Ashley Freiberg facts for kids

Ashley Lynn Freiberg (born November 22, 1991) is an American race car driver. She has competed in many types of racing, including open-wheel, sports car, and endurance racing. Endurance races are very long and test a car's and driver's ability to last.

Freiberg has made history several times. In 2010, she became the first woman to win a championship in the Skip Barber Racing series. In 2013, she was the first female driver to win a race in the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge. A year later, she became the first woman to win a race in the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge.

Personal Life

Ashley Freiberg was born on November 22, 1991, in Homer Glen, Illinois. Her parents are Chuck and Donna Freiberg. Interestingly, no one in her family was involved in racing before her. She was a great student and graduated from Lockport Township High School early in 2010.

To stay in top shape for racing, Freiberg is very active. She enjoys cyclo-cross, hiking, rock climbing, and skate skiing in the mountains of Vermont. These activities help her build the strength and focus needed to be a professional driver.

Racing Career

Getting Started in Karting

Ashley's interest in racing began when she was ten years old. Her older brothers started racing as a hobby. At first, she didn't think girls could race, but after trying sports like skateboarding and soccer, she was drawn to the speed of racing.

At age 11, she started working as a timer at her local kart track. When she was 13, she finally got behind the wheel of a go-kart. Her father supported her dream and took her to a special karting school. She quickly became successful, winning five championships in her early years of karting.

Moving to Open-Wheel Cars

Freiberg's success in karts allowed her to move up to faster cars. She started racing in open-wheel cars, which are single-seater cars with wheels outside the main body, like in the IndyCar Series. Her goal was to one day race in the IndyCar Series.

In 2010, she had an amazing year, winning 25 races and two championships in the Skip Barber series. This made her the first woman ever to win an overall Barber Series title. She also became the second woman, after the famous driver Danica Patrick, to be nominated for the Team USA Scholarship.

In 2012, she raced in the 2012 Star Mazda Championship for JDC MotorSports. She had six top-ten finishes and finished 11th in the final points standings for the season.

Success in Sports Cars

The No. 96 Turner Motorsports BMW that Freiberg shared with Jens Klingmann and Bret Curtis. They finished second in their class at the 2016 12 Hours of Sebring.

In 2013, Freiberg switched to sports car racing. She immediately made a big impact. On June 29, 2013, she became the first woman to win a race in the North American GT3 Cup Challenge. This victory was a huge achievement and even got her featured in Sports Illustrated magazine.

The next year, she won a major endurance race at Daytona International Speedway. This made her the first woman in the history of that series to win a race overall. In 2015, she continued to find success, winning another race at Road Atlanta.

In 2016, Freiberg moved up to the 2016 IMSA SportsCar Championship, a top-level sports car series. She achieved a second-place finish at the famous 12 Hours of Sebring race. This was a major highlight of her season.

Recent Racing Adventures

Freiberg has continued to race in various championships. In 2017, she raced in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America Championship. She became the first woman to stand on the overall podium in any of Lamborghini's Super Trofeo series around the world.

In 2018, she was part of the first all-female team in the GS class at the BMW Endurance race at Daytona. She has also competed in long endurance races like the 25 Hours of Thunderhill.

In 2023, Freiberg dominated the 991 category of the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America. She won the class championship with seven victories and twelve podium finishes. For the 2025 season, she moved up to the Porsche Carrera Cup North America, the highest level of Porsche's one-make racing series, and became a member of the Porsche Female Driver Program.

In the Media

In 2024, Freiberg was the star of a three-part documentary series on MAVTV called "In the Machine: Ashley Freiberg." The show followed her journey and career in the world of professional racing.

Racing record

Star Mazda Championship

(key) (Small number shows finishing position; means the driver was not able to score points)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Rank	Points	Ref
2009	Team GDT	SEB	VIR	MMP	NJ1	NJ2	WIS	IOW	ILL 20	ILL 18	QUE	ONT	ATL	LAG					N/A	N/A
2010	Team GDT	SEB	STP	LAG	IRP	IOW	NJ1	NJ2	ACC 5	ACC 19	TRO	ROA	MOS	ATL					N/A	N/A
2012	JDC MotorSports	STP 9	STP 19	BAR 11	BAR 11	IND 15	IOW 10	TOR 13	TOR 13	EDM 15	EDM 7	TRO 12	TRO 9	BAL 6	BAL 10	LAG 12	LAG 18	ATL 11	11th	162

IMSA SportsCar Championship

(key) (Small numbers show finishing position; means the driver was not able to score points for not completing enough laps)

Year	Entrant	Class	Make	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Pos.	Pts
2016	Turner Motorsport	GTD	BMW M6 GT3	BMW 4.4 L V8	DAY 22	SEB 2									PET 9	62nd	12
	Starworks Motorsport	PC	Oreca FLM09	Chevrolet LS3 6.2 L V8			LBH 5	LGA 7	DET 6	WGL	MOS	LIM	ELK	COA		16th	78
Source:

24 Hours of Daytona

12 Hours of Sebring