Highland Springs student who became NASCAR's first Black female driver returns home
Start with Dystany Spurlock’s first name.
Dystany. It’s pronounced the same as “destiny.” And though it looks and sounds dramatic, the name is not a public relations gimmick, Spurlock explained. It’s the name and spelling her mother, Robin, chose when her daughter was born in 1992.
Spurlock, born in King William, grew up in the Richmond area and lives now in North Carolina to be close to the business heart of stock car racing, the sport she has chosen.
Spurlock is the first Black woman to drive in any of NASCAR’s three national touring series, having started her tenure as a driver in NASCAR’s Craftsman Truck Series. Spurlock is in Richmond for Friday evening’s Truck Series race at Richmond Raceway.
On Thursday, she visited her alma mater, Highland Springs High School in Henrico County, just 17 miles east of the three-quarter-mile race track where the green flag is scheduled for a few minutes after 7 p.m. Friday.
The occasion was a combination press conference and celebration of an alumna who has made history. In addition to the school band, cheerleaders, principal, and some faculty members, among those on hand were Henrico County Manager John Vithoulkas and Varina District Supervisor Tyrone Nelson.
Nelson praised Spurlock for her determination and presented her with a framed proclamation naming August 13th “Dystany Spurlock Day,” with a long series of “whereas” phrases detailing her accomplishments.
Spurlock said she was especially thrilled with the honor because Aug. 13 is her mother’s birthday. Her mother and her grandfather Robert were both in attendance.
Spurlock recalled her early connection with Richmond Raceway. Her grandfather lived near the track. She would visit him on days when NASCAR held races there.
“We didn’t go to the races,” she said, “but we were close enough that we could open the windows and hear the race cars running, So, we would be watching the races on TV and hearing the real sound.”
That, Spurlock said, was the beginning of her desire to be part of the sport.
She was undeterred, she said, by the fact that until now there were no Black women in any of NASCAR’s top-level series.
She had ignored such barriers before, she said. Notably, she played football at Highland Springs – on the boys’ team – as a wide receiver and safety on the JV team, then a safety for the varsity.
The Springer football coaches checked for rules that would have forbidden female players, she explained, “but there weren’t any rules like that, so I made the team.”
She also participated in track and field, she said, and was a cheerleader during basketball season.
She spoke at length about her dream of racing in a major NASCAR series.
“There were times when I didn’t know if it was going to work out,” she said, “times when I worried that I was chasing something that just wasn’t going to happen for someone like me.”
What she learned, she said, was “you don’t quit. Not when it’s hard, not when people doubt you, not when the path isn’t clear. You keep showing up.”
When ambition puts you in circumstances that make you different, she said, you must remember that “somebody has to go first. Somebody has to walk into a space and say, ‘I belong here, too’ – even when nobody’s done it before.”
Spurlock gave Highland Springs’ faculty and staff credit for instilling in her the determination to pursue her dream. “Thank you for believing in me when it was hard to see how this would all come together,” she said.
Spurlock’s NASCAR venture isn’t her first foray into motorsports. She competed in the XDA Motorcycle Drag Racing Series starting at age 17, setting world records for the Real Street class at 178 m.p.h. as the first woman to win that class. She is the second Black woman ever to compete in the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle class.
Before her NASCAR debut, she raced in sports cars and in other stock car series. She has qualified for one NASCAR Truck Series start so far, resulting in a disappointing 36th-place finish after an early crash in a race at Dover Motor Speedway.
Spurlock said she has a modest hope for the Richmond race. “A top 15,” she said, “and to be running at the finish.”
Her long-range goal? It’s the top of the heap in American stock car racing. “To be a full-time driver in the NASCAR Cup Series,” she said.
