doing and you know why I was competing. And pageant season last year was incredible. I won Best Interview at Motorsports, which was a really, really great accomplishment there. And then I went to RX and I ended up coming there first runner up. So I finished second at RX and I came off of RX just on an absolute high note, and then went into the final pageant of the year, which is Motorama, held at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex. Now, Motorama is massive. So it is, I think, over 1 million square feet of motorsports of all types car shows, race cars. They have uh motocross events that are happening. They have quarter midget racing, cart racing, RC racing. Like when I say this show is massive, it's unlike anything I have ever seen. Uh so that one, very, very prestigious title there for Motorama. But I went in there super confident and just super passionate about racing and what I had to offer. And we ended up coming out winning that Miss Motorama 2025 last year. So that was kind of where we left off, just uh gauging into pageant season. And let me tell you, the year that I have had has been absolutely incredible.

Okay, so I know that you were Miss Motorama, but I don't really know what all that entails. So tell me, where all have you gone? What all have you done? Because I know you're a huge advocate for women in motorsports. So

Inside Motorama And The Win

that's a given. We already know that. Yes. What did you do this year? Where did you go and how did you promote women more so than ever?

We went everywhere that I could possibly go. So I am again local to Pennsylvania, and Pennsylvania is pretty much sprint car like capital of the United States when it comes to sprint car racing. But in total with Motorama, I attended 113 events, which came out to like one event every three days. Uh, there were stretches of time, specifically in the summer, where there may have been 10 or 12 days straight that I was doing events. Like I went to every race of Pennsylvania Speed Week except for one because I raced that day. And so from an event standpoint, we hit eight different states, like I said, 113 different events, and the events varied so much. And that was what was so cool about this particular title is motorsports and RX are amazing, but they are focused on racing, which of course is my home, right? My home is in racing, circle track racing. But when it comes to Motorama, Motorama is everything motorsports, right? You you're gonna find bicycles, you're gonna or Harleys and motorcycles and car shows, and they they have a huge presence in fundraising at the show. Like all of the pageant contestants go around and they fundraise for different organizations while we're there. So they are super diverse. And that was something that was incredibly important to me while I was representing them to ensure that although I was a lot focused on racing because that's what I was promoting, I really branched out and did everything. So we hit dirt track races of all varieties. I was at quarter midget tracks, I was at smaller tracks that were running slingshots and you know, things like that. And then I was at massive tracks like Port Royal and Lincoln Speedway, where they had these prestigious 410 sprint races. I got my photo in Victory Lane with Kyle Larson during Speed Week, Danny Dietrich, Anthony Macri, who ended up a few weeks later going on and winning uh the Kings Royale at Eldura. So some really, really cool names. On the asphalt side, though, we definitely saw a lot of asphalt tracks, and those are fewer and far between, especially in my area. But we traveled to Ohio, traveled to the other side of Pennsylvania, to New York multiple times just to try to hit all the local-ish asphalt tracks that we could do. And so still had some victory lanes with really prestigious drivers there, like Matt Hirschman, Polly Hartwig. If anybody knows Polly Hartwig, this kid, he is 14 or 15 right now. He actually stems from Evergreen and Mahoning. Like I raced with him in four cylinders a few years ago when he was 11. And I've watched him just continue to see so much success. So he was a really cool one. And he was super supportive of me the entire year, which was so fun. Like he won the first race that he won that I was there. I couldn't do victory lane because I was racing. I was in the staging area in my car. And afterwards he came out. He's like, Where were you? It's like, I know you were here taking pictures and you weren't in mind. So it was super sweet. And every time I see him now, you know, we always chit-chat and I see his success online, and that's so much fun. Um, but yeah, we did fundraising, car shows, parades. Um, I actually did a few fundraising events of my own. I promoted my own race in honor of my sister at Evergreen, which was super successful. We pulled in one of the highest attended street

A Year On The Road: 113 Events

stock races in a couple of years at Evergreen. During that race, I promoted it so hard for like a month before I was reaching out to everybody. I was posting. But what was really cool at that one, of course, it was in honor of my sister, so it was really special. But we did a lot of fundraising at that event, and I ended up fundraising just over about $1,000. And so I came home with that and I ended up splitting it up and I awarded two $500 scholarships for female drivers, one local, so they had to be within 100 miles of where I live, and then one that was national. Both of them ended up being semi-close. One was Shannon Slaughter, who in our area just won a really, really cool race at it, it was Grandview Speedway. She was actually the first female to ever win a Sportman modified race there. So that was really cool. So she was coming off of a really great high, but she had such an incredible and inspiring story. So I was really excited to be able to award that to her. Um, and then the second one went to another dirt modified driver. I believe she was up in New York. So it was really cool to be able to not only award them, but also to see all of the stories that we had coming in. I think we had 64 applications. And so just to read through them and get to sit there and be like, wow, one, I reached that many people. Like I was able to get the word out that I was doing this to that many drivers, which was incredible, uh, which showed me just how powerful social media and just posting and doing what I'm doing has done. But then to read their stories, I was in tears on so many of them. And it was one of the hardest things that we ever did trying to, you know, decide who was going to get those scholarships.

And and Mallory, when you think, okay, you had 64 stories, there's thousands more that they didn't see your post. And, you know, of course, we tell stories on here. That's what I do, but but these are stories that need to be told, don't they?

Yeah, 100%. And some of them are some of them were so personal, like they were willing to really open up and talk about what motorsports meant to them. Some of them I had such a strong connection with. Like I was reading it and I was like, this is my story, this is so much of me. So, like I said, just incredible. And they were coming from everywhere. I had girls that were in quarter midges all the way up to you know, women that were in their 50s that were like, I just love racing so much, I want to continue doing it. And it was just so diverse. And like I said, asphalt drivers, dirt drivers, big cars, small cars. It didn't matter. Everybody was coming out, and so it just really validated all of the work that I've been doing and trying to, again, I'm not out there trying to say, oh, look, you know, look at me, look what I'm doing. But I'm going, look at racing as a community. Look at what all of these incredible female race car drivers are doing, their successes, all of that. There was one young lady, actually, very specifically, and we'll we'll get into what I did at motorsports this year in a few minutes, but um, I've gotten to start following a lot of their journeys because we become friends on Facebook. And so, I mean, you understand. Now you're watching them and you're like, wow, like I'm I I can't wait to see what you do. And she ended up winning the poll at Tulsa. And I was like, oh my God, she's like in this calendar that I just did. And and I've been support and again, my support is is just keep doing what you're doing, like giving kind words, putting them in something physical that they can show to somebody, but just seeing her succeed shows all of the other females out there, like, hey, you guys can truly go anywhere you want to, and you can do a really great job. Yeah.

Yeah, it just kind of gives me shivers

Fundraisers And Scholarships For Women

because it's so much what I like to do as well. And I don't have I don't have a motorsports story per se. You know, yes, my son raced, and and you know, a lot of people know that story. My granddaughters raced. But these these are stories, like you said, from the heart, and and they open up and they don't even realize like if if we read one of those stories on a podcast, they would not that person that wrote that would not realize how many people they touch. Because hundreds of other women out there have stories, and you know, I had somebody ask me one time about the people I interviewed. Well, aren't they all kind of the same? And I said, no, everybody, everybody's story is different. Now, some are similar, you know. My dad raised, my grandpa raised, blah blah, how I got in racing, but they're not the same. Yeah. And and there's just so many of them. We could we could spend days, weeks, Mallory, telling these stories.

So you could do it not, you could have like a non-stop feed going on about them. And they would just, and but the thing is it would never stop because then they would continue to come in as the more people see what you're doing, the more stories that they're able to share. So yeah, I'm really excited to kind of figure out now, now that life is calming down a bit, what is next, right? What is going to be my next chapter in terms of what can I do to continue putting these girls' names out there, supporting them, giving them recognition, right? The stuff that I can do. So I'm excited to kind of think and brainstorm a couple of ideas. And I have some in my mind already that hopefully we can some ideas that maybe I had last year and was able to start, but wasn't able to commit enough time to just because life was crazy. So I'm definitely excited to refocus. Not that I ever really lost focus on it, but I was spread very thin last year. So really to be able to highlight and bring all of that back and continue to grow, grow that community. Because what I've done is I've created a community where someone will reach out to me and be like, hey, this is something that I'm struggling with or something. And then I'll be like, you know what? I know the perfect person for you to talk to. Let me put you in touch with this, or even at shows, like at RX last year, I it was introducing girls to each other. I'm like, hey, I'm gonna take you over right now to this driver who is a similar age than you, and I think you guys could have a really great conversation. Uh, and then I'm seeing them commenting on each other's stuff on Facebook and things like that. So I'm able to even help curate some like really nice friendships that I've seen blossom just through events that I've been doing or through people that I've said, hey, you know, you guys really should talk to each other. I think that you have a lot in common. And so that's been really rewarding as well, because although it's it's not necessarily directly impacting their racing, it's impacting their lives, and that's just as important. So, Mallory, you're a connector. Yes, people, absolutely.

I I do that as well, and we have so many similarities, but yes, doesn't it make you feel good when when you hear a story or somebody reaches out to you and says, Oh, I how do I do this, or who do and I'll be like, I know just the person, I'll connect you through email or text or whatever, and then you just let it go and let them figure it out. But there's just so many ways that you can connect these women, and it's not always connecting them maybe with a woman. Sometimes we connect them with a man who and and all of that, but it's it's the knowledge that you have and the network that you have that helps you connect these women to people that can help or encourage them or even just become a friend.

Yeah, I completely

Why These Stories Matter

agree. And like I said, that's been super, super rewarding to get to watch those relationships happen.

Yeah. What's if you had one thing that last year taught you, or that you feel like you really gained from your experience, or maybe there's more than one. What are what are some things that you feel like you really gained? Because okay, well, I'm gonna I'm gonna go back here for a minute. So being involved in a pageant, you don't necessarily equate a pageant and motorsports, right? Correct. Most people would not, and then the other side of that is some people's idea of a pageant or somebody who's in a pageant is one thing when it's really totally not or it's different. Yes. So why don't we straighten those people out and tell them?

Yes, let's absolutely. So we're we'll stick to Motorama specifically. Okay, um, so when when it comes to the motorsports pageants, what they are looking for is a really good mix of someone that is involved in motorsports. That is one of the most important factors, right? They are not looking for necessarily your average beauty queen that you would see on television or you know what you would in that what you would envision in your mind. They are really looking for an ambassador within motorsports that's going to go out. And of course, we want to promote the show, right? We want to get more people in. We want people to know that the show's there. That's what we're there for. But what they really want to do is they want to help encourage people in the sport. When we go to the tracks, I'm not sitting there selling posters, right? That that's not what the thing. Now, granted, are there posters to be had? Yeah, did I sell a single one last year? No, I handed them all away, right? I was like, here, I don't, this is not take a poster if you'd like one. But we were handing out, you know, things to kids. We were interacting with the kids when they were coming in, which was amazing. I was going through the pits taking pictures of drivers. Um, so that's kind of what they're looking for when they are deciding who is the best person. Most of the scores, specifically for Motorama, is happening in the interview room. The interview room is private, right? Nobody knows what's happening in there. And you will get girls to really open up and share like their inner, this is what motorsports means to me, that they might not necessarily want public, right? But they're willing to share that with us. And so you get to really feel what is their involvement, what is their background, how does motorsports really involve, you know, how does it intertwine into their lives? Then we have stage. And of course, on stage is important because every time we go to a racetrack, we're essentially on stage, right? People are looking at us, we are a role model to people. So that's where that becomes important is how well can you carry yourself on a stage? Are you confident? Confidence does not mean, you know, do you have the best walk out there? Confidence is are you shining through? Is your personality coming through on stage? And are people, are you resonating with people? Are you making eye contact? Are you smiling? Are you just enjoying life out there? So that's obviously one of the really important things. And then of course, how well put together you are, because still that goes back to the racetrack. If I'm going to be in victory lane with Kyle Larson or Kyle Bush, who I was in twice with this year, I need to look presentable, right? They want to make sure that even on days when we're in bikinis, and there were lots of them in the summer, are we covered? Are we respectable? Do I

Building A Support Network

have a bikini that, you know, if there's a little girl standing next to me, that's okay. And so all of those things are really what comes into play when they are judging who is going to win the pageant. So it's not just who is the prettiest girl out there, which is what a lot of beauty pageants go into or like swimsuit competitions and stuff. It is they're looking for someone with that total package. And I'll be honest, the way that you look is probably the least important part of the. They are not looking going, well, that one's skinnier, that one's not. They're looking going, are they put together? Did they put effort into their hair and their makeup and do their shoes match their outfit? They're just looking at that and not necessarily, you know, your size or your facial features and things like that. So I think that is one of the hugest differences is that they are truly, we have transitioned into an era where they are looking for the best spokesperson in motorsports, not necessarily a promotional model that's going to go out there and look great in photos.

Well, and and the thing I think about it, you know, if if you had 10 women on the stage, it's not like you said, it's not about who's the prettiest, who's the this, who's the that. It's the the entire package as far as you're the ambassador for motorsports. And and so I look at it more in that direction than I do your a motorsport or you're a pageant queen or a pageant winner, because what they're look, you know, really giving it the name pageant is kind of a disservice to them. If it was the ambassador selection, you know, I think one, maybe more women would be ready to be involved because I'm not gonna get in a swimsuit in the summer. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, absolutely. And yet, if I was an ambassador, it'd be it'd be different, and so really that's what you are, but this is how it's labeled, this is how it's promoted, and and so Mallory. I know I I followed you very closely this year. I know you spent a lot of time. It was hot, it was dirty, it was all those things. It's not what you think about, where there might be a pageant winner, right?

Absolutely not. It is it is a very non-glamorous job. There were uh, you know, there were days where I was in the restrooms at the racetracks, you know, spritz, you know, scrunching my hair with water because the humidity had made it just huge. There were days where I was jumping out of my fire suit, ripping my helmet off, and I'm like, this is what they're getting, right? This is the face because I'm running to Victory Lane

Redefining Motorsports Pageants

right now because you know, I want to be there with my competitors. I want to be celebrating their successes as well. So it is dirt. The dirt was the number one seasoning I used on my food this year. It was great. I was like, you know what? Minerals, vitamin, it's all in here. We're getting everything. My immune system is probably fantastic right now. Probably, yeah, it is everything, it's just everything, constant, like the scrubbing of your scalp when you're done. But that that's what it is. It is the hot days. I was out there in 100 degree weather where I was dripping sweat. I was out there in 30 degree weather where I was wrapped in blankets, and it was literally freezing. And it it was it was all the same, right? It didn't matter.

No, and and you know, I I think about yesterday, just like so the NASCAR race yesterday was at Atlanta, Echo Park, but I call it Atlanta, and it was cold there. And they interviewed Michael Jordan, and he said, I don't even know what the temperature is, I'm just glad to be at the racetrack. Yeah, and that's kind of how you were. You didn't, yeah, it was hot, it was cold, but you really didn't focus on that. You were glad to be meeting new people, sharing about motorsports and and all those things.

Yeah, 100%. I never ever looked at an event and went, might be really hot. I don't think I'm gonna go, or it might be really cold. Like Turkey Derby this year was freezing. It's freezing every year, it's the weekend after Thanksgiving, and it's such a huge event. Was just like no brainer. I'm going and I'm going to layer up. And I had, I think, three pairs of pants on and multiple sweatshirts. And that's what it was. And I remember walking down to Victory Lane in a skirt because this was one of the biggest events I was doing. I was going to look nice. And people were like, aren't you cold? Yes, I'm cold. I'm freezing. But it's worth it. The second you cross over and you step on that track, you're not cold anymore because you've got the adrenaline going and all of that. But yeah, it's it's a privilege to be in that position. So I was okay with being uncomfortable at times because that's that's just that's what racing is. If you're comfortable in the race car, you're not doing it right. So I kind of took the same, same theory to that. Like I need to put myself in uncomfortable situations. I need to talk to people that maybe I wouldn't talk to or be okay interacting with very high profile people like Kyle Larson, Kyle Bush. Like I had to put in my mind frame that I am equal with you in this this arena right now, right? You are here and I saw it as like it's a privilege for both of us to be sharing this space right now.

Yeah. So tell me, like, if if I wanted to know what does is it Miss Motorama, is that what they call you, or what was your official title?

Yeah, so it was 2025 Miss Motor Motorama, Motorama. I've heard it said both ways.

Okay. Miss Motorama. So if I if I wanted to know what are the what are the things, the expectations, I guess, of Miss Motorama during the year. Do they smell this out? Do they say you have to attend this many events, you have to do this? There's probably some things you have to agree to in order to be eligible. So what are some of those things?

So honestly, with Motorama, there wasn't that much in terms of they don't have clear written expectations of you need to do this many events, you need to do this. But we are we've seen a huge shift in this particular pageant really in the past two, three years. Not only the shift in the competitors that we're getting, but a shift in the winners. And that's been really important. And it was actually a big conversation this year. Motorama, when it started, was literally it was a pageant for amateur models. That's what it was. So what you got were amateur, beautiful, amazing swimsuit models that were coming in. Like it was prestigious. It was not a motorsports event at all, right? It that they were not getting race car drivers or anything like that. And then it slowly shifted to where some girls started to come in because they were like, oh, the other two pageants were great. They wanted to do this one too. It was completely different. And they would come, but they just they wouldn't do well. They weren't scoring in the top five or anything like that. But last year, through the past 12 months, that's when they really started to shift and go, you know what? We we want to start to look at it as an ambassador program because it used to be looked at as a spokesmodel program. And listen, that was amazing, the most gorgeous girls you will ever see in your life. Like I look at them and I'm just like, you guys are beautiful. But in terms of motorsports as a whole, there were some amazing

Inclusivity, Age Ranges, And Growth

girls, even before me, they were doing amazing things. They were fundraising, they were really, really involved in car shows and things like that. Like the girls that came before were incredible. But they've seen that shift. And now what they did is they said, okay, over the past couple of years, we've had some really, really incredible girls that have done a lot. How do we keep that momentum going? Right. And so that's where we saw a shift in less scores between, you know, bikini and sportswear and more scores into interview to make sure that that girl that was super passionate about motorsports as a whole was the one that was getting a higher chance. And that's what we really did. You know, when I won, I think it was really shocking for a lot of people because I wasn't that bikini model or anything. But was I the best spokesperson they were gonna get to go out for racing for that year? I mean, I think I did a great job. I'm never gonna sit here and say I was better than any other girl that was on that stage because I don't know what they would have done. But I know that for me, I had such big plans and I had so much that I wanted to do for that. And this year, when they started talking about, you know, what they were looking for in a Miss Motorama, they specifically had posted and said, we want someone that is going to be passionate about motorsports and is going to help encourage women in the sport. And that was when I saw that come out, I kind of knew at that moment I went, We did something huge this year because we are now putting more eyes on the women in the sport, and and so the other side of that is I love that it's it's gotten more towards what you say is more important than how you look, and not to say that you can't be put together because I never once saw you not a hundred percent from head to toe put together because that's part that's the first impression that people get.

So that's important. You gotta you've gotta do that first. You know, you can't have a purple and green polka dot dress and red shoes and an orange hat, right? You know, you gotta be you gotta be put together, but absolutely you can have women who look great, but they can't speak worth a darn. And so that's where I feel like I'm glad to see that their interview portion is now becoming one of the most important pieces because you know it's it's great if you look pretty, but it's if you open your mouth and you're embarrassing yourself and the sport, then that's not a good thing.

Yeah, and I will tell you, none of even even the past few years I've competed, we have really haven't had any contestants like that. Like the contestant pool this year alone was incredible. Like these girls, every one of them brought a hundred and ten percent to this show. So I was blown away by all of the women. And it was it was one of the highest numbers they've seen. I think they said in 10 years we had 30 girls and we had more that were signed up, but there was a big snowstorm that was coming, and you know, some had to think, but on stage there were 30 girls, which is huge. That and again, the largest pageant in the area. But to hear every single one of them talk about what motorsports meant to them and how many of them were drivers in some capacity, whether it was go-karts, uh, we had a drag racer that was there who's again incredible. We had several different race car drivers, some asphalt, some dirt, like such a diverse mix. What I'm loving to see is that the girls are really realizing that I think even a couple years ago, if you were a race car driver, you had to kind of be like, well, I'm not feminine. I am

Miss Motorama’s Evolving Role

I am a driver and I need to act, you know, like that feminine side of me isn't really there. And we're seeing more and more of them come over and be like, wait, but I can be feminine and beautiful, and I can also be fierce and fast and be in a race car. And that's one of the things that I'm loving to see. And it's happening obviously with the adults, but there's so many younger girls. Like at my banquet for Evergreen, there were several of younger four-cylinder girls who came up and they were like, How old do I have to be to compete? Because I want to do what you just did. Like, we saw you do it and we saw you do it all. You, you raced, you won races, you went out there and you were representing at all of these different places. And like you really showed everyone that you can do both of them equally as well, and you can gain so much respect from the people that you are around by doing that. So I think we're we're opening their eyes to be like, you don't have to sacrifice your feminine side. You can get in that race car with a face full of makeup. It's not gonna look good when it when you get out, but you can do it, and that's okay.

Yeah. So tell me then, how old do you have to be? Is there an age range and it do they limit how many compete? And then how how would they go about that? I'm sure there's a website that tells all that, but yeah, so the short version.

Yeah, so the age range for motor army, you have to be 18 because of course if they're putting you up on stage and and they're recording you and taking photos and stuff. So 18 is the minimum age. They do cap it at 45. So it's it's pretty good age range on there. I I don't some pageants cap, some don't. Some of them used to, I know motorsports used to cap at 36. So they were actually or 35, sorry. They were they capped at 35 because the first year I wanted to compete, I was 36 and I was like, oh no, like I wouldn't be able to. But we've been seeing that age range go up because a lot of them are saying, hey, you could still be a really great ambassador, even if you're a little bit older. And that was a great example for me because technically I wouldn't have even have been able to compete for motorsports a couple of years ago because I would have been too old. So we're seeing that age range. Some of them are completely getting rid of them. Some of like Motorama still kind of has it at 45. Again, you still have to think, right? You're getting up there in a bikini, things like that. So I think they're, you know, it's still trying to keep. I don't, I hate to say the word integrity because listen, you know, I get it. But you know, it's it's still a little bit more exclusive in terms of what they're looking for on there. But yeah, that's kind of the age range. And they were really close. I am, I don't know for sure if there's a number that they cap at, but we had at one point we were up the 36 girls registered, and they were like, we are cutting it soon because what happens is it it becomes too long. Interviews already two and a half hours. It the the session last or yesterday where they did sportswear and all the crowning, that was almost two hours long. So it it would become just like this is not meant to be a full weekend thing. The girls have a lot of responsibilities. Many of them are doing other things in the show. I had several girls that had cars in the show in a booth that I had put together, so they're trying to maintain that. So yeah, that's a little bit of the the background of what the expectations were.

Yeah. It's just so interesting. And I know that a lot of people don't even realize that this goes on. Are there, do you think there are other are there other pageants and other things, anything similar to this anywhere else in the country, or is this pretty much it?

I don't know. I have searched like to see if there were other motorsports pageants. I haven't found any. That doesn't mean that they don't exist. I would love to see more of them. When I was younger, there was a there was actually an organization that went to several places and they did just that. Like they would do pageants and then take the girls to motorsport to motorsports events and do victory lanes. I would love to see more shows hosting them. There used to be more in our area. And what happens is as the shows are getting smaller, which is unfortunate because you know, vendors are getting less, things like that, they end up not having the space to do it anymore. And that's really sad because I think as an ambassador for the show, you put so many eyes on it. Like just on Facebook this year, I think we had we had not I think we had met multi-million views on the Miss Motorama Facebook page. There was one post that I put out that got 600,000 views on it. I 600,000 views. I was like, what on one post? One it just takes that one picture. And now all of a sudden people are like, what is Miss Motorama? Like you got people following it and people questioning. But then the more events you go to, you're able to explain to them what the show is. And they're like, Well, I didn't, I had no idea that's what it was. And I think what you're gonna see next year, no, I I've got still a lot of plans with Motorama. I we're bringing in a lot more race cars, right? It it's very small in terms of the amount of race cars that we get there. And I would love to see, they have a speed haul which is specifically geared towards

The Unglamorous Track Reality

custom-built stuff, right? There's some are motorcycles, but there's a lot of race cars that are in there, but I'd like to see more because even from a race car perspective, maybe there were 50. We can get more than 50 race cars in here. Like for sure, we can get more than 50 race cars, especially in the area where you live. I know it's lit, we're in Harrisburg, we're in the middle of sprint car, you know, sprint car country. So I'd love to see, I'd love to fill that hall next year. And I I I know that I'm already in talks with Motorama on how I can become really partner with them on the back end side of things, like outside of the pageant two on way, because they they saw, they're like, wow, one person made such an impact there. So, and again, the more the more cars you get, the more people you get that are like, wow, what are these race cars? Like, I had people there were of the entire show, we hundreds, if not thousands, of different cars that were there. There were three asphalt race cars, three, and they were all from my racetrack. My racetrack had their four cylinder there in their booth. It was my car, and there was a sport modified from Sarah Beth Mesco. That was it. And I'm like, what is what is? I know that asphalt is there's no asphalt tracks around there, but we're not going to get more asphalt opportunities if we don't start showing up. So that's definitely something I want to take a look at too. But what was really cool at Motorama, and this ties back to all of the advocating, is they at motorsports this year, I held a seminar and I did it last year for the first time, and I remember us talking about that. But this year I was way more confident and I was like, we're doing it again. I can't wait. We had the display booth there. We had double the amount of cars. There were 13 cars in the display booth, which was pretty much all the space at that time that we had. We're gonna have more next year. But it was really great. All the girls got their own posters with their names on them, so they got to display. Many of the girls came and sat at their cars the entire show, handed out candy, handed out hero cards. We did an autograph session in front of their cars, which was great. They were just lined. People were just lining up, they were getting all the photos. It was really cool. But then we did a seminar. And last year, when we did the seminar, we maybe had like 35 people in it. It was the first time, right? We most of it was our people, our friends and families. So it was fine. And I was like, I would like to see more this year. Both keynote speakers canceled. We had a huge snow, actually, the biggest snowstorm we've had in years ended up happening that week. One was coming up from North Carolina and she was driving, and she's like, There's just no way because the storm was actually coming up like from the south. So she was hitting it even before us. So she ended up canceling. And then the main speaker ended up having a family emergency. And I found all this out maybe two or three days before. And I was like, Well, you know, the snow's coming. I don't know how attendance is gonna be. We could have canceled, I could have reached out and said, Hey, both keynote speakers are gone. We're gonna have to cancel it. But I was like, that's not an option. And I'm like, okay, guess what? I'm gonna keynote speak. I love speaking in front of people, I have no problem. So I was like, great. Uh, when I had messaged the, you know, the guy that runs the whole show, I'm like, uh, you know, this one canceled too. I'm like, don't worry, it's gonna be great. I'm gonna take care of it. I had to fill an hour and a half space. It was a long seminar. So I collected all of the girls. Like, I already had a panel of six ladies that were coming in to talk. I went to that autograph session. I said, every one of you are coming in this room with me. They were like, What of caught? I was like, You're all coming in, you're all here, you're all here with your race cars, you're not doing anything. Come on. So I pulled them all in and we ended up splitting it up into two sessions. I spoke a little bit at the beginning. We had a session for the girls

Expectations And Judging Explained

that were under 18, and then we had a session for the girls that were over because it was just easier to split it up and kind of talk about what they wanted. And I think we ended up having 15 drivers that were there, and we spoke with every single one of them, got got them to introduce themselves, talk a little bit about what they were doing. We had Brianna Snyder, who was that pulsa toll sitter there. That was amazing, right? And she was one of my favorite stories because beforehand, she's like, I'm so nervous. I've never spoken in front of people. Like, nobody knows who I am. I don't have any friends. And I'm like, You do. I was like, you know me, right? She's like, Yeah. And I'm like, oh, well, what about the girl sitting next to you? She's like, Well, yeah, I know her too. I'm like, great, you have friends, you're fine. And I told, I assured them, I said, I will not let you fail up there. You are gonna do great. I will make sure that if I need to step in and lead that conversation with you, I will. You're gonna do awesome. And so when she got up to speak and we were introducing her, I kind of looked out of the crowd. She went super viral in this area when she won the poll. That was a huge deal. Not just, not just because she was a local driver, but she was a female driver. And so we were like, wow, this is amazing. Before she even spoke, I asked, you know, she introduced herself and I asked everyone, I was like, hey, raise your hand if you know who this is. Like, have you seen anything? Almost every person's hand in that room went up. And I like looked at her, I was like, you have a whole room full of friends here. They all know who you are. And if they know who you are, they are impressed with what you just did. And so I just was able to show her kind of instantly like, you may think that you don't have any friends here, but you were wrong because when you're in this community, it doesn't matter who it is, they're willing to be your friend. But yeah, we ended up, we ended up having to add chairs because we filled them. And then we ended up with standing room only. Towards the middle of it, when I had a chance to actually look out at the crowd, it was in the paper later that week that we had the highest attended seminar of the entire weekend. It was standing room only. And they said that by the looks of things, that the momentum of women in racing is not going to slow down anytime soon. And I was so incredibly proud of that that we went from, you know, maybe 35 people to, I think, I think I tried to count, it was around like 80 or 90, that was it, but I counted halfway through and people just they just kept coming in, like more and more people. And it was amazing to see what we did there just throughout the entire week and the growth that we had from year one to year two. And I'm like, imagine what we can do next year. Like every time we do something, it the word gets bigger and bigger and bigger, and more people are like, wow, they're doing really great things. I want to be involved in it too. I already have a whole list of people that are like, Can can we be part of it next year?

Yeah, yeah. It's that's interesting, you know, because those girls that you roped into coming up uh and being on stage with you, maybe had never spoken in front of anyone or whatever. And what an opportunity for them to do that and and to get their name out there.

Absolutely, and even if it's in this group, there's 80 people in this room that now know who you are, and the girls they're seeing each other now at multiple shows. Like some of them came to Motorama because what happened with Motorama is Motorama had a booth at motorsport, right? And so when I was at motorsports doing all this, I was not Miss Motorama. I was doing this as Mallory Coots, the race car driver, who loves racing and loves women in the sport. And so that's what I was doing. So I was like, no, that's being put to side right now, and this is my focus, is is this. And so the the owner, not the owner, I'm so sorry, the guy that like manages Motorama, his name is Andy. He happened to walk past the area I was in while the autograph session was going on. So he saw all of these female drivers and saw all those cars. And I was like teasing him, I was like, Hey, and did you see what I did here? I was like, this is so cool. And he like looked at me, he's like, Why don't you do this at Motorama? And I was like, You never asked me to. Like, I didn't know it was even an option because again, it's not really a race car show. And he was like, Can can we do this there? And I was like, Yeah, I can put something really great together for next year. And he's like, Can you do it this year? And I was like, That's in three weeks. So I was like, I can't do this because I've been doing this since October, but I can do something to get us started, and then next year we can do something amazing as well. And so we did, and I just, you know, I was able to collect 10 cars that we took to Motorama, which again, is that a is that an outstanding number of cars? No, is that amazing in two, three weeks that I was able to get 10 people to commit to coming and towing their car up and doing all of that? Yeah, they were super happy with it. So again, just we started there, even at RX, we had there was a a girl, actually Shannon Slaughter, who won the oh my gosh, my brain just failed me. The scholarship that I got, she has been super passionate about advocating as well. So she did a panel at RX on their stage and she actually asked me to be part of that. So all three shows that I was involved with or competing at are now really like going in on the value of wow, we need to continue this women in motorsports. And a lot of it started last year at the motorsports trade show when I said I want to bring more recognition and started to do that, and they're seeing it grow and grow and grow. And so I and

More Women, More Stages

I was I was a part of it at each show. So I'm really finding that space for me that is like I can bring so much to these shows and continue to grow them and continue to give all of these females a safe space to come and be celebrated.

So, Mallory, would would someone from Kalamazoo where I live be welcome to come and be a part of things? Oh my god, 100%. Yeah, 100%. So next year, you know, the more we get the word out about what this is and what you're doing, next year, you know, you could have cars from Florida and Texas and Colorado and who knows where, right?

Yeah, if if we could get them out, even looking at the cars we had this year. There was a girl that drove from Virginia, there was a girl from Maryland, there was a girl from Delaware that came in, obviously a couple cars from Pennsylvania. So when I was like listening to them, the one girl, she's like, Oh, we drove from Virginia. I'm like, you drove from Virginia to come here? She's like, Yeah, I was like, that is amazing. That we had uh out of the 10 cars, they were from four or five different states that were like right here. And and that was just really cool. Again, just the reach that I was able to get, but to see the representation just up and down the east coast.

Yeah. Oh wow, that's so exciting! I think you have a lot of projects ahead of you, Mallory.

I I do, and I'm really excited to kind of see where they are. I've told everyone I'm taking a week off. I said I'm taking a week off from everything motorsports. And then I looked at my husband, I was like, oh, wait, I actually have a podcast to do tomorrow. And he's like, I'm not surprised. I said I'm taking a week to myself to really just relax, regroup, rest, mourn a little bit, right? Really, really sad about handing, you know, the title off yesterday. Although I'm less sad than I thought. I thought it was gonna be a lot more emotional in terms of me being sad. But what happened is. Is I realized that the respect I earned throughout the past 12 months in that community was far more than I ever imagined. And it was, it was the competitors that were sad that it was coming to an end. Like the girls that I competed with from day one when I got there, they did nothing but praise me. The new girls that did not compete with me last year were talking about how seeing me do stuff online and seeing everything that I did, you know, encouraged and empowered them to come and compete this year. I had a standing ovation from every lady on that stage when I did my final walk last year, which is something I have never seen in any of the pageants. Even some of the judges like stood up, and that was really cool. The girls had tissues when I was doing my speech. Like I could see in the video, I was seeing, like they were emotional, they were crying because they know that what I did was so much more about what I did for myself, but about the path that I just laid for all of them now coming into these roles and being recognized as what they're able to do. And I was so proud of everything that we did, so much so that I actually, um, after the pageant was over, they do car show awards, like and this is traditional, like classic cars and things like that, up in the car show hall. And they had me go up and help with awards. And after I got there, a few minutes later, they did an ambassador award at Motorama, which they give every year to someone within just the community or whatever it may be that they feel really embodied Motorama and like encouraged people to come and push it out. And when the when Andy, who again helped me get those cars and asked me to do that, he starts talking about the award. And I think he got about one sentence in and I realized that he was talking about me on the stage. I started crying harder when I realized that I had made such an impact at Motorama that they were giving me an award for doing everything I did outside of Miss, you know, not at the Miss Motorama stage, but at their car show stage in front of everybody. I it was so emotional because I realized that it wasn't even racing that I made the impact, is it was just the community as a whole of motorsports, and I was so proud of that.

And you have to be because that's so much bigger, yeah, than the

Packing Halls: Seminar Momentum

I you know, Miss Miss Motorama's big, but but what you just said about being the ambassador for that show or for motorsports in regards to that show is so much bigger than than you would have ever thought could happen. But Mallory, part of that is your personality, you know, I don't think you know a stranger. Your your ability to convey what you want to, you know, you to say what you want to say, and and people get excited because you never stop smiling when you talk about motorsport. And they can feel the energy and the passion that excuse me, that you bring. Yeah, it's amazing. It's just amazing the things you've done. I can't wait to see what's coming.

Oh, me too. Me too. I one of the things I said in my speech yesterday, in my fair farewell speech, was that the whole time that I was competing, I thought that the end game was to win, like the end of all of this, and the end of my my journey was winning. And now I realize that that was truly just like that. That was here, but we're gonna get here because what I did this past year was just the foundation of what I'm going to do. And so it gave me the confidence that I needed. It gave me the connections that I needed. I mean, the connections I have right now, some of the names in my phone that I have, I'm like, this is insane that I have these people's phone numbers or, you know, I'm friends with them now on Facebook and I've communicated with them. It's it's really, really cool. And they're all so supportive of everything that I'm doing within the sport. And it's so much bigger than I think what I even imagine. Even Melinda, listening to your podcast in the past 12 months, there are several podcasts where I've heard people talk about me and I'm like, what? I'm like, whether, you know, Zoe talked about how, you know, I was one of the biggest inspirations she had. I know there were some of the girls from the ladies' acceleration tour that talked about what I was doing with the coloring books. I haven't heard it yet, but I know Brielle's dad, Brielle Stern, who was at both of my shows, and she was one of those ladies. Her dad messaged me and he's like, she talked about you somewhere on the pod. I don't know what she said, but I know she talked about you. I was like, like knowing that yesterday.

I just oh I yesterday was a pretty busy day for me. So I'm gonna be able to listen. So it just went live yesterday.

I will go give it a listen, but and and it's organically, I'm like, I'm making such an impact that these people are on podcasts talking about the impact that I'm making in their lives, and it's it's just so much bigger than what I imagined, but it's also just me being me. Like, I want to support all of you, I want to help you. And uh Brielle's amazing. She actually gave my son a pet talk yesterday, and they've become friends through the things that I've done, which is so funny because she's an amazing young lady, and I can't wait to see what she does in this sport. But to know that like I've got her on my side and she's got me on hers, I mean, she's gonna be unstoppable with all of the support that she has. But then to know that my son now has someone a little bit older than him that he can look up to and he's got all the respect in the world for a female driver. He's watching it all. So, you know, when she talks to him, it's like he's gonna listen and really take serious what she says because he also sees the impact that she's making. So it's everything is just it's working out so beautifully right now.

I think having you on today was the best day we could schedule this. Yeah. And you get you scheduled it, so you knew. I knew.

I knew that I was gonna have a lot to talk about after Motorama. I also knew that I was there was a lot of emotions that were still there and that I was gonna be able to really, you know, portray them raw and honestly. And that that was exactly why I was like, today is the day that I need to tell someone about everything I've done, but also about everything that's to come. Right.

Oh Mallory, we could talk forever. We could. So many things going on. We have to, you have to come on more often, not just once a year. Yeah. Kind of up to date on what's happening because it's a good way to get the word out, you know, to people that maybe don't live in your area or don't know yet about you or what you're doing and can follow you. And and the more that we get the word out, the bigger that is gonna be. And the more projects you're gonna get involved in. I can see it already.

I love oh, I love the projects. I still, when I look at my schedule right now, everyone's like, oh, you know, you get to relax. I was like, no, mm-mm. Like I haven't, I I just bought a uh so that I can start to mark down, of course, like my races and the TQ races and stuff like that. But I've already got so many events that people are reaching out. They're like, hey, and here's the really cool thing is the tracks are now starting to do like women appreciation days. Yeah. And they're reaching out going, hey, we'd love you to be a part of it. And some of them I can, some of them I can't because I'm racing on those days. But still, I'm like, even if I can't be there, I am so happy to help you promote it and do what I can with it. So we're really getting the tracks to realize how important and how impactful the women can be. Cause let's when you're thinking social media, it's the girls that are out there posting all the time, right? You want someone to be a good ambassador for your racetrack. Get get a 15-year-old girl who's on TikTok and Instagram and all of that stuff to start posting about it. That's where the recognition is going to come in. So the quicker they realize how much of an asset we are to the track, the more successful they're going to be.

And you know, Mallory, that's a huge point. And we could spend a whole podcast talking about that because I have some local tracks here in the Kalamazoo, Michigan area that really don't

From Trade Show To Motorama Booths

get it. They do promote things, but they could do such a better job of promoting not just their track, but you know, like different things they could do. I've suggested it to a couple of them and they think it's a good idea, but they don't want us hire somebody. They don't want it, they just they just don't. And it's their loss, yeah. Because it does attract more people, you know, and but you know, it in all in due time, right? It takes it takes time.

It it does, it does. And that's with my track this year with Evergreen. I'm super thankful that the the promoter Jason, me and him have gotten incredibly close this year. He's been so supportive of everything. And I have brought so many eyes to his racetrack that never would have seen it. I've brought photographers in. We uh live streamed my sister's race, which was the first time they ever had a live stream going. So we opened a lot of eyes to Evergreen, and he's very open to like, hey, what can we do to try to attract more people? So I'm excited to brainstorm and start to think with him like, what can we do in terms of Evergreen Raceway and getting you guys because I want to continue to have a place to race. Sure. Like that at the end of the day. So your success and my success in getting that literally is impacting my life. And I want to make sure that that is successful. So, but super thankful that he is so open and willing. And you know what? He has the daughter, Caitlin, that races. So he knows, like, I'm it's not just I'm out there, but I'm out there supporting his daughter and I'm having her do like she was part of my seminar. And so I'm he's seeing full circle like this girl's driving at my track, she's doing this. Like, I really should listen to what she has to say and take some of these suggestions because she's going to continue to just help not only my daughter's career, but my racetrack as well.

Yeah.

Oh, Mallory, you've got you've gotten me excited on a Monday. You know, sometimes Monday comes and you're like, oh gosh, you know, the week ahead is this, this, and this. And sometimes Monday is the day that you have to really kick yourself in the butt to get going. Well, you've kicked me in the butt today. And uh the rest of the week's gonna be great. And I appreciate, gosh, I appreciate everything you've done. And and I know you're just gonna keep at it. And and you and I are kind of on that same track, aren't we?

Uh I see the stuff you're posting, and I'm like, I can't wait to see what she's doing. And some people are like, Don't you get like, don't you get upset when you see all these people do? No, the more people, the better. Every time I see a new girl that's like, I'm creating this Facebook page or this platform or this. I'm like, yes, yes, keep it going, keep it going. Get that clothing line out there, get that Facebook group going because the more and and I'm part of all of them. I'm like, let me be a part of this, let me be a part of this, let me be like, let me buy your clothes, let me because that's it, it's all the more we have. This is one of those things that it's saturation is better. Saturate the people because the more groups that we have and the more posts that we have is the more support that these girls have behind them. So I love seeing everybody coming up with these new, just these new initiatives and seeing it grow. And it's it's incredible. Well, you're gonna love what I've got cooked cooking. I can't wait. I saw the email and I'm like, oh, what is she doing?

I'll have to, I'll have to include you in a little bit. So yes, you know what, Mallory. I appreciate you so much and everything you're doing. And I know we're gonna stay in touch because we help each other. But um, this has been a great, great show, and I know people are gonna get excited. Race season's coming up. I mean, you know, NASCAR's already started, but in Michigan, the snow's almost gone. It was gone, and we had more. It's yeah, I need to see some snow in the grass, and we may have some more yet before winter's over, but hopefully it won't be long, and we'll be ready to get to the racetrack another six weeks or a month, a couple months, and and so that's when things really get get live and take off. And so I hope you have a great season with your race, your race car, especially with all the things that I know you've got you that you're thinking about that you want to do, and and I know they're gonna come to fruition for sure.

Yeah, it's it's

Expanding The Movement Across Shows

gonna be a great year. Oh, I know I never even did mention my racing season though, because sometimes I even forget that we had it because we did we did race a full season. So I raced my full street stock season. It was quite the journey going from four cylinder to street stock. First couple weeks were rough, but we we we got better. We got a lot better. I ended up at the end of the year uh coming out third in points in rookie of the year. So super proud of that. I did even lead a couple of laps in a heat race, which for me that was huge because it was such a learning experience. And Evergreen doesn't run a ton of races. Like our initial schedule, I think was 14 races. A couple of them got canceled. So I think we ended up running about 11. If you think about 11 races over the course of the year, like so many of them, every week it was still learning, learning the car, learning how to run it, learning the power that was underneath. But I showed up every single week, continued to race. And so I was super proud of that third in points. I mean, it was consistency key. Yeah, that was really, really impressive. But in the classic TQ that I race as well, that one I was dominant in. I actually won my first feature race, which was super cool. So it kind of I was like, I'm not a bad race car driver. I just really needed a car that I felt super confident in. And so I that adventure has been really, really cool to see. So winning a race, I even ran a I got to run a powder puff race on a in a dirt champ car this year. I won that too, which was my first time on dirt. So in 2025, I was like, hey, I ran a I raced on asphalt and dirt and won on both of them. So that was cool. And then I also got an opportunity to run a micro stock, I believe is what it was called, at a charity race that somebody was holding. And the guy running it, he's like, Hey, a lot of people have talked about you. I'd love for you to come, you know, drive my car and race in that. So I had a lot of opportunities open up that allowed me to try different types of racing, which was really cool.

Yeah, and it also gets your name and what you're doing out there more and more and more, and that's important.

Yeah, so yeah, it was a from the racing aspect, it was a great year as well.

Boy, I'm really excited for this year, though. Really, really, really, really great year. Awesome, Mallory. Well, you have a good rest of your week. Thank you. Thank you again for being on. I really appreciate it. And I know that you're on a high, and oh, you got to take some breasts and take care of Mallory the rest of the week or whatever. And yeah, we we appreciate everything you're doing.

Yeah, thank you so much. And you too. I mean, you are you were you were advocating for women well before I was. So you are a great role model for those of us that are like, hey, I want to keep this going, and I really want to bring new recognition to my area to it. So you're doing amazing things, Melinda. I appreciate that.

You hang on here and we'll I'll be right back with you. Okay. That's it for this episode of the Women's Motorsports Network podcast. We hope you've been inspired by the stories I shared today and feel more connected to the amazing community of women in motorsports. Remember, whether you're behind the wheel, in the pits, or cheering from the stands, your story matters. And together we're driving change and celebrating every milestone. If you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to subscribe, leave us a review, and share it with someone who loves motorsports as much as you do. And don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram for updates, behind the scenes content, and more incredible stories. So until next time, stay inspired, stay connected, and keep racing through life. This is the Women's Motorsports Network podcast where every woman's story is worth celebrating.