Who Is This Girl Boss?

Christi Lynn Gaskin

Beyoncé said it before and we’ll say it again. Who runs the world? Girls!

Meet Christi Lynn Gaskin, the Under Pressure Motorsport Media Marketing Director and Team Manager to the 3 man drag racing team, Greg Gaskin, Bob Sargent and Mike Bagley. She is also the Crew Chief to Greg Gaskin’s race car. Now I know you’re probably wondering what does a crew chief do on a dragster car? Christi is the car engineer with her dad, Greg and her mom, Lisa. She mathematically calculates the air fuel mixtures combined with ambient and track temperature and then calculates the formula to be loaded into the car to make the car go fast. Whew!!

But Christi’s story doesn’t just stop there! She is a single mother to Alexia Belcher, 6 and Dayne Belcher 11, she’s a preschool teacher as well as a tanning consultant. And for the past 10 years and still going strong she sells Scentsy, a beautiful online website that sells all things that smell yummy.

Christi wears many hats but what she loves the most, besides her family of course, is racing. Like her dad racing is in her blood too. Born and raised on the south side of Indianapolis she grew up going to the track every weekend since the first month she was born. While she enjoyed playing basketball and volleyball she forwent softball because the season was at the same time as race season.

Her parents noticing her love for racing they never pressured her into it; as a matter of fact, probably to deter her from that racing itch she had they told her she had to maintain an A, B school average if she ever dreamt of having a racing career. So what did Christi do? She aced school, gracing the honor roll.

This extremely double jointed, adrenaline junkie, former Hooter’s girl, Christi Lynn Gaskin, was a Jr. dragster star, championing it a few times in a row. Yes! She showed up with the boys and showed out!!!

Christi Gaskin as a junior racer

In the car is a little Christi Gaskin with her dad, Greg Gaskin getting licensed for her first time

Little Christi Gaskin with dad, Greg Gaskin and a crew person

So what’s next for Christi who’s only 30?

She hopes to see herself taking over the family business in the driver’s seat but she’s not in a hurry. She loves working next to Mom, with Dad in the driver’s seat and she deems it an honor to take over once Dad officially retires.

Christi says,

“He has set the bar high with the Gaskin name that’s for sure. Big shoes to fill!”

Christi has sat on every side of the track, from the spectator to the racer to the crew chief. She credits everything she knows to her parents and acknowledges that women in drag racing couldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for Shirley Muldowney.

Christi says,

“Without this lady, (Shirley Muldowney) drag racing would have never been a thing. We owe it all to her.”

As for her little 6 year old daughter, Alexia?

“It would be the next big thing! I’d love to teach her everything I know and her be the driver I know she can be. She has the itch also!”

Well there you have it. We’ll be keeping our eye on Christi Gaskin and little baby girl Alexia, America’s future Shirley Muldowney.

Watch out boys.

Over 60 Yrs Old Driving 150 mph

It’s a new race season and eSVYN is once again on the track. We’ve geared up to sponsor Gaskin Racing with its new name Under Pressure Motorsport (UPM). And our family here knows a thing or two about Performing Under Pressure since we have the fabulous and very talented PhD Terry Lyles, (my husband) who is also a sponsor, terrylyles.com.

Can you imagine driving over 150 mph in only an 8th of a mile stretch of road from a dead stop in only 4.5 seconds? And you better be able to stop that 16 foot long beast too because after you cross the finish line you only have another 8th of a mile before you hit the sand pits. That might not sound so bad but many cars have hit those pits and actually flipped. Yikes! Now imagine doing all of that and being over 60 years old!!!

But to the Under Pressure Motorsport (UPM) team who are all over 60 years of age, it’s in their blood – since childhood. And we here at eSVYN love all athletes so there was no question that we weren’t going to jump on board with these really cool guys!!

Let’s meet the 3 UPM driving dare devils to see what makes them tick.

We’ll start with the patriarch of the Gaskin family, Greg Gaskin.

Greg Gaskin – UPM driver from Indianapolis, Indiana

Greg Gaskin is born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana. He’s been racing cars since birth and he loves it as long as he doesn’t have to turn right or left. That’s why he’s an expert drag racer. No turn signals here. He loves working on his racecar daily but when he’s not going super fast he loves spending time with his grandchildren, his grand-dogs, he loves being an awesome husband to his beautiful wife Lisa and also taking plenty of naps.

He’s a huge jokester, a movie buff and loves to vacation in Florida.

One time he had a friend who was getting married in Tennessee so he drove his Corvette down for the wedding. Of course he gets pulled over by the police where he not only got a ticket but he also lost his license. Let’s guess why? You’d be correct. Too fast baby!!

But talk about a horseshoe and a prayer, the father of the bride down there in the Volunteer State was the county sheriff to which by the end of the night he had a ripped up ticket and a fully re-instated license. Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit. Now that’s what we call divine intervention.

We’re going to ride this wave with Greg as he gears up for the great Indy race at the Lucas Oil Raceway. Best of luck Greg!

Let’s meet our next UPM driver, Mike.

Mike Bagley – UPM driver from Southern Connecticut

Mike Bagley hails from Southern Connecticut but now resides in Indianapolis, Indiana. He too loves working on his racecar, upkeeping his house and he works part time. He also loves bowling, he’s an usher at church and he would love to meet Shirley Muldowney before he or she gets too old. And when he’s not showing off his racecar he loves to show dogs. Interesting. We’ll have to explore that one in another WordPress.

One thing he always says is that he’s the perfect size to drive a racecar. Well we are ready and willing to take the ride with our pint-sized, powerhouse driver named Mike. Go Mikey go!! Let’s win, win, win!!

Our third fabulous driver is Bob Sargent.

(Update: Bob Sargent is no longer driving for the UPM team. We wish him well in all of his endeavors.)

Bob Sargent – UPM driver from Indianapolis, Indiana

Bob Sargent is also born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana where he sells real estate. Bob stays busy. When he’s not working and perfecting his racecar he runs bingo at the Moose, he loves to entertain his 7 grandchildren, his 5 great grandchildren and still finds plenty of time and adores playing backgammon with his 87 year old father on a weekly basis.

When he was 18 he worked at McDonalds. One time at the end of one of his shifts he and his buddies drank beer and stacked all the cans up in a pyramid and left it for the openers. Hahaha!! Well it turned out the police were called and it was a big deal and with another horseshoe and a prayer they never figured out who did it.

Well in Bob’s real estate profession he can make anything happen!! And we’re going to make it happen on this journey with Bob and his racing career.

These guys are awesome, family loving, law abiding cool dudes. And we are so proud and excited to be following their racing career. And eSVYN will keep you updated and informed about how these fabulous drivers are doing.

If you want to help these guys too we have t-shirts and hats for sale here and here or you can meet them at the race when they’re in your town and purchase there. Just look for the below poster and you’ll be able to purchase and meet the drivers in person. They would love to meet you.

Tees and Hats available on site at each race to help the Under Pressure Motorsport Team