A Girl Born for Speed: Cadence Cowan
Who said girls can’t race? Probably the same person who said boys don’t cry!
With an impressive list of achievements to her name in a sport once dominated by men, UTV racer Cadence Cowan is wired to drive hard — and fast. Racing is life. The thrill of speed. The racing atmosphere is everything.
And while it doesn’t fall short of sacrifices and sleepless nights, Hesperia, California native Cadence Cowan has prepared her entire life for UTV racing — just a girl born for speed.
Today, we sat down for an exclusive interview with the ‘hold it wide, let it slide’ GFG ambassador and UTV World Champion.
WHAT TYPE OF RACING ARE YOU INVOLVED IN?
I am involved in UTV racing.
HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN UTV RACING?
When I was around 8-9 years old i had a go kart to drive around with my friends and after a wile of driving that my dad David bought me a Polaris RZR 170 for Christmas. It all has moved forward from there.
HOW DID YOU CELEBRATE WHEN YOU WON THE UTV WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP?
I was definitely in shock when we won because winning the UTV World Championship has always been a dream of mine ever since I have started racing! To celebrate, we just went out to a nice dinner with friends and family to celebrate our win as a team.
ARE YOU SUPERSTITIOUS? WHAT DO YOU DO BEFORE EVERY RACE?
I am superstitious, some things that I do before every race is that I always make sure my car is 110% ready for the race. Our team takes prep on the race car very seriously just to make sure we have the best possibility to get on the podium! I also do all the prep work by myself. I also make sure to always go and say good luck to all of my competitors. I pray right before the start of every race when I'm all strapped in on the starting line. I also have good luck handshakes with a couple of my close friends. One other thing that I do before every race is that I always talk with everyone I race with to make sure everyone is ready for the race and I give most of the racers some of my tips on the track or just pep talks in general if they need encouragement.
WHAT ROLE DOES YOUR FAMILY PLAY IN YOUR RACING CAREER?
My family plays a big role in my racing career, especially because it has always just been me and my dad since I was 2 weeks old. It has definitely been a wild ride, but I wouldn't change it for the world!
WHO DO YOU LOOK UP TO IN YOUR SPORT? WHO IS YOUR HERO?
Some people that I look up to in the off-road industry is Kristen Matlock, Sara Price, Amanda Sorensen, Hailey Deegan, Brooke Jensen, Shelby Anderson, Sierra Romo, Brice Menzies, Seth Quintero, Wayne Matlock, RJ Anderson, Cayden Maccachren, Blake Wilkey, Craig Scanlon, and Lacey Blair.
Kristen Matlock definitely has to be my hero, as she has always been an idol of mine. I got the amazing opportunity to go and pit for them in Mexico for the Matlock Racing team and they have treated me like their own since day one when we first met them at King of the Hammers a couple years ago. I was completely star-struck by Kristen and was too scared to even talk to her and look where we are now! It has been amazing to be able to go and get my feet wet and see what it takes to run a desert program.
IF YOU COULD RACE ANYTHING ELSE IN THE WORLD OF MOTORSPORTS, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
If I could race anything in the motorsports industry, I would love to race a trophy truck, Formula 1, or Formula Drift. I would love to drive anything really!
WHAT’S NEXT FOR CADENCE COWAN?
We plan to focus on WORCS in the 2021 race season. We will also be doing the UTV World Championships, Mint 400, etc. We just hope to have a smooth and consistent year and work on my lap times and getting faster as a driver! I hope to bring home a podium for the championship and we will be pushing hard to better myself and the car. We are coming in hot!!
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE THING TO DO OUTSIDE OF RACING?
Without racing, I’m just a normal teenage kid! I like to hang out with friends and family but racing takes up most of my time, so I am usually working on my car or helping with projects around the house and helping others work on their cars too. I like Glamis, the lake, shopping, rock crawling, really anything that has a motor or anything that goes fast!
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PIECE OF GFG APPAREL?
My favorite GFG apparel must be the race division crew shirt but for any day wear I also love the women's cheetah racer back!
TELL US WHAT ‘HOLD IT WIDE LET IT SLIDE’ MEANS TO YOU?
Hold it wide and let it slide means to push myself and the car to its limits and to not be afraid to get a little sideways!
Shop Cadence’s favorite GFG gear or if you want to learn more about Cadence, see racing photos, and connect on IG — race over to GFG ambassador profile.
