The Florida Commission on the Status of Women (FCSW) announced Elaine Larsen as a recipient of the 2018 Spirit of the Community Award. The award honors someone that has improved the lives of Florida women and families, and who serves as a positive role model for women and girls in their communities.

Larsen is a professional jet dragster driver based in Palm Bay, Florida. Larsen, who operates Larsen Motor Sports with her husband Chris, participated in Performance Racing Industry (PRI) Trade Show’s “Women in Motorsports” seminar in 2017, which featured a distinguished panel of highly accomplished industry members sharing experiences, perspectives and invaluable advice on how to pursue a future in motorsports. The popular seminar will again take place at the PRI Trade Show in December this year.

Larsen Motor Sports (LMS) builds its entire fleet of race cars from concept design to full fabrication, while training the next generation of high-performance vehicle specialists. Their affiliation with the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) has opened the door for internships, which led LMS to research many different avenues from biofuels to human-centered design.

Before her racing career, Larsen worked with children education, promoting STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) throughout Florida and the US. She continues this through her comic book series BLAZE, which involves a team that must work together to resolve an issue in each edition.

The BLAZE Program Blazing Trails, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, is a charity that assists children who have goals that they want to achieve, but are unable to, due to lack of money, time or guidance. The next Blazing Trails event takes place January 25, 2019, at Palm Beach International Raceway (PBIR) for 1300 students in grades 6th-12th.

Larsen will be presented the award on Friday, November 16, during the Commission’s 4th Quarterly meeting at the Tampa Bay History Center.

For more information, visit elainelarsen.com and blazingtrails.info.