Haley getting ready to make a hit in her Street King ride.

Drag racing is a family affair at all levels, from the local bracket racing family, all the way up to the nitro-burning Force clan. In the LSX racing world there’s a multi-generational family that’s been making some noise, and things are getting even louder in 2015. The Rounsavall racing family has experienced success over the years in the LSX Challenge Series, and now young Haley Rounsavall is looking to make a statement that girls can race just as well as the guys.

Rounsavall’s addiction to speed can be traced back to current Chevy Performance Stock class ace, her grandfather Ronnie Hackelton, who has been racing since the 1960’s and owns an NMCA title wheeling his blown fifth-gen Camaro. If that wasn’t enough, Rounsavall’s father, Kevin, is a two time LSX Real Street Champion and was the first to crack the seven-second barrier in the class. It goes without saying that this family has race gas in their veins.

Family time at the track.

Rounsavall reminisces fondly about what got her really hooked into racing.

“When I was younger I watched a movie about Erica Enders’ life, and immediately after watching I told my parents that I wanted to be like Erica when I grew up, that I wanted to race like she did.”

After getting her license and a fifth-gen Camaro, Rounsavall hit the track and began making passes. But don’t think for one second she was just a test-n-tune hero — Rounsavall was in it to win it.

“In the fall of 2011, the Arkansas High School Drag Racing League was started and I raced in the series for points that year.  I won the first-ever High School Drag Racing League race at Prescott, Arkansas and went on to win four more races and the Championship Race at Centerville Drag way that year.”

Last year Rounsavall wheeled her grandfather’s C7 when she could get away from her studies at the University of Arkansas. In 2015 she turned things up a notch, stepping behind the wheel of grandad’s blown Camaro and competing in the NMCA Street King class, and has already been in the nine-second zone.

Despite her reserved nature, Rounsavall is there for the competition.

“My main goal for my racing career is of course to win, but that’s not all. I want to prove to all the boys that a girl can race too. Being a female in what is mostly considered a “guy sport” always makes me feel like the underdog in a race, which I wouldn’t change, because the look on a guy’s face when he loses to a 21-year old girl is priceless. I may not always win, but if by just getting in my car and trying I can inspire other girls to get out there and compete too, then it’s all worth it to me.”

So be warned, if you see a certain orange fifth-gen blown Camaro pull up beside you in the lanes, don’t discount the female driver, because she’ll take the stripe and the win light without thinking twice.