Christy Penrod proved herself as a racing champion in 2015 when she won the street stock title at Grundy County Speedway.
The past few seasons, she has been away from the track for the most part, championing another cause — earning a degree as a cardiovascular perfusionist.
In a nutshell, Penrod operates machines that pump the blood for patients while their hearts are stopped during surgery. The Countryside resident works at the University of Chicago Medical Center in Hyde Park.
You might call her a human life preserver.
“It is definitely fulfilling to be able to do what I do,” Penrod said. “Sometimes, I have to take a step back and remind myself the change my team and I make in this world, to save lives and help patients have more years to enjoy it.”
To follow her very important calling, Penrod had to make some sacrifices. One of them was racing on a full-time basis.
“Unfortunately, yes,” Penrod said, smiling. “But I was looking down the road. You need to get the degree and the job to pay for the race car, right?
“Now, we’re back and we’re having some fun. But there’s some tough competition, and we’re trying to find our groove.”
Penrod led during the early portion of a street stock feature Friday, June 16, before encountering handling problems and finishing sixth.
The car she picked for her racing comeback has an incredibly cool story behind it.
It began in 2015. Penrod, just 18 years old and freshly graduated from high school at Lyons, became the first female at Grundy to win a street stock title.
Her closest competitor for the season was Cheryl Hryn. It went down to the final night, with Penrod edging out Hryn by a 1,151-1,137 margin.
Both would rise rapidly in the ranks at Grundy, with Hryn moving up to the sportsman division and Penrod piloting a late model.
Penrod earned 2017 rookie of the year honors in her late model, finishing fifth in the points standings. She was also voted most popular driver.
When Hryn moved up in class, she sold her street stock to Scotty Gardner, who drove it to a division title in 2022. When Gardner put the car up for sale last winter, Penrod made an inquiry.
“I told him I was in the market for a street stock,” Penrod said. “I was like, ‘Where did you get this car from?’ He said it was from Cheryl. I said, ‘No way.’
“When I asked Cheryl, sure enough, it was the car that I beat in 2015. Obviously, there have been some changes on it, but on the passenger side roll bar, there is a heat race win sticker from 2015. I’m keeping it there for good luck.”
After Penrod won the title in 2015, she talked about Hryn being her mentor. Beyond the rivalry, their friendship grew.
“Once I got out of the street stock, I got to know Cheryl better as a person,” Penrod said. “She is the greatest person. With everything she does for racing, especially all of her Kids Nights, she has a heart of gold.”
When Hryn found out Penrod bought the Camaro from Gardner, she reached out not only with congratulations but also hopped on board on as a sponsor.
Why?
“I love her,” Hryn said. “And it’s my old car. Seriously, I’m really happy she has it. When Scotty was selling it, I was debating on buying the car back myself. But I waited and waited.
“When I heard Christy wanted it, I just let things be. And the more I thought about it, I was like, ‘Oh, my God, she’s literally buying the car I drove in the championship run with her.'”
Tell me if that’s not the coolest story.
“Oh, it’s really cool,” Hryn said, laughing. “I hope she wins with it, and I’ll be running out there to take a picture with her.”
