Female quartet kick off Nunn IPS test.

Four drivers turned 60 laps apiece at Texas Motor Speedway yesterday, as Nunn Motorsports began a three-day evaluation of female racing talent in its Menards Infiniti Pro Series car.

The team hopes to offer one of the six drivers it intends to test this week a full-time ride in 2005, and USAC regional midget champion Sondi Eden was the first on track.

"It was exciting," the 27-year old reported, "To have the opportunity to be able to test one of these cars is a lot of fun.

"I was a little nervous going into it, so I just started out slow to build up my confidence. I just progressed slowly, took my time and got comfortable in it. When I got up to speed, it started hitting the rev limiter, so I felt good about that. It was real smooth. It's just a lot of fun."

Becca Anderson, Rossella Manfrinato and Wendy Mathis also tested on Monday, while Juliana Chiovitti and Sarah McCune will test this morning [Tuesday], before all six drivers each have a second session in the car. British racer Katherine Legge was also present at TMS.

"I expected them to do well," team owner Kathryn Nunn - the only woman to own a team in the IRL ladder - said, "They all had excellent credentials. Today's exercise was designed to give them all a lot of seat time and let them get comfortable in the car, on the track and with the crew. They'll have another opportunity to get in the car and pick up even more speed."

Anderson, a 25-year old United Racing Club [URC] regular, began racing at the age of 13, and has 13 career feature wins as a sprint-car driver. Chiovitti is a three-time World Karting Association [WKA] Grand National champion and has also won a WKA national championship. Italian Manfrinato, the oldest of the group at 35, has competed in SCCA and Formula Continental events, but was also the technical support and liaison engineer for chassis manufacturer Dallara in the IPS between 2002-2004.

Mathis began racing at the age of 12, and has driven midgets and sprint cars since then. Now 25, she is the first woman to win a sprint car feature in the Tampa Bay Area Racing Association. McCune, 26, has competed in USAC National Midget events for the past several years, and tested an IRL IndyCar twice in 2000.