They're diverse.

South, with her pudding-soft Southern accent, has used her business savvy to convince the area's yuppified shakers that racing "isn't some redneck sport out west. I've met people who had never come to Moroso or wouldn't have anything to do with it before."

Strecker strikes a different chord. She was educated in tony Connecticut prep schools, immersed in psychology and writing at New Jersey's Drew University and experienced at horse shows with her Russian-born entry Filadelfija (pronounced "Philadelphia"). "Sue has a Masters degree in Marriage and Family Therapy, so we have an in-house psychiatrist," South quipped, quickly adding, "She's very smart, very shrewd and very intuitive."

Joanna Keough and Morgan Lynch are office assistants at Moroso Motorsports Park. Julie Korkowski, in charge of exhibitor and advertising sales, brought her background in the police department to the track. Road Course Manager Valerie LaBlanc and Promotions Assistant Angela Wall never had been to a race before working at Moroso. South called Controller Amber Starnes "loyal to the death."

If Franklin Jackson, Assistant Race Director, needs any male advice, he can huddle with Maintenance Manager Rene Lieurance, whom South teasingly accuses of preening. "He loves being a boy among all those women," she said. Then, slipping in a verbal high-five for the women, she said, "We do the mental dirty work."

South said the eight women consider each other's opinions equal as they do more brainstorming than a male or mixed-gender office mix might: "We bounce a lot of things off each other. It's not a 'That's not my department' or 'It's none of your business' or 'That's not my job' kind of atmosphere."

That collaborative effort has helped her especially during the planning for the new addition.

To begin with, she took the initiative in researching the project. "I'm going to do it," she reasoned at the time, "because who else would do it?"

But South -- who previously was co-owner and manager of Atlanta Dragway, promoted racing events at Road Atlanta and worked for NHRA for 10 years in marketing, advance publicity and promotions -- was resourceful, once she discovered she still had a lot to learn.

"It's been quite an education," she said. "I knew a little bit, but I had never been in construction or gone through all the engineering and permitting processes. I learned by the seat of my britches." She used her old-fashioned Texas grit to start the process, pitching the project to potential investors, learning networking from her board-of-directors involvement in at least six countywide charitable organizations, and receiving a grant from the county.

"It'll look good on my resume at the retirement home," she wisecracked.

Laura South is a long way from the retirement home. She has import drags, bracket racing, the junior drag-racing program and the Citrus Nationals to stage. She has motorcycle racing, historic and vintage events, truck extravaganzas, car shows, swap meets, corporate promotions, and television commercials to coordinate.

Her first reaction to Dick Moroso's job offer was "Sure, I'll try it."

Moroso knew what he was doing, for not only has South tried it, but she has done it.

And with help from her Fabulous Femmes co-workers, she still is.

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