Josie Rimmer, Head of Strategy & Women in Motorsport Coordinator at Snoqualmie’s DirtFish Rally School, had decided to walk the walk and she was going to be racing in her first Motor Sport event, when she heard a girl of 7 or 8 ask her dad, “Girls Can Do This?”.
“I knew right then that we had to make it blaringly obvious that women compete in Motor Sports so that we never hear that question again,” said Rimmer. From early in her career at DirtFish, Rimmer recognized there wasn’t anyone celebrating women in Motor Sports. Everywhere she looked there were women in the industry, but no one was telling their stories. She set out to change that.
Let’s back up a little bit and tell you more about DirtFish, a Rally School on 300 acres that teaches about 3,000 students a year how to enhance their car control ability. Founded in 2010, DirtFish believes the sport of rally should be accessible to everyone. In 2022, DirtFish offered its first women only program with ten spots. It sold out instantly, so they added another and then another and then they had 40 women doing rally.
With this success, DirtFish saw another opportunity to expand their sport’s exposure. “We thought, what else can we do … what other celebration can we provide,” Rimmer said. The Women in Motor Sports Summit was born. It grew from 100 attendees in its first year in 2022, to 250 in 2023 to 600 in person and 6,000 on-line in 2024 and now in 2025 they are moving the venue to LeMay – America’s Car Museum in Tacoma.
On Saturday, May 24th from 9 am to 6 pm, the Summit will feature panels with industry-leading women like Formula One’s Claire Williams and Formula One Academy’s Lia Block. There will be a silent auction, meet & greets with Women in Motorsport representatives and displays of women owned cars.
“As this year’s DirtFish Women in Motorsport Summit is taking shape in front of us, it’s becoming the true vision of what we’ve dreamed of. To be able to host our fourth annual event at LeMay – America’s Car Museum is beyond a dream, and is allowing us to extend our reach, to push the initiative farther, to truly push open the door for the next generation to come walking through.”
The event is open to everyone and is expected to sell out. You can learn more about the Women in Motorsport Summit at drive.dirtfish.com/wim-summit-2025