Dystany Spurlock is returning to NASCAR this weekend.
The 34-year-old, who earlier this season became the first Black woman to drive in one of the sport’s top three national touring series, will attempt to race in Friday night’s Craftsman Truck Series race at Richmond in the No. 2 Ford for Team Reaume. Spurlock must one of the top 36 trucks in qualifying out of 39 entries to make the race.
Spurlock, who is a Virginia native and grew up near Richmond Raceway, is in her first season of stockcar racing after a long career in motorcycles. In 2024, she made history as the first woman to win the DME Racing Real Street class in the XDA Motorcycle Drag Racing Series with a run at 178 miles per hour. A year later, she debuted in NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle.
Backed by Foxxtecca, an experiential media and events company based in Detroit, Spurlock has been racing in the ARCA Menards Series and the Truck Series this season. In ARCA, akin to NASCAR’s minor league, she’s notched six top-15 finishes in eight races, highlighted by a seventh-place finish in Hickory, North Carolina in March. Before embarking on this journey, Spurlock previously had a job driving 18-wheelers to support her aspirations in motorsports.
This will be Spurlock’s third attempt at the Truck Series this season. After failing to qualify for the road course race at Watkins Glen, she made history the following weekend in Dover by becoming the first Black woman to race in NASCAR. She finished 36th, but it marked the first time since 2020 that at least three women have competed in the same race in one of NASCAR’s top three touring series as Spurlock was joined on the track by Natalie Decker and Toni Breidinger.
Should she qualify at Richmond, Spurlock will be the only woman on the track in Friday night’s race, which will also mark her debut with Team Reaume. Spurlock has previously driven in the Truck Series and ARCA with MBM Motorsports.
“We are excited to welcome Dystany to Team Reaume and give her the opportunity to compete in front of her hometown fans at Richmond Raceway,” team owner Josh Reaume said in a statement. “Dystany has already made history in NASCAR, and we are proud to be part of her journey as she continues to break barriers and inspire the next generation of racers.”
The Truck Series race at Richmond — the Black's Tire 250 — will be an eventful one featuring a handful of interesting storylines. Tristan McKee, a 16-year-old, will make his NASCAR debut for Spire Motorsports in the No. 77 Chevrolet. On the other end of that spectrum, 51-year-old Elliott Sadler will race in NASCAR for the first time since 2019 in the No. 25 Ram for Kaulig. Sadler, a native of Emporia, Virginia, won three Cup Series races in his career and is a champion of the second-tier O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.
Cup Series regulars Shane van Gisbergen and Christopher Bell will also attempt to qualify, while Layne Riggs will be seeking his sixth win of the season.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dystany Spurlock, NASCAR's first Black woman driver, to race at Richmond
