HispanicBusiness

Kevin Harvick's No. 29 car edged Mark Martin's vehicle by the length of a hood Sunday to win the Daytona 500 and open the NASCAR Nextel Cup racing season atop the standings.

As the two cars raced for the checkered flag, engineer Alba Colon knew her team – General Motors – was going to the winner's circle no matter which driver pulled ahead. She's GM Racing's program manager for the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series -- the only female to hold that title in the sport.

"We had a great weekend," says Ms. Colon, one of the few Hispanics in the world of NASCAR. "We had Kevin Harvick, Mark Martin, Jeff Burton and Mike Wallace finish in the top four. So, we did really well. We celebrated that night, but then we were like, 'OK, what can we do better.'"

She says it didn't take long for the team to turn its attention to this weekend's Auto Club 500 in Fontana, Calif. It's just the nature of the sport.

"We know we have to start thinking about how we can make things better because the other teams that didn't win are already hard at work to improve their cars," says Ms. Colon, who was born in Spain and holds an engineering degree from the University of Puerto Rico. "We need to be just as focused. There are 36 (races) and two (non-scoring) events in a season, so you always have to be ready for the next one. Daytona was a great victory, but it's just one down and 35 more to go."

As the GM Racing program manager, Ms. Colon leads a team of engineers who help develop the vehicles and make sure they perform as expected. She has held the post since 2001. Ms. Colon previously served as the program manager of GM's NHRA drag racing group and worked as a data acquisition engineer for all of GM's Oval Track Group, which included NASCAR Winston Cup Series, Busch Series, Craftsman Truck Series and ASA teams.

"Being Hispanic, we have a responsibility to do a good job and help open doors for others," she says. "For example, driver Juan Pablo Montoya has been very visible since he came to NASCAR this year. It's the kind of exposure that might get more Hispanics into NASCAR and create opportunities for others.

"One thing I enjoy doing is reaching out to young Hispanic students and letting them know that they can get a job in motor sports as an engineer like I have. This is a great job."