In the spring of 2000, Heather DesRochers, then 10 years old, asked her father for a go-kart. He immediately asked her what kind of kart she wanted, a fun kart for the backyard or a racing kart. Heather didn’t realize you could race go-karts, but thought that sounded like something she would like to try. Her father, former modified driver Don DesRochers did some research and found a class that he and Heather’s mother Betsy felt comfortable letting Heather try.

Her first kart was a Tiger Sprint, a go-kart styled after a sprint type car complete with a wing and safety features such as a roll bar cage and seat belts. Heather went to her first practice at the Pinnacle Raceway in Chicopee in the new kart completely unsure how she would like this new sport.

After her first practice, there was no doubt in her mind that kart racing was something she wanted to do. Her first year of karting had its ups and downs. Two months after she began her karting career, Heather scored her first win at the Sugar Hill Speedway in Weare, NH in the Tiger Sprint Class. The following week she was involved in a minor accident at Pinnacle Raceway and sustained a broken thumb. Even though Heather had to wear a cast for most of the racing season on her right arm, she continued to race her kart in 2000 and ended up 5th place in the points in the highly competitive Tiger Sprint Class at Pinnacle.

From 2000 to 2005, Heather raced go karts at Pinnacle and Pomfret Speedway and on a regional level as well, winning dozens of championships and countless races against some of the best competition in go karts.

In 2005, at age 15 Heather once again looked for a challenge in the world of motor sports. She and her family decided that she was ready to try the world of Sprint Car Racing on dirt at the Whip City Speedway in Westfield, MA. She competed with adults of all ages in full sized mini sprint cars. It was a whole new level of auto racing for Heather, but she and her team felt she was up to the challenge. And once again, Heather did not disappoint. Her first race at Whip City was in May of 2005 and on July 30th she won her first feature event in the large and highly competitive 750CC Sportsman Class. On August 20th, she took down her second feature win. Heather received much attention from the press and her fellow competitors. She went on to win not only the 2005 Rookie of the Year in the 750 CC Sportsman Class, but won the 2005 750CC Sportsman Championship as well, all in her first season of competition on dirt and in a Mini Sprint. In the 2006 season, only her second at Whip City Speedway, Heather elected to move up to the challenging 750 cc “A” class. This class was filled with some of the best talent to be found in dirt racing on the east coast. Once again Heather had a great season, including a feature win on August 5 and numerous top 10 finishes throughout the year to earn her an overall 6th place in points in this demanding class.

Heather continued her professional motorsports career in 2007 and returned to her asphalt roots once again. She had a successful rookie season in the SK Light Class at Stafford Motor Speedway, and returned to the SK Lights in 2008 and in 2009 she had her most successful season yet, winning 2 feature events and finishing 4th in the year end point standings. She was also named “Most Popular Driver” in the SK Light Class.

While Heather has proven herself to have the talent and desire to succeed in the world of auto racing, she is also a very well rounded person. She has been an excellent student, regularly making the honor roll at Granby High School. She was  involved in her High Schools Community Service Program and was a classroom aid with the Special Needs teachers at Granby High. Heather is also an accomplished horsewoman, winning top honors with her American Quarter Horse, Advantaged Asset in Quarter Horse shows throughout the northeast. In addition, Heather swam on her high school cooperative swim team and in 2005 and 2006 as a tri-captain, and ran with Granby’s Cross Country team as a tri-captain. At the culmination of the 2005 season, Heather was named MVP on the Granby Girls Cross Country Team and in 2006 she was the recipient of the Coaches Award in Cross Country. In the Fall of 2007, Heather became a college freshman at Westfield State Univeristy,  to pursue a career in elementary education. She has made the Dean’s List  every semester at Westfield State University, and was accepted into the Lambda Sigma National Honor Society. In her Junior year, she has also  been accepted into the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society and the Kappa Delta Pi Education Honor Society. Heather graduated Summa Cum Laude from Westfield State University  in May of 2011 and received the degree of Bachelor of Science in Education/Bachelor of Arts with a Concentration in Psychology.

After 4 years of success in the SK Light Division, Heather and the team have made the decision to move up to the SK Modified Class, which is premier division at Stafford Motor Speedway.  As the #10 was not available in the SK Class, Heather will be running the #24 in a nod to her successful past in go karts. Heather looks forward to moving up to this highly competitive class in 2011 with deep appreciation to sponsors  Steve and Diana Greer of Gunsmoke Stables Racing and Mr. Harvey Morris. Thank you for making this dream possible!