33-year-old Amber Balcaen currently races part-time in the ARCA Menards Series for Nitro Motorsports. In 2024, while driving full-time for Venturini Motorsports, she delivered one of the most resilient performances in recent motorsport memory. It began with a crash at Dover Motor Speedway that left her with a broken left foot.
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She was on course for a strong finish when a car in front of her crashed. Left with nowhere to go, she steered her car towards the inside wall and hit the barrier hard. Her foot was broken, but her determination remained intact.
Amazingly, NASCAR cleared her to race with a carbon insert in her boot for stability and safety. What was even more remarkable was that she finished eighth in the very next weekend at Kansas.
Balcaen spoke about this entire sequence in a recent interview with The Social CTV. The hosts, stunned by the idea of racing with a broken foot, asked if she had really done it.
She responded, “Over half the season, I raced with a broken foot.” When asked if crashing ever scared her, she said, “Crashing doesn’t scare me. Crashing is inevitable in racing.
“The only thing that scares me is the fear of failure. I feel I have a responsibility to show what women are capable of doing on the track. When I am not performing at my best or I’m making mistakes, I feel like I’m letting other women down. That’s honestly the only thing that really scares me.”
Amber Balcaen’s resolve made her not just a standout competitor, but a symbol of perseverance in the sport.
She finished the 2024 season in sixth place on the points table. But it was her performance in Kansas immediately after the injury that left the racing world in awe of her.
And yet, she wasn’t satisfied with what many considered an elite performance. She had told the press, “It was a decent day for coming back with a broken foot. Top ten isn’t bad; I really wanted that top five today, but we had some tough competition. We made the right changes during the pit stop, and are heading the right way.”
Following an announcement in January 2025, Balcaen joined Nitro Motorsports officially as a part-time driver. She finished in 29th place at Daytona and in 16th at Talladega this year.
