RACING TO THE FINISH LINE

Tonya Rowland climbed out of her 1977 Monte Carlo stock car she will be racing at Missouri International Racepark.

Tonya Rowland doesn't look anything like the traditional stock car racer.

First, she's a female in a very male sport. She has long, manicured nails painted pink and prefers dress suits to blue jeans. Her part-time job is at a bridal boutique.

Rowland looks sort of, well, brainy.

And she is.

An English education major, she carries a B average at Southeast Missouri State University and switches from discussing sweetheart necklines to head gaskets with incredible ease. At 22, Rowland is already one of the most diverse and rushed people alive, running from school to work to the garage and back again.

Her breakneck schedule fell into place on a relaxing day. She was in a swimming pool with her father, Jim Rowland, last summer. He asked her if she'd like to drive a stock car.

He already had one child, Todd, in racing, and he said he wanted his daughter to stay close to the family and gain its appreciation for racing.

His daughter wasn't so sure. Rowland had watched her brother race four-wheelers and then sprint cars all over the country and couldn't understand the addictio~n.

"If the races were very far away, I didn't go," she said. "I thought, `Why would I want to spend every weekend watching a bunch of idiots drive around in circles?' But I wanted to see if I liked it as much as everyone else did."

Rowland began racing in June and loved it.

Her mother, Sherry Rowland, said she was surprised and frightened to see her somewhat bookish daughter begin a racing career and asked Tonya to wave out the window after every accident.

Her father, who said he worries more about Rowland when she's in her Honda CRX, got her a 1976 Chevelle to race last season.

Nothing in the car fit. Rowland sat on pillows to see over the dashboard. Her pit crew put a wooden block on the gas pedal so she could reach it. She bounced around in a seat that was too large, wearing a suit made for a 175-pound man.

Rowland is 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighs 110 pounds.

"My fingers went about halfway to the tips of the gloves," Rowland said. "They don't make racing equipment for people like me."

As the only woman driver at Missouri International Racepark in Benton, there were some chauvinistic attitudes to face, too. During one race, another driver spun out and was facing the wrong way on the track. Unable to stop, Rowland hit him.

As the two drivers sat waiting for their cars to be separated, the man shouted, "Where the hell did you think you were going?"

Rowland shouted back, but the worst was the next day.

"Every muscle in my body hurt," Rowland said. "My eyelashes hurt."

But she didn't quit. Other male drivers congratulated her for hanging in there, and she ended up coming in second during one heat race and qualifying for one feature race. Not bad for someone who could barely see over the dashboard.

This year, things should be better. Now the racepark's only woman has a car that actually fits. It's a 1977 Monte Carlo with a 406 horsepower engine, eight cylinders and a power glide transmission. It weighs 3,360 pounds with her in it, just over the legal weight minimum.

The car's side is decorated with the number 21, Rowland's age when she started racing. Her family wanted her to use 14 Jr., because her brother's number is 14 R.

Rowland wanted to make her number known through her own talents, not her brother's, and stuck with 21.

Racing season at Benton began last night, and Rowland is hoping for a better season with her new equipment. She's also hoping for more sponsors to go on the side of her car.

"This is expensive," Rowland said. "My racing fuel costs $4 a gallon. I want everyone to know there is plenty of visible space on the side of my car."