Sports Illustrated has named Leilani one of the Top 10 Female drivers in the World. Discovery's Planet Green has just named Leilani the #1 Eco Athlete in the world, beating out Yao Ming & Lance Armstrong. Newsweek named her one of the top ten Surprisingly Green People or things, among others like the Pope, U.S. Military, and former President Bush. Leilani is on a world stage with the media. In February 2010 while at Daytona, she appeared on the front page of the sporting section of the New York Times with the quote "A lack of funding rather than a lack of skill prevented Münter from making her ARCA debut before this year."
In 2011 Leilani plans on making the top five tracks in ARCA with hopes of racing at all top ten venues with television exposure for her sponsors. In late 2011 you will see Leilani in her first Nationwide Series races preparing for a hopeful full season in the NASCAR Nationwide Series in 2012.
Leilani was born and raised in Minnesota. She holds a bachelors degree in Biology specializing in Ecology, Behavior and Evolution from the University of California San Diego. While attending college she worked as a volunteer at a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation center. She started racing cars in 2001 and spent six years working her way up the NASCAR ranks. During this time Leilani also worked as a race instructor and correspondent for NASCAR.
In 2004 she gained the attention of the racing world when she qualified 4th and finished 7th at Texas Motor Speedway in the ROMCO Super Late Model Series. Texas would turn out to be one of Münter's favorite tracks. She returned to Texas Motor Speedway in 2006 and set a new record when she finished 4th, the highest finish for a female driver in the history of the racetrack. By December 2006 Leilani had raced her way from the short tracks of southern California all the way to the most iconic NASCAR track of them all, the high banks of Daytona International Speedway. She completed her rookie ARCA test at Daytona and even though she was with a small underfunded team, she was 24th quick of 57 race cars testing at Daytona.
In 2007 Leilani became the fourth woman in history to race in the Indy Pro Series, the developmental league of IndyCar. She impressed the open wheel racing world when she qualified 5th for her debut. Leilani was running in the top six when a multi car accident took her out of the race. Her racing accomplishments have landed her on 13 magazine covers and in the pages of Glamour, Italian Vogue, Esquire, New York Times Sports Illustrated, Readers Digest, Newsweek, Washington Post and USA Today. She is no stranger to television either, with appearances on NBC Sports, MSNBC Live, National Geographic, and ESPN. In 2010, Discovery's Planet Green named her the #1 Eco Athlete in the world, beating out top athletes for the top spot like Lance Armstrong.
Leilani purchases an acre of rainforest for every race she runs to offset her carbon footprint and has been a long time vegetarian and eco activist. She is politically active in the legistlative fight for the environment and has made several trips to Capitol Hill to speak with Congress on behalf of climate issues. In June 2008 she spoke at a Climate Action Rally on the steps of Capitol Hill alongside Senators Barbara Boxer, Joe Lieberman, and John Kerry.
In fall 2008, Leilani became an Ambassador for the National Wildlife Federation and landed a national ad campaign as a Lucky Jeans model, her caption read: "Leilani Münter, Race Car Driver and Environmentalist - Saving rainforests one race at a time." Her ads appeared in Vogue, Vanity Fair, In Style, W Magazine and Lucky Jeans stores across the country.
Leilani is also an accomplished public speaker and writer, currently contributing to Discovery's Treehugger.com and the green section of the Huffington Post, rated the most influential blog in the world by the Guardian and topping Time Magazine's blog index.
Many media outlets find it interesting that Leilani once worked as a photo double for actress Catherine Zeta-Jones and that her older sister Natascha is married to Grateful Dead guitarist and singer Bob Weir. Her hobbies include scuba diving and snowboarding.
Leilani became the fourth woman in history to compete in the Indy Pro Series, the developmental league of IndyCar.
Leilani was 5th quick in her very first laps at Chicagoland Speedway in a practice session for the Indy Pro Series Chicagoland 100 on Sept 8, 2007.
In her first Indy Pro Series race, Leilani turned the 5th quickest lap of the race with a speed of 192.399 mph at Kentucky Speedway on Aug 11,2007.
Leilani qualified 5th for her debut in the Indy Pro Series at Kentucky Speedway on Aug 11, 2007. She had trouble on a restart and dropped back to 13th but dazzled the crowd by racing her way back up to the front of the field. She was about to pass for 4th place when she was collected in a multi-car accident. Four time Indy 500 champion Rick Mears, IndyCar driver Jaques Lazier and many others in the IndyCar community spoke very highly of Münter after her debut.
Sports Illustrated named Leilani as one of the top ten female race car drivers in the world.
In her very first laps at Daytona International Raceway, Leilani was 24th quick of 59 ARCA race cars testing on Dec 16, 2006.
Leilani set the record for the highest finishing position for a female driver in the history of the 1.5 mile Texas Motor Speedway when she finished 4th in the Konica Minolta 100 on June 10, 2006.
Leilani became the first woman to qualify in the 45 year history of the Bettenhausen Classic at Illiana Speedway in Indiana on September 16, 2006.
Leilani set the record for the highest qualifying effort for a female stock car driver in the history of the 1.5 mile Texas Motor Speedway when she qualified 4th for the First Convenience Bank 100 on June 12, 2004.
Leilani's television appearances include: ESPN, Fox Sports, NBC Sports, Spike TV, Speed Channel and National Geographic. She has hosted television shows on Spike TV and DIY Network. Leilani was also an on camera correspondent for Turner Sports Interactive's NASCAR.com for three years. Her weekly "Leilani Reports" were available to over 10 million users and the website had over one billion pageviews annually.
Leilani's print media includes: USA Today, Sports Illustrated, Italian Vogue, Esquire Magazine's "A Woman We Love", Men's Journal, ESPN Magazine, Washington Post, and five magazine covers to date.
Leilani is also an accomplished writer. Her work has been published by Turner Sports on NASCAR.com, Corvette Quarterly Magazine, and the Women's Sports Foundation.
Leilani's public speaking engagements include the American Heart Association, ABN-Amro Bank, and the Leadership Forum.
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