June 27, 2025 • 37 mins
Former IHRA Pro Mod World Champion Dina Parisi shares her journey from professional figure skater to drag racer and advocates for prioritizing safety in motorsports.
• Dina discusses her unusual career path from Ice Capades figure skater to drag racer, noting surprising parallels between both performance careers
• Racing fans get direct access to drivers in drag racing, creating meaningful connections unlike other motorsports
• Dina emphasizes the importance of proactive safety measures, including proper protective gear regardless of rule requirements
• Critical safety equipment like neck protection, gloves, and proper helmets are non-negotiable regardless of your racing class
• "Fire burns at zero miles per hour" - accidents don't just happen at high speeds
• Common safety oversights include crews turning their backs to moving vehicles and excessive personnel on starting lines
• Junior racers need consistent safety education from parents and race organizers throughout the season
• Complacency is a major safety risk even for experienced racers
• Dina recommends walking the racetrack before races to familiarize yourself with exits and turnoffs
• Understanding proper fire suppression system preparation and chute packing is essential knowledge for all racers
Find Dina Parisi on social media: @DinaParisi or visit DinaParisiVentures.com to learn more about racing safety.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Melinda Russell (00:02):
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Hello everyone, this is MelindaRussell with the Women's
Motorsports Network podcast, andmy guest today is my friend
Dina.
Dina has been involved in dragracing and some other very
interesting careers, and she'salso very passionate about
(02:48):
safety in motorsports, and so Iwanted to have her on so we
could talk about that a littlebit.
So first, Dana, dana, dina, Iwant to welcome you to the show,
and would you just tell us alittle bit about?
Dina Parise (03:00):
yourself.
Melinda, thank you so much forhaving me on.
It's been a hot minute since wehave spoken.
Melinda Russell (03:07):
Yes, it has.
Dina Parise (03:08):
Yeah, so hello to the listeners.
My name is Dina Parisi.
I am a former pro figure skaterturned pro drag racer.
I know that sounds odd, but itactually makes sense in my head.
I am a drag racer, I run ProMod, so I have a 3,000
(03:31):
horsepower Cadillac.
Her name is Stella, named aftermy grandma, who never had a
driver's license.
That's so hilarious and sorry,I lost my train of thought.
I am, I was 2015 IHRA Pro ModWorld Champion, and that's about
it.
(03:51):
I mean, that's pretty much mein a nutshell.
Melinda Russell (03:54):
And before drag racing, though, you did some
interesting things.
Why don't you tell us a littlebit about that?
Because transitioning from thatcareer to drag racing still is
am amazed about that.
So go ahead and tell us whatwere you doing in your 20s.
Dina Parise (04:11):
So in my in my 20s, I was, uh, I was a professional
figure skater for the icecapades.
Um, unfortunately, some of theyounger set may not know what
that is, uh, but um, kind oflike a disney on ice.
But we were a little bit more.
They called us a variety showinstead of we didn't have just
characters.
Um, I did that for about fouryears and it's funny because I
(04:36):
do tell people that, you know,skating in the ice show and and
drag racing in a series, they'reactually more parallel than
people would think.
Um, you know, when we wereskating in the show, of course
we were putting on a show, wewere entertaining, and it's the
same thing with drag racing,it's totally entertainment.
(04:56):
Um, we went from city to cityto different venues and, uh,
many times we would see the samefans.
We would see the same workers,you know, like the locals as we
call them.
And same thing with the dragracing we go to different tracks
.
We see a lot of the same trackworkers.
(05:18):
We'll see a lot of the samefans.
That will, you know, come andsee us and come to our pit area.
And it was an amazing way tospend part of my 20s.
You know, I got to travel theUnited States, skate in an ice
show and, you know, feel like amegastar every night.
(05:39):
I wasn't, but it made you feelthat way.
It was just, it was, it wasjust super cool and I enjoyed.
You know, sometimes we would doautograph signings after the
show, kind of by the door of thearena, much like we'll sign
autographs in our pit area.
And that's for me, that's myfavorite part is the fans just
(06:02):
getting to hang out with thefans, because you, you know,
drag racing, every ticket's apit pass.
So all of our, all of our fansget to come in and, you know,
hang out with us and ask usquestions.
And the good thing for ourmarketing partners is they get
to see our marketing partners upclose and personal and we
actually get to discuss whattheir products are about right
to people, face to face rightthat's.
Melinda Russell (06:25):
That's so much better than a lot of the other
kinds of sports.
But you know, a NASCAR driverdoesn't have a chance to talk to
you really face-to-face aboutwhat's on his car, even though
you can buy a pit pass and go inthe pits.
But there's you and 100 otherpeople you know.
So, yeah, so much.
Drag racing does it right inthat in that way, promoting a
(06:52):
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(07:15):
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Dina Parise (07:35):
I definitely feel like drag racing.
It's not a knock to NASCAR, butyou know we in drag racing you
buy that one ticket.
You don't need the goldenticket to be able to go back
into the garage area or the pitarea, as we say.
You know we have everything isright there and it's hands on
and you know many times they can, you know, for certain things
touch and feel and really get ahands on experience things,
(08:01):
touch and feel and really get ahands-on experience.
Melinda Russell (08:02):
right, right, so much better, and it makes
them come back for sure.
I think so.
Yeah, I think so too.
So you got into drag racing.
Was that because of yourhusband, or how did that happen?
Dina Parise (08:10):
I got into drag racing, much to my husband's
dismay, but it was his fault.
Uh, he, he had built where wewere married in April, 25 years.
So it's been, it's been aminute.
Um, he had built a 1967, uh,camaro.
Uh, it had a blower on it, justlike our cars have the whole
(08:31):
entire time.
That's, that's what we like torun.
And, um, my very first racethat I went to with him was I'll
never forget it was Mabel Grove.
It was a super Chevy and Iwatched.
I got to stand on the line andwatch that car go down the
racetrack and I was.
I was hooked from that momenton.
(08:53):
I had never.
I was in my early 30s, Iactually had never been to a
drag race.
I'd been to other types ofraces, I'd never been to a drag
race and I absolutely fell inlove with it.
I fell in love with, of course,the fast cars, the sounds, the
smells and the people, thecamaraderie.
The people are amazing, fromthe fans to our fellow racers.
(09:14):
It's, it's just, it's a greatcommunity all the way around
it's.
Melinda Russell (09:21):
It's just, it's a great community all the way
around.
Yeah yeah, you can't.
You know the people and andjust it's like going back every
weekend to hang out with yourfamily, and sometimes it's more
fun than hanging out with yourreal family.
So there you go Exactly,exactly.
Yeah, for sure.
So you've been out of racingfor a little while, but you're
going to get back into it.
Do you want to share about thata little bit?
Dina Parise (09:43):
Absolutely, I appreciate it.
Yeah, we've been out for I'mgoing to say since like right
right around COVID-ish time 2020was COVID.
Yeah, I think it was about 2019.
We wound up in COVID.
We wound up, we sold, we gotrid of the rig and everything.
(10:03):
It was a big nut and we didn'tknow how long it was going to be
to pay for it and not use it.
So we said, well, we'll justhave to start over, which that's
what we're doing now.
It's been about two years.
We purchased a new to us, butnot new, it's actually a 2001
ultra comp trailer.
(10:23):
It was, uh, it was an oldnascar trailer.
Um, jason hogan was his name.
He lives near up near our shopand um we purchased, uh, the
trailer and a truck for it, andandrew actually remodeled the
whole inside of the trailer.
He, um, he gutted the loungeand put in a bathroom and a
(10:45):
shower and, because this girlneeds a shower, on those race
days.
I don't care what anybody says,sometimes I just hop in there
just to cool off and um and soit's, it's pretty much done and
pretty much ready to go.
It has been a process In theinterim of these last couple of
(11:07):
years.
Life has been lifing like itdoes and you know throwing some
monkey wrenches in here andthere.
So you know my husband had anillness and he's still kind of
battling with that, but he, heis the energizer bunny, he keeps
going.
And you know we've had otherthings with, you know, my
(11:28):
parents and then my mom passingaway.
So you know, just life stuff.
So we are, we're definitelypushed behind in schedule due to
these things, but we weren'tplanning on testing in the
summer.
You know, when it's a gazilliondegrees and quite frankly, this
sounds very off, but you knowthat's, that's swamp ass city
(11:49):
yeah, because it's so hot.
But you know what we're gonna do, what we have to do.
If we have to test in thesummer, we will, and so I've
been just putting some feelersout for that to see.
Now, where will you go to dothat, do you know?
We, I'm not, we're not certainjust yet.
(12:10):
Okay, um, and we, you know, atthis point we, uh, you know we
need data.
Uh, we've made changes, we hadmade changes to the motor and
then we had not gone back out,so we made some changes and, um,
it's gonna it's gonna bedefinitely a learning curve, um,
and, and you know, just gettingmyself comfortable back in the
seat again, um, we just talkingabout safety.
We actually just did a newpoured in seat, which it
(12:33):
actually is mandatory.
But I would say, for anybody,um, who wants to feel safe and
kind of snuggly in their racecar, I highly, highly recommend
a port and seat.
It definitely makes adifference.
If, god forbid, somethinghappens, it is going to absorb a
lot of the shock, so you knowit's going to keep your body
(12:54):
from getting too, too beat up.
Melinda Russell (12:55):
Right.
Well, let's talk about safety alittle bit.
You posted a couple things onFacebook and and it kind of
pushed me to reach out to youand have you come on and and
talk about the importance ofsafety.
I think it's something we don'ttalk about near enough.
And then you know, I knowyou've got a couple stories
(13:17):
about people who don't thinkit's as important as you and I
do.
So why don't you go ahead andjust share about safety and why
it's so important?
Dina Parise (13:25):
Yeah, thank you, I appreciate that.
And you're right, it is.
Safety is something that forsome reason, is so overlooked.
I find that people will want tospend a gazillion dollars on
their motor to go faster, butyet they don't want.
They're going to complain aboutthe price of safety equipment
(13:48):
to keep them safe and alive.
Right, you know, god forbid,something happens and it's not
like, and I think sometimespeople are like oh, you're doom
and gloom.
I'm not doom and gloom, I don'twant to see anything happen to
anyone.
But, being an experienced racerfor 20 years, I've seen things.
I've experienced things on myown that have really led me to
(14:14):
want to say to people look, youneed to be proactive, not
reactive, because that's whathappens Everybody.
You know when there's thatcorner in your town where
there's a million car crashesand then finally you get
somebody to put a light, youknow you get the powers, that be
to put up a stop sign or alight.
You know that you're beingreactive.
Just be proactive and do it andtake care of it before
(14:36):
something else happens.
So I think that people, people,forget that your head is very
heavy, god forbid.
You're in a crash.
How your head is heavy and thenwith the helmet on it, it's
heavier.
So you want to make sure thatyou have that neck protection,
whether you know whether it bethe neck ring or whether it be,
you know, like a hybrid of somesort, hans, whatever neck device
(15:00):
.
And who cares if it's mandated?
That's one thing people like.
Well, it's not mandated, whocares?
Right, it's not mandated thatyou wear underwear either, but
you do, don't you?
So I'm just saying, right, so,if, right, so, if it's, who
cares if it's not mandated?
You know, we, we, when we ran umin the beginning, the 67,
(15:25):
camaro andrew was building hispro mod and I had stepped into
the 67 and then eventually wehad two pro mods, we got rid of
the 67 and had two promotes.
But when I ran the 67, that carran 890s.
And I'm going back 20 somethingyears, right, right, I actually
wore a Hans device and I hadsome guy in the in, like, in the
(15:47):
staging, like I was.
Oh what do you think?
You're a John Forster.
And I said, well, I said, if,god forbid, something happens, I
hit the wall, something happens.
I said I happens.
I said I'm going to be safe,I'm going to be protected, and
then I can get out and make mycougars a sandwich for lunch.
So this way I'm safe and nobodymisses lunch.
It's a win-win if you ask forlunch, right, yeah, so these
(16:12):
things.
It just makes me crazy thatpeople will spend so much on
their program.
But safety is anafterthoughtthought.
We really need to get people tounderstand, especially now,
because cars on different levels, they're just getting faster
and faster and we need to, evenif it's not mandated.
(16:33):
We need to keep up with whatthe car is doing, not what the
rule book's doing yeah even atthat point.
So and this, this is not a hateto anybody the total observation
.
So let me preface this withthat JJ the boss from Street
Outlaws.
He had at one point he had hada pretty nasty crash and I think
(16:56):
he crashed into his wife's car.
I believe they crashed togetherat, you know, on a street race.
And the fact remains that youngpeople watch this and everybody
thinks it's so cool, which isgreat.
It is cool when he, when theyshowed he was pretty banged up,
(17:16):
he had on a cut-off shirt, jeansand he his helmet.
I think he got it from EvelKnievel in 1975.
Yeah, because it had and it hadno, no face shield.
You know, his face was allbanged up and and I just don't
(17:38):
understand.
I get the street racing thing.
It's you got to be cool, I getit.
But there's the flip side ofthat, where you have all these
kids and everything that arethat are paying attention to
what you do, you know, and it'sit.
It just you know.
We have kids coming up in theranks and I want them to be able
to take the safety aspect of itseriously.
Melinda Russell (17:59):
Well, and you know, like you say, yeah, you
have to be cool, you know, butyou're not cool if you die or if
you're permanently damaged andyou can't race again what it's
not worth it.
Dina Parise (18:11):
It's, it's not.
And I I also will watch some,sometimes in car videos.
People will post in car videosand I'll see someone that's in a
relatively fast car.
No gloves, yeah, visor up.
You know, if you have fire andyour visors up, your face is
gonna get burned, you knowyou're.
(18:33):
You're gonna inhale more smokethan you may if your visor was
down and locked, not to say thatyou're not going to inhale it,
but maybe less than you would.
And as far as the gloves I had,we were selling safety
equipment at one point and agentleman wanted to buy a jacket
and he said, well, I'll wear myjeans.
(18:54):
And I said, well, okay, I saidyou may as well, just get the
whole suit.
Just, you know, get the suit,get the shoes, do what you need
to do.
And he didn't want gloves.
I was like you really don'twant to pair no, and I said,
well, I asked him.
I said what do you do for aliving?
So he tells me he's a plumberand I said okay, because he was
(19:16):
a hobby racer, and I said okay,I said you are aware that fire
burns at zero miles per hour?
Right, and it stopped him for asecond and I said I'm going to
say it again yeah, fires burnsat zero miles per hour.
You don't need to be goinganywhere to be on fire.
(19:36):
Yeah, so I've seen it happen atthe line, I've seen it happen
in pit areas with a startup.
I've seen it happen over thelast few years.
I've seen crazy things happenand you just you never know
right.
A little bit of a spark andthere it goes.
So I said to him, I said, said,just think about if something
were to happen, a spark and afire, your hands get burnt, how
(20:00):
are you going to go to work?
And he looked at me, he didn'treally say much.
So he did.
He left without the gloves,which, yeah, I my my brain
couldn't, I couldn't even wrapmy brain around that yeah, but
two.
But two weeks later he came backand he said he said I made the
mistake of telling my wife whatyou said and for the last two
(20:23):
weeks she was on him for that.
That two weeks she was on himevery day, why, you know cause?
His thing was I don't needgloves, I don't go as fast as
you, which is why I, in turn,said to him fire burns at zero
miles per hour.
You know, it doesn't.
It doesn't matter how fast youcould be going, tense, something
could happen, it doesn't matter.
I just wish, I just wish that,and I always tell people, feel
(20:47):
free to reach out to me.
You know, if you have questionsabout safety equipment and I've
have had from some of thevideos that I've made I have had
people reach out and I'vepointed them in the right
direction.
Yeah, um, you know our for formy class, for pro mod, nhra
rules now require, uh, fresh air, which I'm really excited about
(21:09):
because I'm a migraine sufferer, so I'm excited that I have a
little air in my helmet.
Yeah, yeah.
So that's, that's a wholenother.
That's a whole nother deal.
And it one of the racers Iforget who it was one of the
racers this weekend the pro modraces in NHRA.
It's funny cause I was just.
I was just editing a videoabout this Cause we use safe
(21:30):
craft for our fire suppressionsystem and there's a pin that
goes to lock the lever of thefire suppression system.
It's just a little like clip.
So very first thing that we doin the morning, right before the
first startup, is we pull thatpin, because for the rest of the
(21:54):
day I need that firesuppression system to be active
not active, but able to beenabled.
Yes, so this driver, his runwas disqualified because he left
the fire pin in.
And yeah, and I'm sure it was amistake, but and for us we would
(22:15):
never have gotten to that partof, and I but, and for us we
would never have gotten to thatpart of and I speak for us we
would never have gotten to thatpart of the day that far into
the day with the pin still in itjust would never have happened.
But, um, you know things getoverlooked, I get it and um, but
you don't want to be and Idon't know how other, uh, other
different series like dirt track, and that I don't know how
(22:37):
their fire suppression works.
But I know for us it's a leverand I couldn't think of having
to reach out and having, if youwere on fire, and having to
reach and pull that pin outbefore I could pull the lever to
let this fire suppression comeout.
I don't.
Melinda Russell (22:55):
I don't know if you would even be able to think
about it, exactly, exactly, andthat's the point.
Dina Parise (23:01):
Right, you, it's, it's these, it's every little
detail that you need to payattention to.
But if you pay attention to italways, it's going to become
automatic.
Right, we do.
We will replace the fire pinwhen we roll it back and put it
in the trailer, because in thetransit from going from in the
trailer to out of the trailer,we want to make sure that you
(23:23):
know it doesn't, nobody hits itand you know, sets off the fire
suppression system.
Just for an example.
You know, just making sure thatyou, that people know how to
pack their chutes properly.
I have had people ask mequestions about that.
Now, I am not like the masterchute packer, not at all.
(23:43):
I know we have Stroud chutes.
We've had them for years.
I love their chutes and I packthem.
I pack them kind of accordingto how they say.
I think everybody has their ownlittle things that they do when
they pack theirs.
But you know, as long as youknow that you push that lever
and those chutes come out,you're good to go.
Melinda Russell (24:04):
Yeah.
Dina Parise (24:05):
And listen, I've had an instance where I had an
instance once where the chutecable broke, so I had no chute
shoes.
So that was fun, you know.
I think like, yeah, like thingshappen, um, but we you know and
we check everything over, um,that's, that's a huge thing too.
Like part of our safetyprotocol is making sure that the
(24:27):
car has really got a good onceover in between rounds.
You know nothing's leaking,nothing's loose, nothing's you
know nothing's you know goneawry.
You know we're big on that too,yeah, and I know some racers
that don't take that kind oftime.
Again, this is just my opinion.
(24:53):
I don't see often enough iswhen cars are at the line and a
crew member looking under thecar for anything leaking.
There are a lot of teams thatdo that, but then again there
are a lot of teams that do not.
So I feel like, again, justmore safety precautions.
(25:17):
A few of my biggest like.
Melinda Russell (25:21):
I feel like this is like Dina's pet peeve
hour, that's okay, you know,dina, we don't think about it as
much as we should.
Dina Parise (25:30):
Yeah, I believe I posted a video and it was a
video where there was eightgazillion people on the starting
line.
And it makes me think backbecause when we had the 67 um,
my husband was in marylandrunning.
I had to work that weekend,unfortunately, but husband was
(25:51):
running um in maryland and he,he let go of the trans break and
the chrome molly drive shaftspit out of the back of the car.
Oh gosh, yeah.
So now his, there was one crewguy there and he, he was able to
make sure that he just steppedout of the way.
(26:12):
But I'm thinking, you see,these, make sure that he just
stepped out of the way.
But I'm thinking, you see,these, these races where there's
, you know, gangs of people onon the starting line standing
behind the car and somethinglike that happens.
You know, you're just, you're,you're in the line of fire,
right, it shouldn't be that manypeople there.
And again, things of courseweird, happen.
(26:33):
Totally.
Get that.
I watched a.
I watched something, was itlast week?
I watched a race last week ortwo weeks ago and I watched as
crew members as the car wasdoing the burnout, the crew
members were walking to go totake their place, to line them
(26:55):
up, you know, to put them in thegroove with their back to the
car the entire time.
So while the car was doing theburnout, their back was to the
car.
And I always tell people Mike,never turn your back to a car.
Yeah, just never turn your backto a car.
That's like your worst enemyright there Again.
(27:16):
You never know what can happen.
That car can move in a splitsecond and run you over.
Always know your surroundings,know where you are right and uh,
people, people tell me, oh,you're too much, I'm like, but
I'm not.
I'm not you so easily and I'vemade videos about things that I
won't let my crew members do,and one of those things is hold
my car in the burnout.
Yeah, I'm like.
(27:38):
If I can't hold the carstraight in the burnout, that's
on me and I don't want anybodyholding or pushing.
You're holding a 3000 or 2600pound vehicle, that's 3000
horsepower.
What do you really think thatyou're doing?
Melinda Russell (27:54):
That's what I was just going to say.
And what good is that going tobe if?
Dina Parise (28:01):
the car starts to go, the person's not going to be
able to stop it.
Yeah, and what if you get apant leg caught or something of
that nature, like I know I'mthinking worst case scenario,
but I'd rather think worst casescenario and keep myself out of
that, out of harm's way.
So it's just things like this.
So I try to make videos and alot of times, like I'll, you
know I'll be goofy and funnyabout it, but try to get the
(28:22):
point across.
I just want people tounderstand that it's, and
especially the cars are justgetting more and more powerful,
but people can tend to be moreand more reckless and I get it.
It's cool to stand on thestarting line.
I know I don't know why theylet all those people on the
starting line when they do, whenthey're not crew members.
It really should be crewmembers and track workers.
(28:43):
Yeah, for whatever specific caris or cars well and dina, until
something catastrophic happens.
Melinda Russell (28:51):
They're going to let it happen, but again
they're going to be reactiveinstead of proactive.
Right, exactly, and you know,we get the longer that you're in
involved in something, whetheryou know, no matter what it is.
Um, my husband's a welder, sois he as careful every day out
(29:12):
there in the shop as he shouldbe?
No, because he's done it for 40years and he thinks, oh, I'm
not going to do, I'm not goingto put this, do this, because
I'm only going to use the welderfor a second or whatever.
Now he is very safety conscious, but a lot of people just get
laxadaisical about what they'redoing.
Dina Parise (29:34):
And we do we get complacent?
We do, you know, and don'tthink I haven't caught myself,
you know doing that.
But and you know, it's funnynow because I, I translate a lot
of that safety even to myregular car um, when I see
people that have their feet upon the dashboard, there is
(29:54):
nothing that, there is nothingthat makes me cringe more than
that.
If you get into an accident,you are just you're going to be
just folded up like a I don'teven know what.
So I do, I, I think it's, it'sreally opened my eyes.
So I do translate it even to myregular life too yeah and know.
Melinda Russell (30:14):
So let's talk a little bit about when you know
there are so many young kids indrag racing.
You go to US 131 MotorsportsPark, which is just north of me
a beautiful racetrack, and hugeevents.
And they have so many kids, somany kids that race, how you
(30:39):
know?
Do you think that safety issomething parents are really
taught and that, or what can wedo better to make sure that you
know a lot of parents get intoracing who've never been
involved in racing, get intoracing who've never been
involved in racing, you know,yeah, um, what do we do to teach
(30:59):
those parents how much you knowwhat they need to do, what's
what's important and and that?
How how can we be better aboutthat?
Dina Parise (31:06):
yeah, and that's definitely you know, of course,
they're the future of our sportand we want them to start out on
a on a good footing, rightright, um, I, I encourage people
I mean, I'm more than happy tospeak with people if need be,
just because I've I've putmyself so far into this whole
safety thing over the lastcouple of years um, I, I
(31:33):
encourage them to overdo safetygear.
Um, I, I don't even know if, ifa hans is required, um, I know
that I think they're a neck, Ithink they wear the neck roll,
but, um, you know, like thatlittle neck, yeah, um, but I
don't know if, if, like a hansor anything is required at this
(31:55):
point or at any point for ajunior dragster.
But, um, I, I had I also posteda video about a junior dragster
kid and I don't know how oldthis kid was.
I don't know if it was a boy ora girl.
I really didn't want anyinformation because I didn't
there was.
I didn't want any hate towardsthe driver, it was just an
(32:16):
example where this kid wasexcited I get it and the car was
still going down the racetrack,was up out of the seat and
waving their arms oh my gosh.
So they had to have unbuckled.
(32:38):
Because of because of theposition of their body, you
could tell they had to haveunbuckled.
And so, yeah, so it's just likeyou know, keep head and arms in
ride at all times, um, and youknow, and they're young, so of
(32:58):
course course kids.
Kids are never going to thinkreally that anything is is going
to happen, so it's has to bethe parents, or even even if
they have, you know, their theirtrack team.
Everyone get together and Ithink I really think safety is
an important conversation forthem to have.
I don't know if they do or not.
I do have a friend that wasvery deep in.
(33:19):
I'm going to have to ask her.
I know she is very, very safetyconscious herself with her kids
.
She never raised, but her kidsdo and her husband does.
But I think that that's aconversation that needs to be
had in the beginning of theseason, in the middle of the
season, the end of the season.
It needs to be a continuousconversation.
(33:41):
I think that pre-race meetingsneed to be sure that they are a
thing.
Sometimes they're not,sometimes they're not.
And another thing that I noticeis I've seen people get
confused at the end of aracetrack if they haven't been
there before.
(34:01):
One of the things that I do atevery racetrack even if I've
been there before, many of themI have I walk the racetrack in
the morning.
I always walk the racetrack inthe morning, just kind of
re-familiarize myself with whereyou know which way is the
turnoff, where are the exits,you know, like that kind of
(34:23):
thing.
It's that's something that Ithink people don't think of is
you know, knowing the lay of theland.
Even if you've been there, younever know if something changes.
You know your turnoff's notgoing to change, just to make
sure that you're you're allrefreshed and you know.
Yeah, you know where you'regoing.
Melinda Russell (34:40):
Basically, yeah , absolutely well, dina, how can
people follow you so they canwatch your videos?
Dina Parise (34:50):
well, I appreciate that.
So, uh, all of my social mediais my name, it's at Dina Parisi,
or my website is Dina Parisiventurescom, or you can.
You can put I am spicy meatball, calm, and you will find me,
because I am spicy meatball andand I'm on, and it's always me,
(35:15):
I'm on all um, I do Facebook,instagram, uh, twitter threads,
oh yeah yeah, and uh TikTok, soyou can find me on any of those
places, not so much.
Melinda Russell (35:29):
I would encourage yeah, I would
encourage people to follow youand and just it's just a good
reminder of what we should bedoing, because you know, oh,
something happened, we'rerunning late, we get to the
track, it's we're.
You know we're in a hurry,we're doing this, we're doing
(35:49):
that, but you still need thatsafety checklist and make sure
that you've got everything theway it should be.
And so I think that you knowthe videos you do are great and
I it doesn't hurt to be remindedof those things.
Thank you.
Dina Parise (36:05):
Yes, yeah, I mean, and it's always me on my social
media.
So you know, people can alwaysreach out to me through a DM.
If they have a question, I'mmore than happy to answer it.
If I can't answer it, I'llrefer them to someone who can.
Melinda Russell (36:18):
Okay, that's awesome.
Well, thank you so much forbeing on.
We've had some internet issuestoday, so third time was the
charm I lost a little bit hereat the end, but it's decided
that it's going to storm here,so that may be part of what our
issue's been.
But, dina, I so appreciate youtaking time to be on here with
(36:40):
me, and I'm going to end therecording here in a second, but
if you hold on, I want to getwith you before you leave.
Okay, thank you.
That's it for this episode ofthe women's motorsports network
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(37:02):
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(37:22):
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Hello everyone, this is MelindaRussell with the Women's
Motorsports Network podcast, andmy guest today is my friend
Dina.
Dina has been involved in dragracing and some other very
interesting careers, and she'salso very passionate about
(02:48):
safety in motorsports, and so Iwanted to have her on so we
could talk about that a littlebit.
So first, Dana, dana, dina, Iwant to welcome you to the show,
and would you just tell us alittle bit about?
Dina Parise (03:00):
yourself.
Melinda, thank you so much forhaving me on.
It's been a hot minute since wehave spoken.
Melinda Russell (03:07):
Yes, it has.
Dina Parise (03:08):
Yeah, so hello to the listeners.
My name is Dina Parisi.
I am a former pro figure skaterturned pro drag racer.
I know that sounds odd, but itactually makes sense in my head.
I am a drag racer, I run ProMod, so I have a 3,000
(03:31):
horsepower Cadillac.
Her name is Stella, named aftermy grandma, who never had a
driver's license.
That's so hilarious and sorry,I lost my train of thought.
I am, I was 2015 IHRA Pro ModWorld Champion, and that's about
it.
(03:51):
I mean, that's pretty much mein a nutshell.
Melinda Russell (03:54):
And before drag racing, though, you did some
interesting things.
Why don't you tell us a littlebit about that?
Because transitioning from thatcareer to drag racing still is
am amazed about that.
So go ahead and tell us whatwere you doing in your 20s.
Dina Parise (04:11):
So in my in my 20s, I was, uh, I was a professional
figure skater for the icecapades.
Um, unfortunately, some of theyounger set may not know what
that is, uh, but um, kind oflike a disney on ice.
But we were a little bit more.
They called us a variety showinstead of we didn't have just
characters.
Um, I did that for about fouryears and it's funny because I
(04:36):
do tell people that, you know,skating in the ice show and and
drag racing in a series, they'reactually more parallel than
people would think.
Um, you know, when we wereskating in the show, of course
we were putting on a show, wewere entertaining, and it's the
same thing with drag racing,it's totally entertainment.
(04:56):
Um, we went from city to cityto different venues and, uh,
many times we would see the samefans.
We would see the same workers,you know, like the locals as we
call them.
And same thing with the dragracing we go to different tracks
.
We see a lot of the same trackworkers.
(05:18):
We'll see a lot of the samefans.
That will, you know, come andsee us and come to our pit area.
And it was an amazing way tospend part of my 20s.
You know, I got to travel theUnited States, skate in an ice
show and, you know, feel like amegastar every night.
(05:39):
I wasn't, but it made you feelthat way.
It was just, it was, it wasjust super cool and I enjoyed.
You know, sometimes we would doautograph signings after the
show, kind of by the door of thearena, much like we'll sign
autographs in our pit area.
And that's for me, that's myfavorite part is the fans just
(06:02):
getting to hang out with thefans, because you, you know,
drag racing, every ticket's apit pass.
So all of our, all of our fansget to come in and, you know,
hang out with us and ask usquestions.
And the good thing for ourmarketing partners is they get
to see our marketing partners upclose and personal and we
actually get to discuss whattheir products are about right
to people, face to face rightthat's.
Melinda Russell (06:25):
That's so much better than a lot of the other
kinds of sports.
But you know, a NASCAR driverdoesn't have a chance to talk to
you really face-to-face aboutwhat's on his car, even though
you can buy a pit pass and go inthe pits.
But there's you and 100 otherpeople you know.
So, yeah, so much.
Drag racing does it right inthat in that way, promoting a
(06:52):
track takes heart and nowshowing appreciation can be just
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It's that simple Unlimitedsends for just $10 a month.
(07:15):
Go to sendoutcardscom forwardslash 53240.
That's sendoutcardscom forwardslash 53240.
Because gratitude builds greattracks.
Dina Parise (07:35):
I definitely feel like drag racing.
It's not a knock to NASCAR, butyou know we in drag racing you
buy that one ticket.
You don't need the goldenticket to be able to go back
into the garage area or the pitarea, as we say.
You know we have everything isright there and it's hands on
and you know many times they can, you know, for certain things
touch and feel and really get ahands on experience things,
(08:01):
touch and feel and really get ahands-on experience.
Melinda Russell (08:02):
right, right, so much better, and it makes
them come back for sure.
I think so.
Yeah, I think so too.
So you got into drag racing.
Was that because of yourhusband, or how did that happen?
Dina Parise (08:10):
I got into drag racing, much to my husband's
dismay, but it was his fault.
Uh, he, he had built where wewere married in April, 25 years.
So it's been, it's been aminute.
Um, he had built a 1967, uh,camaro.
Uh, it had a blower on it, justlike our cars have the whole
(08:31):
entire time.
That's, that's what we like torun.
And, um, my very first racethat I went to with him was I'll
never forget it was Mabel Grove.
It was a super Chevy and Iwatched.
I got to stand on the line andwatch that car go down the
racetrack and I was.
I was hooked from that momenton.
(08:53):
I had never.
I was in my early 30s, Iactually had never been to a
drag race.
I'd been to other types ofraces, I'd never been to a drag
race and I absolutely fell inlove with it.
I fell in love with, of course,the fast cars, the sounds, the
smells and the people, thecamaraderie.
The people are amazing, fromthe fans to our fellow racers.
(09:14):
It's, it's just, it's a greatcommunity all the way around
it's.
Melinda Russell (09:21):
It's just, it's a great community all the way
around.
Yeah yeah, you can't.
You know the people and andjust it's like going back every
weekend to hang out with yourfamily, and sometimes it's more
fun than hanging out with yourreal family.
So there you go Exactly,exactly.
Yeah, for sure.
So you've been out of racingfor a little while, but you're
going to get back into it.
Do you want to share about thata little bit?
Dina Parise (09:43):
Absolutely, I appreciate it.
Yeah, we've been out for I'mgoing to say since like right
right around COVID-ish time 2020was COVID.
Yeah, I think it was about 2019.
We wound up in COVID.
We wound up, we sold, we gotrid of the rig and everything.
(10:03):
It was a big nut and we didn'tknow how long it was going to be
to pay for it and not use it.
So we said, well, we'll justhave to start over, which that's
what we're doing now.
It's been about two years.
We purchased a new to us, butnot new, it's actually a 2001
ultra comp trailer.
(10:23):
It was, uh, it was an oldnascar trailer.
Um, jason hogan was his name.
He lives near up near our shopand um we purchased, uh, the
trailer and a truck for it, andandrew actually remodeled the
whole inside of the trailer.
He, um, he gutted the loungeand put in a bathroom and a
(10:45):
shower and, because this girlneeds a shower, on those race
days.
I don't care what anybody says,sometimes I just hop in there
just to cool off and um and soit's, it's pretty much done and
pretty much ready to go.
It has been a process In theinterim of these last couple of
(11:07):
years.
Life has been lifing like itdoes and you know throwing some
monkey wrenches in here andthere.
So you know my husband had anillness and he's still kind of
battling with that, but he, heis the energizer bunny, he keeps
going.
And you know we've had otherthings with, you know, my
(11:28):
parents and then my mom passingaway.
So you know, just life stuff.
So we are, we're definitelypushed behind in schedule due to
these things, but we weren'tplanning on testing in the
summer.
You know, when it's a gazilliondegrees and quite frankly, this
sounds very off, but you knowthat's, that's swamp ass city
(11:49):
yeah, because it's so hot.
But you know what we're gonna do, what we have to do.
If we have to test in thesummer, we will, and so I've
been just putting some feelersout for that to see.
Now, where will you go to dothat, do you know?
We, I'm not, we're not certainjust yet.
(12:10):
Okay, um, and we, you know, atthis point we, uh, you know we
need data.
Uh, we've made changes, we hadmade changes to the motor and
then we had not gone back out,so we made some changes and, um,
it's gonna it's gonna bedefinitely a learning curve, um,
and, and you know, just gettingmyself comfortable back in the
seat again, um, we just talkingabout safety.
We actually just did a newpoured in seat, which it
(12:33):
actually is mandatory.
But I would say, for anybody,um, who wants to feel safe and
kind of snuggly in their racecar, I highly, highly recommend
a port and seat.
It definitely makes adifference.
If, god forbid, somethinghappens, it is going to absorb a
lot of the shock, so you knowit's going to keep your body
(12:54):
from getting too, too beat up.
Melinda Russell (12:55):
Right.
Well, let's talk about safety alittle bit.
You posted a couple things onFacebook and and it kind of
pushed me to reach out to youand have you come on and and
talk about the importance ofsafety.
I think it's something we don'ttalk about near enough.
And then you know, I knowyou've got a couple stories
(13:17):
about people who don't thinkit's as important as you and I
do.
So why don't you go ahead andjust share about safety and why
it's so important?
Dina Parise (13:25):
Yeah, thank you, I appreciate that.
And you're right, it is.
Safety is something that forsome reason, is so overlooked.
I find that people will want tospend a gazillion dollars on
their motor to go faster, butyet they don't want.
They're going to complain aboutthe price of safety equipment
(13:48):
to keep them safe and alive.
Right, you know, god forbid,something happens and it's not
like, and I think sometimespeople are like oh, you're doom
and gloom.
I'm not doom and gloom, I don'twant to see anything happen to
anyone.
But, being an experienced racerfor 20 years, I've seen things.
I've experienced things on myown that have really led me to
(14:14):
want to say to people look, youneed to be proactive, not
reactive, because that's whathappens Everybody.
You know when there's thatcorner in your town where
there's a million car crashesand then finally you get
somebody to put a light, youknow you get the powers, that be
to put up a stop sign or alight.
You know that you're beingreactive.
Just be proactive and do it andtake care of it before
(14:36):
something else happens.
So I think that people, people,forget that your head is very
heavy, god forbid.
You're in a crash.
How your head is heavy and thenwith the helmet on it, it's
heavier.
So you want to make sure thatyou have that neck protection,
whether you know whether it bethe neck ring or whether it be,
you know, like a hybrid of somesort, hans, whatever neck device
(15:00):
.
And who cares if it's mandated?
That's one thing people like.
Well, it's not mandated, whocares?
Right, it's not mandated thatyou wear underwear either, but
you do, don't you?
So I'm just saying, right, so,if, right, so, if it's, who
cares if it's not mandated?
You know, we, we, when we ran umin the beginning, the 67,
(15:25):
camaro andrew was building hispro mod and I had stepped into
the 67 and then eventually wehad two pro mods, we got rid of
the 67 and had two promotes.
But when I ran the 67, that carran 890s.
And I'm going back 20 somethingyears, right, right, I actually
wore a Hans device and I hadsome guy in the in, like, in the
(15:47):
staging, like I was.
Oh what do you think?
You're a John Forster.
And I said, well, I said, if,god forbid, something happens, I
hit the wall, something happens.
I said I happens.
I said I'm going to be safe,I'm going to be protected, and
then I can get out and make mycougars a sandwich for lunch.
So this way I'm safe and nobodymisses lunch.
It's a win-win if you ask forlunch, right, yeah, so these
(16:12):
things.
It just makes me crazy thatpeople will spend so much on
their program.
But safety is anafterthoughtthought.
We really need to get people tounderstand, especially now,
because cars on different levels, they're just getting faster
and faster and we need to, evenif it's not mandated.
(16:33):
We need to keep up with whatthe car is doing, not what the
rule book's doing yeah even atthat point.
So and this, this is not a hateto anybody the total observation
.
So let me preface this withthat JJ the boss from Street
Outlaws.
He had at one point he had hada pretty nasty crash and I think
(16:56):
he crashed into his wife's car.
I believe they crashed togetherat, you know, on a street race.
And the fact remains that youngpeople watch this and everybody
thinks it's so cool, which isgreat.
It is cool when he, when theyshowed he was pretty banged up,
(17:16):
he had on a cut-off shirt, jeansand he his helmet.
I think he got it from EvelKnievel in 1975.
Yeah, because it had and it hadno, no face shield.
You know, his face was allbanged up and and I just don't
(17:38):
understand.
I get the street racing thing.
It's you got to be cool, I getit.
But there's the flip side ofthat, where you have all these
kids and everything that arethat are paying attention to
what you do, you know, and it'sit.
It just you know.
We have kids coming up in theranks and I want them to be able
to take the safety aspect of itseriously.
Melinda Russell (17:59):
Well, and you know, like you say, yeah, you
have to be cool, you know, butyou're not cool if you die or if
you're permanently damaged andyou can't race again what it's
not worth it.
Dina Parise (18:11):
It's, it's not.
And I I also will watch some,sometimes in car videos.
People will post in car videosand I'll see someone that's in a
relatively fast car.
No gloves, yeah, visor up.
You know, if you have fire andyour visors up, your face is
gonna get burned, you knowyou're.
(18:33):
You're gonna inhale more smokethan you may if your visor was
down and locked, not to say thatyou're not going to inhale it,
but maybe less than you would.
And as far as the gloves I had,we were selling safety
equipment at one point and agentleman wanted to buy a jacket
and he said, well, I'll wear myjeans.
(18:54):
And I said, well, okay, I saidyou may as well, just get the
whole suit.
Just, you know, get the suit,get the shoes, do what you need
to do.
And he didn't want gloves.
I was like you really don'twant to pair no, and I said,
well, I asked him.
I said what do you do for aliving?
So he tells me he's a plumberand I said okay, because he was
(19:16):
a hobby racer, and I said okay,I said you are aware that fire
burns at zero miles per hour?
Right, and it stopped him for asecond and I said I'm going to
say it again yeah, fires burnsat zero miles per hour.
You don't need to be goinganywhere to be on fire.
(19:36):
Yeah, so I've seen it happen atthe line, I've seen it happen
in pit areas with a startup.
I've seen it happen over thelast few years.
I've seen crazy things happenand you just you never know
right.
A little bit of a spark andthere it goes.
So I said to him, I said, said,just think about if something
were to happen, a spark and afire, your hands get burnt, how
(20:00):
are you going to go to work?
And he looked at me, he didn'treally say much.
So he did.
He left without the gloves,which, yeah, I my my brain
couldn't, I couldn't even wrapmy brain around that yeah, but
two.
But two weeks later he came backand he said he said I made the
mistake of telling my wife whatyou said and for the last two
(20:23):
weeks she was on him for that.
That two weeks she was on himevery day, why, you know cause?
His thing was I don't needgloves, I don't go as fast as
you, which is why I, in turn,said to him fire burns at zero
miles per hour.
You know, it doesn't.
It doesn't matter how fast youcould be going, tense, something
could happen, it doesn't matter.
I just wish, I just wish that,and I always tell people, feel
(20:47):
free to reach out to me.
You know, if you have questionsabout safety equipment and I've
have had from some of thevideos that I've made I have had
people reach out and I'vepointed them in the right
direction.
Yeah, um, you know our for formy class, for pro mod, nhra
rules now require, uh, fresh air, which I'm really excited about
(21:09):
because I'm a migraine sufferer, so I'm excited that I have a
little air in my helmet.
Yeah, yeah.
So that's, that's a wholenother.
That's a whole nother deal.
And it one of the racers Iforget who it was one of the
racers this weekend the pro modraces in NHRA.
It's funny cause I was just.
I was just editing a videoabout this Cause we use safe
(21:30):
craft for our fire suppressionsystem and there's a pin that
goes to lock the lever of thefire suppression system.
It's just a little like clip.
So very first thing that we doin the morning, right before the
first startup, is we pull thatpin, because for the rest of the
(21:54):
day I need that firesuppression system to be active
not active, but able to beenabled.
Yes, so this driver, his runwas disqualified because he left
the fire pin in.
And yeah, and I'm sure it was amistake, but and for us we would
(22:15):
never have gotten to that partof, and I but, and for us we
would never have gotten to thatpart of and I speak for us we
would never have gotten to thatpart of the day that far into
the day with the pin still in itjust would never have happened.
But, um, you know things getoverlooked, I get it and um, but
you don't want to be and Idon't know how other, uh, other
different series like dirt track, and that I don't know how
(22:37):
their fire suppression works.
But I know for us it's a leverand I couldn't think of having
to reach out and having, if youwere on fire, and having to
reach and pull that pin outbefore I could pull the lever to
let this fire suppression comeout.
I don't.
Melinda Russell (22:55):
I don't know if you would even be able to think
about it, exactly, exactly, andthat's the point.
Dina Parise (23:01):
Right, you, it's, it's these, it's every little
detail that you need to payattention to.
But if you pay attention to italways, it's going to become
automatic.
Right, we do.
We will replace the fire pinwhen we roll it back and put it
in the trailer, because in thetransit from going from in the
trailer to out of the trailer,we want to make sure that you
(23:23):
know it doesn't, nobody hits itand you know, sets off the fire
suppression system.
Just for an example.
You know, just making sure thatyou, that people know how to
pack their chutes properly.
I have had people ask mequestions about that.
Now, I am not like the masterchute packer, not at all.
(23:43):
I know we have Stroud chutes.
We've had them for years.
I love their chutes and I packthem.
I pack them kind of accordingto how they say.
I think everybody has their ownlittle things that they do when
they pack theirs.
But you know, as long as youknow that you push that lever
and those chutes come out,you're good to go.
Melinda Russell (24:04):
Yeah.
Dina Parise (24:05):
And listen, I've had an instance where I had an
instance once where the chutecable broke, so I had no chute
shoes.
So that was fun, you know.
I think like, yeah, like thingshappen, um, but we you know and
we check everything over, um,that's, that's a huge thing too.
Like part of our safetyprotocol is making sure that the
(24:27):
car has really got a good onceover in between rounds.
You know nothing's leaking,nothing's loose, nothing's you
know nothing's you know goneawry.
You know we're big on that too,yeah, and I know some racers
that don't take that kind oftime.
Again, this is just my opinion.
(24:53):
I don't see often enough iswhen cars are at the line and a
crew member looking under thecar for anything leaking.
There are a lot of teams thatdo that, but then again there
are a lot of teams that do not.
So I feel like, again, justmore safety precautions.
(25:17):
A few of my biggest like.
Melinda Russell (25:21):
I feel like this is like Dina's pet peeve
hour, that's okay, you know,dina, we don't think about it as
much as we should.
Dina Parise (25:30):
Yeah, I believe I posted a video and it was a
video where there was eightgazillion people on the starting
line.
And it makes me think backbecause when we had the 67 um,
my husband was in marylandrunning.
I had to work that weekend,unfortunately, but husband was
(25:51):
running um in maryland and he,he let go of the trans break and
the chrome molly drive shaftspit out of the back of the car.
Oh gosh, yeah.
So now his, there was one crewguy there and he, he was able to
make sure that he just steppedout of the way.
(26:12):
But I'm thinking, you see,these, make sure that he just
stepped out of the way.
But I'm thinking, you see,these, these races where there's
, you know, gangs of people onon the starting line standing
behind the car and somethinglike that happens.
You know, you're just, you're,you're in the line of fire,
right, it shouldn't be that manypeople there.
And again, things of courseweird, happen.
(26:33):
Totally.
Get that.
I watched a.
I watched something, was itlast week?
I watched a race last week ortwo weeks ago and I watched as
crew members as the car wasdoing the burnout, the crew
members were walking to go totake their place, to line them
(26:55):
up, you know, to put them in thegroove with their back to the
car the entire time.
So while the car was doing theburnout, their back was to the
car.
And I always tell people Mike,never turn your back to a car.
Yeah, just never turn your backto a car.
That's like your worst enemyright there Again.
(27:16):
You never know what can happen.
That car can move in a splitsecond and run you over.
Always know your surroundings,know where you are right and uh,
people, people tell me, oh,you're too much, I'm like, but
I'm not.
I'm not you so easily and I'vemade videos about things that I
won't let my crew members do,and one of those things is hold
my car in the burnout.
Yeah, I'm like.
(27:38):
If I can't hold the carstraight in the burnout, that's
on me and I don't want anybodyholding or pushing.
You're holding a 3000 or 2600pound vehicle, that's 3000
horsepower.
What do you really think thatyou're doing?
Melinda Russell (27:54):
That's what I was just going to say.
And what good is that going tobe if?
Dina Parise (28:01):
the car starts to go, the person's not going to be
able to stop it.
Yeah, and what if you get apant leg caught or something of
that nature, like I know I'mthinking worst case scenario,
but I'd rather think worst casescenario and keep myself out of
that, out of harm's way.
So it's just things like this.
So I try to make videos and alot of times, like I'll, you
know I'll be goofy and funnyabout it, but try to get the
(28:22):
point across.
I just want people tounderstand that it's, and
especially the cars are justgetting more and more powerful,
but people can tend to be moreand more reckless and I get it.
It's cool to stand on thestarting line.
I know I don't know why theylet all those people on the
starting line when they do, whenthey're not crew members.
It really should be crewmembers and track workers.
(28:43):
Yeah, for whatever specific caris or cars well and dina, until
something catastrophic happens.
Melinda Russell (28:51):
They're going to let it happen, but again
they're going to be reactiveinstead of proactive.
Right, exactly, and you know,we get the longer that you're in
involved in something, whetheryou know, no matter what it is.
Um, my husband's a welder, sois he as careful every day out
(29:12):
there in the shop as he shouldbe?
No, because he's done it for 40years and he thinks, oh, I'm
not going to do, I'm not goingto put this, do this, because
I'm only going to use the welderfor a second or whatever.
Now he is very safety conscious, but a lot of people just get
laxadaisical about what they'redoing.
Dina Parise (29:34):
And we do we get complacent?
We do, you know, and don'tthink I haven't caught myself,
you know doing that.
But and you know, it's funnynow because I, I translate a lot
of that safety even to myregular car um, when I see
people that have their feet upon the dashboard, there is
(29:54):
nothing that, there is nothingthat makes me cringe more than
that.
If you get into an accident,you are just you're going to be
just folded up like a I don'teven know what.
So I do, I, I think it's, it'sreally opened my eyes.
So I do translate it even to myregular life too yeah and know.
Melinda Russell (30:14):
So let's talk a little bit about when you know
there are so many young kids indrag racing.
You go to US 131 MotorsportsPark, which is just north of me
a beautiful racetrack, and hugeevents.
And they have so many kids, somany kids that race, how you
(30:39):
know?
Do you think that safety issomething parents are really
taught and that, or what can wedo better to make sure that you
know a lot of parents get intoracing who've never been
involved in racing, get intoracing who've never been
involved in racing, you know,yeah, um, what do we do to teach
(30:59):
those parents how much you knowwhat they need to do, what's
what's important and and that?
How how can we be better aboutthat?
Dina Parise (31:06):
yeah, and that's definitely you know, of course,
they're the future of our sportand we want them to start out on
a on a good footing, rightright, um, I, I encourage people
I mean, I'm more than happy tospeak with people if need be,
just because I've I've putmyself so far into this whole
safety thing over the lastcouple of years um, I, I
(31:33):
encourage them to overdo safetygear.
Um, I, I don't even know if, ifa hans is required, um, I know
that I think they're a neck, Ithink they wear the neck roll,
but, um, you know, like thatlittle neck, yeah, um, but I
don't know if, if, like a hansor anything is required at this
(31:55):
point or at any point for ajunior dragster.
But, um, I, I had I also posteda video about a junior dragster
kid and I don't know how oldthis kid was.
I don't know if it was a boy ora girl.
I really didn't want anyinformation because I didn't
there was.
I didn't want any hate towardsthe driver, it was just an
(32:16):
example where this kid wasexcited I get it and the car was
still going down the racetrack,was up out of the seat and
waving their arms oh my gosh.
So they had to have unbuckled.
(32:38):
Because of because of theposition of their body, you
could tell they had to haveunbuckled.
And so, yeah, so it's just likeyou know, keep head and arms in
ride at all times, um, and youknow, and they're young, so of
(32:58):
course course kids.
Kids are never going to thinkreally that anything is is going
to happen, so it's has to bethe parents, or even even if
they have, you know, their theirtrack team.
Everyone get together and Ithink I really think safety is
an important conversation forthem to have.
I don't know if they do or not.
I do have a friend that wasvery deep in.
(33:19):
I'm going to have to ask her.
I know she is very, very safetyconscious herself with her kids
.
She never raised, but her kidsdo and her husband does.
But I think that that's aconversation that needs to be
had in the beginning of theseason, in the middle of the
season, the end of the season.
It needs to be a continuousconversation.
(33:41):
I think that pre-race meetingsneed to be sure that they are a
thing.
Sometimes they're not,sometimes they're not.
And another thing that I noticeis I've seen people get
confused at the end of aracetrack if they haven't been
there before.
(34:01):
One of the things that I do atevery racetrack even if I've
been there before, many of themI have I walk the racetrack in
the morning.
I always walk the racetrack inthe morning, just kind of
re-familiarize myself with whereyou know which way is the
turnoff, where are the exits,you know, like that kind of
(34:23):
thing.
It's that's something that Ithink people don't think of is
you know, knowing the lay of theland.
Even if you've been there, younever know if something changes.
You know your turnoff's notgoing to change, just to make
sure that you're you're allrefreshed and you know.
Yeah, you know where you'regoing.
Melinda Russell (34:40):
Basically, yeah , absolutely well, dina, how can
people follow you so they canwatch your videos?
Dina Parise (34:50):
well, I appreciate that.
So, uh, all of my social mediais my name, it's at Dina Parisi,
or my website is Dina Parisiventurescom, or you can.
You can put I am spicy meatball, calm, and you will find me,
because I am spicy meatball andand I'm on, and it's always me,
(35:15):
I'm on all um, I do Facebook,instagram, uh, twitter threads,
oh yeah yeah, and uh TikTok, soyou can find me on any of those
places, not so much.
Melinda Russell (35:29):
I would encourage yeah, I would
encourage people to follow youand and just it's just a good
reminder of what we should bedoing, because you know, oh,
something happened, we'rerunning late, we get to the
track, it's we're.
You know we're in a hurry,we're doing this, we're doing
(35:49):
that, but you still need thatsafety checklist and make sure
that you've got everything theway it should be.
And so I think that you knowthe videos you do are great and
I it doesn't hurt to be remindedof those things.
Thank you.
Dina Parise (36:05):
Yes, yeah, I mean, and it's always me on my social
media.
So you know, people can alwaysreach out to me through a DM.
If they have a question, I'mmore than happy to answer it.
If I can't answer it, I'llrefer them to someone who can.
Melinda Russell (36:18):
Okay, that's awesome.
Well, thank you so much forbeing on.
We've had some internet issuestoday, so third time was the
charm I lost a little bit hereat the end, but it's decided
that it's going to storm here,so that may be part of what our
issue's been.
But, dina, I so appreciate youtaking time to be on here with
(36:40):
me, and I'm going to end therecording here in a second, but
if you hold on, I want to getwith you before you leave.
Okay, thank you.
That's it for this episode ofthe women's motorsports network
podcast.
We hope you've been inspired bythe stories I shared today and
(37:02):
feel more connected to theamazing community of women in
motorsports.
Remember, whether you're behindthe wheel, in the pits or
cheering from the stands, yourstory matters and together we're
driving change and celebratingevery milestone.
If you enjoyed today's episode,be sure to subscribe, leave us
(37:22):
a review and share it withsomeone who loves motorsports as
much as you do, and don'tforget to follow us on Facebook
and Instagram for updates,behind-the-scenes content,
content and more incrediblestories.
So until next time, stayinspired, stay connected and
keep racing through life.
This is the women's motorsports network podcast, where
(37:45):
every woman's story is worthcelebrating.
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