Leilani Münter
Münter in 2014 atChicagoland Speedway
Born	Leilani Maaja Münter (1974-02-18)February 18, 1974 (age 51) Rochester, Minnesota, U.S.
ARCA Menards Series career
Debut season	2010
Starts	18
Wins	0
Poles	0
Best finish	20th in2018
Previous series
2007	Firestone Indy Lights
Statistics up to date as of April 28, 2018.

Leilani Maaja Münter (born February 18, 1974) is an American former professionalstock car racing driver and environmental activist. She last competed in theARCA Menards Series, and previously drove in the Firestone Indy Lights, the development league ofIndyCar.

Münter is the child of a Japanese-American mother from the Island of Hawaii and a German father, who was working at the Hawaii State Hospital inKāneʻohe. Her father relocated toRochester, Minnesota for work at theMayo Clinic, where she was born on February 18, 1974.^[1]

Prior to becoming a race car driver, Münter earned a bachelor's degree in biology, specializing in ecology, behavior, and evolution from theUniversity of California, San Diego. During her college years, Münter was also a volunteer at a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation center. She is an almost lifelong vegetarian and becamevegan in 2011.^[1][2]

Münter began racing in California in 2001 in the Allison Legacy Series. She debuted with a seventh place finish. In 2002, Münter made the move toMooresville, North Carolina, widely regarded as the center for NASCAR racing. In 2003, she had her first start in the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series at South Boston Speedway, she finished ninth. She made her first speedway start in 2004 atTexas Motor Speedway and set a new record when she qualified fourth, the highest qualifying effort for a female driver at the track.^{[citation needed]} It was also her firstsuper late model race; she finished seventh. In 2006, she had her first full-time season in a race car. In her fifth race of the season, she had one of the biggest races of her career when she finished fourth, setting a new record at Texas Motor Speedway for the highest finish for a female driver in the history of the 1.5 mile speedway.^{[citation needed]} Later that year, Münter became the first woman to qualify in the 45-year history of the Tony Bettenhausen Classic at Illiana Speedway in Indiana.^{[citation needed]} In 43 stock car starts, Münter scored nineteen top-tens and nine top-five finishes. At the end of the 2006 racing season, she was set to make the move into theARCA Series in 2007, a stepping stone series into NASCAR's top three series. In December 2006, she completed her ARCA rookie test atDaytona International Speedway. She was 24th quick of 59 race cars testing that day in a race car prepared by Andy Hillenburg, a retired driver who owns Fast Track Racing School, where Münter once worked at as an instructor.

In 2007, Münter became the fourth woman in history to compete in theIndy Pro Series,^[3] the development league ofIndyCar. In May, Münter passed her Indy Pro Series rookie test at Kentucky Speedway. In August she signed a deal with three-time championship teamSam Schmidt Motorsports. She qualified fifth for her debut atKentucky Speedway on August 11. She had trouble on a restart and dropped to thirteenth but raced her way back to the front of the field. She passed five cars in a lap and a half and turned in the fifth-fastest lap of the race with a speed of 192.399 mph. She was about to pass for fourth place when she was involved in a multi-car accident. Four-time Indy 500 championRick Mears, IndyCar driverJaques Lazier, and many others in the IndyCar community spoke highly of Münter after her debut.^[4]

She got back in a stock car in December 2008, testing an ARCA car atDaytona International Speedway for NASCARSprint Cup Series driverJames Hylton. In December 2009, she returned to ARCA testing at Daytona, driving the No. 59NextEra Energy Resources Dodge for Mark Gibson Racing. In the final practice, Münter posted the seventh quickest lap with a speed of 181.77 mph, just 69 one-thousandths of a second behindDanica Patrick, who posted the fifth quickest time of the final practice. The two female drivers had previously worked together off the racetrack, in an ad campaign together in 2006 and 2007 for Hostess.

In the February 2010ARCA Racing Series race atDaytona International Speedway, Münter was one of only three women to qualify for the race on speed alongsideDanica Patrick andAlli Owens. She failed to finish the race, becoming collected in a ten-car accident.^[5]

In 2012, Münter drove in theARCA Racing Series, driving for Tony Marks Racing in the season-opening 200 mile event atDaytona International Speedway, driving a car sponsored by donations from fans and carrying an ocean awareness paint scheme, featuringThe Cove.^[6]

In 2014, Münter began racing in ARCA withVenturini Motorsports. She ran Daytona in the No. 55 Go 100% Renewable Energy racecar, where she was wrecked by a spinning car on lap 28 and finished the race in 28th place. Her second race of 2014 was her first race at Talladega Superspeedway where she finished 14th in the No. 55Blackfish (film) race car sponsored by activist and creator ofThe Simpsons TV show,Sam Simon.^[7] She then finished 12th on the lead lap at Chicagoland Speedway in the No. 66 PrairieGold Solar/The Solutions Project racecar.

Sports Illustrated named Münter one of the top ten female race car drivers in the world.^[8]Glamour Magazine named her an "Eco Hero."^[9] In 2012, Leilani was a recipient ofELLE Magazine's Genius Award.^[10] She was profiled on Discovery Planet Green's new 2010 television series "Fast Forward."^{[citation needed]} Münter has also appeared as a model forLucky Brand Jeans.^[11] She was featured in the issue of L'Uomo Vogue (Italian Vogue), and Fashion TV filmed a behind the scenes look at the shoot in Toronto.^[12] Münter spent three years as a special correspondent for NASCAR.com and was one of three "Hostess Race Divas" to appear on boxes of Hostess Twinkies and Cupcakes alongsideIndyCar'sDanica Patrick anddrag racing'sMelanie Troxel.^[13] In 2008, she did a live interview withNPR about her green efforts in racing.^[14] Leilani did a live television interview from theBP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico withMSNBC.^[15] She was also featured on the front page of CNN.com in 2010.^[16] In 2012, she was featured in AOL's "You've Got" web series.^[17] In 2012,Oprah Winfrey ran a feature on Münter in both her magazine and her online blog.^[18]

She once worked as a stand-in photo double forCatherine Zeta-Jones.^{[when?][19][20]}

Münter is a volunteer forRic O'Barry and his non-profit organization Ric O'Barry's Dolphin Project. Ric O'Barry was featured in the Academy Award-winning filmThe Cove (film) and Münter began working for Ric after seeing the film. This led to Münter participating in the nextOceanic Preservation Society film, the 2015 documentaryRacing Extinction^[21] which made its debut at theSundance Film Festival in January 2015 and was then picked up byThe Discovery Channel. Münter drives a specialized version of theTesla Model S inRacing Extinction which is equipped with a 15,000 lumen projector, a high definition FLIR camera (forward looking infra red) that comes out of the "frunk" of the car which has a special color filter on it that makes CO₂ and methane visible to the human eye. It is also the first car in the world with electro-luminescent paint. In September 2014 Oceanic Preservation Society did a public projection at the United Nations^[22] in New York City to raise awareness about the "Anthropocene" orsixth mass extinction.

Münter is well known for speaking on environmental issues. She blogs in the green section of theHuffington Post and became the first Ambassador for the National Wildlife Federation in 2008 and went to Capitol Hill to lobby for environmental legislation.^[23] In 2010, she was named by Discovery Channel's Planet Green Network as the #1 Eco Athlete in the world, beating outLance Armstrong for the top spot.^[24] She was also featured in a series called Fast Forward on Planet Green Network, which highlights environmental heroes.^[25]Glamour Magazine named her one of their "Eco Heroes."^[9]

In March 2008, Münter went to Capitol Hill with theNational Wildlife Federation to speak with members of Congress on behalf of the Climate Security Act.^[26] That summer, Münter spoke at a rally in Capitol Hill alongsideSenator Barbara Boxer,Senator John Kerry, andSenator Joe Lieberman in support of the Climate Security Act.^{[citation needed]}

Münter graduated from theUniversity of California, San Diego where she earned a bachelor's degree inBiology specializing in Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution.^[26] She is also a long timevegetarian.^[1]

In February 2009 Münter climbed to the top of a wind turbine at Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center in Abilene, Texas and autographed one of the blades. The turbine was consequently nicknamed "Leilani" by its owner,NextEra Energy Resources.^[27] Later that same year, Münter signed a solar panel at NextEra Energy's SEGS in the Mojave Desert, the largest solar thermal energy center in the world.^[28] Also in 2009 Münter met musicianJack Johnson, who later that same year gave Münter permission to use his music with her slideshow about her mission to bring environmental awareness to the racing world.^[29]

In May 2009 Münter went to Norway to participate in the zero-emission Viking Rally, driving a hydrogen fuel cell-powered Ford Focus.^[30] Münter finished second in the hill-climb, just behind World Rally driver Hennig Solberg. Münter drank the water from the exhaust of the vehicle at the 24th annual Electric, Fuel Cell and Hybrid Vehicle Symposium and Exhibition in Stavanger, Norway.^[31] She was also featured in the new TV series Fast Forward on Planet Green, which profiled her environmental efforts in racing.^[25]

Münter was one of the first celebrity activists to visit theBP Oil Spill;^[32] she arrived inVenice, Louisiana on May 2, ten days after theDeepwater Horizon sank to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, the same day PresidentBarack Obama arrived. She spent a week at the spill, documenting her experience there. On July 13, 2010, Münter returned and toured areas ofLouisiana affected by the BP Oil Spill as part of aSierra Club sponsored event involving 10 current and former athletes which included tennis starChanda Rubin, Olympic skierStacey Cook andNFL starsOvie Mughelli andMike Alstott.^[33]

TheEnvironmental Protection Agency tapped Leilani to record a "Pick 5 for the Environment" public service announcement in 2010.^[34]

In 2013, she purchased an electricTesla Model S car, became an advocate forelectric cars, and wrote a blog post for theHuffington Post titled "Why We Need to Fight for Tesla" in response to state legislators introducing a bill to ban Tesla sales in North Carolina.^[35] She also wrote an article in 2014 about the media attention aroundTesla fires.^[36] Münter delivered a speech at the first annual TESLIVE gathering of Tesla owners inMilpitas, California, receiving a standing ovation from the audience, includingTesla Motors CEOElon Musk.^[37]

In 2010, Münter became involved in protests against the hunting of dolphins in Taiji, Japan and became a volunteer forSave Japan Dolphins. On September 2, 2010, Münter visited Tokyo with dolphin activistRic O'Barry to deliver a petition asking for the hunting of dolphins to be stopped. She returned to Taiji, Japan again for two weeks in October 2010 and documented two dolphin hunts while she was there.^[38] Münter recorded a video from Taiji for the projectOne Day on Earth on October 10, 2010.^[39] She returned to Taiji in September 2011 with O'Barry; the effects ofTyphoon Talas led her to report on Huffington Post that she understoodwater stress issues around the world in a much deeper way than before.^[40] She recorded the first dolphin hunt of the 2011/2012 hunting season on September 7, 2011.^[41]

On January 3, 2012, Münter announced that she was raising funds to drive a "The Cove" themed race car at Daytona International Speedway on February 18 to draw attention to dolphin captivity and killings. Her left rear tire blew early in the race and she wrote about the event on the Huffington Post.^[42] In April 2012, she spoke on the National Mall in Washington DC on Earth Day.^[43] She was also featured on MSN Causes on Earth Day 2012.^[44]

In 2014, Münter began driving a race car modeled after an orca whale at the Talladega Speedway with aBlackfish theme to raise awareness about the controversial 2013 documentary criticizingSeaworld for placing orca whales in captivity. She raised $7,500 for the car through crowd-funding and had the remaining $107,500 given to her byThe Simpsons co-creatorSam Simon, who was also ananimal rights activist.^[45] During the autograph signing at the race, Münter passed out more than 100 copies ofBlackfish DVDs.^[46]

On March 17, 2009, Münter married Craig Davidson, an engineer, in a seaside wedding on New Zealand's Cathedral Cove beach.^{[citation needed]} Her personal car is an electricTesla Model S, which she charges with solar panels on the roof of her home.^[47]

Münter identifies herself as beingchildfree: a position she largely owes to helping greatly reduce her ecological impact on the planet. She further believes that the decision to refrain from having any children must be normalized in order to deal withhuman overpopulation. She is also a patron ofPopulation Matters in order to spread awareness regarding the issue.^[48]

Münter is the sister-in-law of musicianBob Weir, one of the founding members of theGrateful Dead.^[49]

(key)

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time.Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

^* Season still in progress
¹ Ineligible for series points

• Official website
• Leilani Münter driver statistics at Racing-Reference
• Discovery's Planet Green TV Series "Fast Forward" episode on Leilani
• Leilani Live on MSNBC from the BP Oil Spill
• CNN Front Page: She's Racing to Save the Environment
• Washington Post: Race Car Driver Aims to Put Brakes on Global Warming
• NASCAR.com: Münter Sets New Female Mark
• Discovery's Planet Green Names Leilani #1 Eco Athlete
• Video of Leilani Munter, Elon Musk, and Jerome Guillen - General Session TESLIVE

• Living people
• 1974 births
• Sportspeople from Rochester, Minnesota
• Racing drivers from Minnesota
• ARCA Menards Series drivers
• Indy Lights drivers
• Deepwater Horizon oil spill
• American environmentalists
• American women environmentalists
• American female racing drivers
• Environmental bloggers
• American people of German descent
• American people of Japanese descent
• Sportspeople of Japanese descent
• University of California, San Diego alumni
• American women bloggers
• American bloggers
• Anti-natalists
• People from Cornelius, North Carolina
• Sportspeople from Mecklenburg County, North Carolina
• 21st-century American women writers
• Arrow McLaren SP drivers
• 21st-century American sportswomen

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