Rhonda Kelly, a.k.a. Rottin Rhonda, gave up competitive horseback riding several years ago to focus on her new passion, drag racing her '98 12-valve Cummins Dodge Ram 2500 extended-cab pickup. Since then, with her 5.9L twin-turbo diesel engine, the 39-year-old Renton, Washington, resident has become one of the top drag racers in the Northwest. Kelly estimates her truck makes 675 hp and 1,200 lb-ft of torque. Recently, Diesel Power's Jack Olson caught up with Kelly and discussed a variety of topics, including being a woman in a male-dominated sport, how she got involved with diesel drag racing, and the future of diesel racing.
Diesel Power: First, the obvious question: You're a woman in what many people would perceive to be a man's sport. Has that been difficult?
Rhonda Kelly: It can be, but actually, the most challenging part of the racing for me has been having the diesel accepted in the racing community. Actually, the racers, historically, at the track are pretty nice people. There aren't that many women racers, but they seem to be very open to it and real friendly and accepting. A couple of years ago, I ran into a problem when I started getting more competitive and racing in more good races. That's when I started having problems, but it was because I was in a diesel. There are a lot of race guys who did not like getting beat by a diesel. They made that very clear.
DP: How so?
RK: They would complain and try to get my truck disqualified on technicalities. They tried to get me for any rule that my truck might be breaking so that it wouldn't be legal to run at the track. We did run into that a few years ago, but a lot has changed since then. With the diesel people that I know, we've spoken quite a bit with the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) directors and networked with them. We've really given them some positive input as far as the trucks go. They've actually changed some NHRA rules to accommodate our needs.
DP: Why do you think it has been so tough for diesel to be accepted?
RK: It has actually been the last couple of years that have been the most challenging. That's probably because they [diesels] blow a lot of smoke, and people don't really understand them. They think it's a big, stinky farm truck. They don't think it's a race car that belongs on the track. You will hear things from different guys. Diesels have an oil breather tube. Some of the guys who run really fast cars will say that any oil residue on the track is dangerous to them. They have a valid point, but it's not like what they say it is. Our trucks spew out amazing amounts of black smoke. There are people who don't like that. They say it fouls the lights. That's another criticism you hear. That's part of why I went to a stack. Those of us who are serious about racing now have an exhaust stack that goes out the bed because it keeps the smoke up off the competitors and off the starting crew. So we've also done some things to try to accommodate.
DP: Why do you think the racing community is accepting of women competitors? There have been more and more stories along these lines over the past decade or so.
RK: It kind of has become a non-story in a way. I think racing is such a family-oriented sport, and that helps. A lot of times, a woman may go to the track as a girlfriend or something and say, "That looks interesting." Or they might be somebody's daughter. There are a lot of young girls who start racing because their fathers race. They go to the track and sort of get that racing lifestyle. We have a lot of fun with it. Quite frankly, there are a lot of seriously competitive women in the sport now-from motorcycle racing to funny cars. There are some women who are really, really good. People are getting past saying, "Oh, they're frail, and they can't do these things." We can. We're out there proving it.
DP: Are you at all thankful to have come along at a time when it is more accepted? Once, it might have been a lot tougher.
RK: (Laughter) Kind of, but I don't mind the challenge, either. If you're serious about something, then you're serious about it. Yeah, it is easier these days because of women like Shirley Muldowney. She was one of the first and certainly one of the most notable racers in history. I am grateful for the path that she and others like her cleared. If it had been really, really horrible, it could have been hard to follow through with it. If you love racing, you stick with it. I'm real proud of her and the other women who even came before her in other types of racing. They had to put up with a lot of bad stuff.
DP: Was she an inspiration growing up? Is this something you always dreamed of doing?
RK: Even though I wasn't a race fan, I definitely knew who Shirley was. I knew about her racing against Big Daddy Don Garlits. I did not get into racing until about four years ago, but I still knew about her.
DP: And it sounds like it just grew from there.
RK: I started modifying my truck. It got a little faster and then it got more fast. Then, it was all about making it faster.
DP: And you do a lot of your own work on your truck.
"You're really here to race. You're not just here to stink up the track."