Aurora Straus is a -year-old professional racecar driver in the USA, a student, and a musician. She currently competes in the

IMSA The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida under the jurisdiction of the ACCUS arm of the FIA. It was started by John Bishop, a former executive direc ...

Continental Tire Sportscar Challenge, and previously raced in the Battery Tender Mazda MX-5 Cup. She lives in Cold Spring, NY, and is currently (Feb 2019) attending Harvard University for her undergraduate degree. She, when 19 years of age, was the only professional teenage female sportscar racer in North America.

Personal life

Straus is the daughter of Molly McCoy and Ari Straus, the chief executive officer of the

Monticello Motor Club The Monticello Motor Club is a private country club for automotive enthusiasts with a long motor racing circuit situated in Monticello, New York. It opened on July 27, 2008, and was built on the site of the former Monticello Airport. In May 20 ...

. She graduated from Hackley School's Class of 2017 and will soon attend Harvard's Class of 2022 as a double major in English literature and mechanical engineering. Straus took a gap year to work at

ZappRx Veradigm (formerly Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc.) is a publicly traded American company that provides physician practices, hospitals, and other healthcare providers with practice management and electronic health record technology. Verad ...

, a digital health company that focuses on management of specialty medications. She was a National Merit Finalist, representing less than 1% of high school seniors in the United States. Straus is also an avid musician that plays frequently in local venues in Cold Spring and Tarrytown, NY. She sang at a Holiday Charity Music Fest in December 2015 that benefited Hope's Door, a safe haven for domestic abuse survivors in Pleasantville, NY.

Racing career

As a 13-year-old with no prior karting experience, Straus got behind the wheel of a Mazda Miata under the tutelage of

Stevan McAleer Stevan Gordon McAleer (born 28 August 1984) is a British racing driver who competes for Team Korthoff Motorsports in the IMSA SportsCar Championship. Career Early Career McAleer was introduced to motorsports at the age of 10, visiting a karting ...

, the 2015 Continental Tire Sportscar Challenge Champion. She raced in several Intercontinental Trophy Cup and Skip Barber Cup races before spending two seasons in semi-professional racing in the Battery Tender Mazda MX-5 Cup. After the 2015 and 2016 seasons, she made her Continental Tire Sportscar Challenge debut at Watkins Glen in July 2016, during which she piloted her Cayman from 24th to 9th place before handing her car over to her codriver, Justin Piscitell. For the 2017 season, she raced in the Continental Tire Sportscar Challenge full-time on the Rennsport-One Team with co-driver Connor Bloum.

Media

Straus was featured in the Mazda commercial "The Driver in All of Us," shown in theaters across the US. At 14 years old, Gearhead Girls covered Aurora as part of their focus on female talent. She was invited to the Inaugural Mazda Global Invitational as one of 10 competitors from the US.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Straus, Aurora Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Racing drivers from New York (state) Harvard College alumni Michelin Pilot Challenge drivers