Equality Motorsports: Racing for Inclusion at La Crosse Speedway
Racecar driver Bentley Knaack is dedicated to fostering inclusion in the high-speed sport.
“It’s excitement. It’s fear. It’s exhilaration.”
Those are the words racecar driver Bentley Knaack uses to describe the feelings that come from hurtling down the track, winding around turns and opening up on the straightaways at La Crosse Speedway.
She might add “liberating” as well. Knaack’s race car also carries a message of equality and self-expression. Decked out in the pink, blue and white colors of the trans pride flag and sporting rainbow stickers with messages like “Be Kind” and “Beyond Gender.” Bentley’s Honda also has the logo of Seven Rivers LGBTQ Connection, the La Crosse area’s gay resource center.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re straight, gay, trans. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you are,” Knaack said. “You are welcome in this sport.”
Knaack calls her team Equality Motorsports and encourages all to join her at the track.
“There’s got to be more people out here like me that like cars and like to go fast,” she said.