Paving the way for women in racing
SPEEDWAY, Ind (WISH) — An online content creator is setting the pace for women at the race track, bringing her series of fan meetups to NASCAR for the first time this weekend at the Brickyard 400.
Armed with a wrist full of friendship bracelets and the desire to meet more, Sarah Offenbach started to host meetups at IndyCar races last season.
Online, she goes by “Offey on Track.” A year and a half later she has nearly five thousand followers across different platforms and dozens of new friends in person.
She grew up around motorsports, and later married a racing engineer.
Offenbach spends a lot of time at racetracks supporting her husband. She took that time and her passion to start posting motorsports content online.
Along the way, she was waitlisted for tickets to Taylor Swift‘s Eras Tour.
“I knew that I would miss out on the connection of trading the friendship bracelets,” Offenbach said. “So I brought friendship bracelets to a race and started passing them out just to whoever … a lot of guys were like, I don’t know what to do with this.”
Those connections turned into friendships. While she admits she didn’t set out to create a women-focused community — it quickly became one.
Now her meetups are a staple for many on race weekends.
She says the goal is to create a safe space to continue to grow the sport that she loves.
“That is very important to me, making sure everyone feels welcome and kind of teaching new fans, the ropes and how welcoming the community is. There are people that look like you and love this sport and are interested in being involved in the sport.”
As her husband’s career shifts gears, she’s now at more NASCAR races.
Other fans are stepping in to host meetups at the IndyCar events she can’t attend.
Chloe Amaro first met Offenbach at the St. Pete Grand Prix at one of her events. This weekend, she helped organize a meetup this weekend at the Monterry Grand Prix.
She says it’s great to see fans embrace the community they’ve created.
“We had somebody comment on a TikTok that said, like, ‘Hey, I’m going with my mom this weekend. Like, can I bring my mom?” Amora said. “‘Bring mom. We love moms. Come hang out.”
It’s a movement Offenbach hopes can continue to race forward for all.
“It warms my heart that there’s something people look forward to, other than just the race,” Offenbach said. “It’s a community aspect of it.”
This week, “Offey on Track” is hosting her first meetup at a NASCAR race for the Brickyard 400. It’s Sunday at 11 a.m. on Pagoda Plaza.”
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