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The other bugs have slick paint jobs. The other bugs have dual carburetors. The other bugs are driven by men . . . older men.
No. 21, the matte black Volkswagen bug with the plastic skeleton dangling from the passenger-side door belongs to 16-year-old Megan Tribble.
"I raced before I got my driver's license," Megan said. "Racing helped me when I started driving on the streets. You learn a lot of defensive driving on the track."
She was 14 when she started working for a pit crew. There she scraped mud, changed tires and shocks. In the middle of the racing season at Sandia Motor Speedway in 2006, a slug-bug owner offered to let Megan, then 15, drive one of his cars.
"It was more scary for me when she was pitting than when she races, because she was in the pits where cars go fast and don't pay attention," said Megan's mother, Vanessa Tribble. "She was in the thick of things, not in a car with roll bars, padding, a helmet and a fire suit."
On Saturday nights, Megan's long blonde braid dangles outside her gray fire suit. She mingles with the other drivers.
She hangs out with her boyfriend and mom. She lingers near her car.
She loves her car.
The first night she brought her slug bug home, she headed downstairs with a blanket and a pillow and told her mother she was going to sleep in the car, parked in the driveway, on the trailer.
"Megan was so in love with this car and I was so in love with watching Megan race, we decided to buy the car." said Tribble. "They offered us a great deal, so I took money out of my retirement and bought the car."
Since they bought the bug, Megan and Vanessa have invested nearly $7,000 into Megan's hobby. It doesn't phase them.
"The way I see things, this is my time with Megan," said Vanessa. "She is going to grow up and move on, and I can pay my debt then. While she is in my life right now, I don't have a retirement. Oh well, I'll get it later."
The enthusiasm they share for the sport and the support they receive from Megan's competitors have contributed to the success of her second season, and so have her new tires.
"Last year, you hugged the white line and was lapped one or maybe two times," Megan's mom told her. "This year, you haven't been lapped once, and you are currently third in point standings."
"Well, that tells you how good the tires are," retorted Megan, laughing.
She maintains a positive attitude on and off the track. She knows she would not be able to race without her mom.
"My mom and I have had a good relationship my whole life, but since I've started racing we've grown closer," said Megan. "We worry about what could happen to me out there, so we appreciate our time together more."
