LET-ER-RIP RACING
Leilani Munter Aiding Relief Efforts After Oil Spill
Leilani Munter’s auto racing career hasn’t blossomed quite
like she hoped this season.
The Rochester native started the season at every racer’s dream location
— Daytona International Speedway, competing in the ARCA Racing Series’
Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200, just one week prior to the Daytona 500.
That race lasted all of six laps for Munter, whose day ended early after getting caught up in a multi-car wreck.
Munter hasn’t raced since that day, but she hasn’t had much down time, either.
While she is still pursuing sponsorship for upcoming races in the ARCA Series and the IndyLights Series, she has devoted much of her time recently to her other great passion, protecting the environment.
Munter flew to New Orleans last Sunday and is working with the National Wildlife Federation to assist in the cleanup effort of the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The spill began with an explosion and fire on April 20 on the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon. The blast killed 11 workers.
Since then, oil has been pouring into the Gulf from a blown-out undersea well at more than 200,000 gallons per day. The slick is threatening the U.S. coastline.
“I’m in Venice (La.), which is ground zero, where the oil will hit (the U.S. coastline) first,” Munter told motorsports web site speedfreaks.tv earlier this week. “We basically have a huge hole gushing 200,000 gallons of oil every day from the bottom of the sea floor. How do you stop that?”