Sara Price slid out of her off-road vehicle at the Dakar Rally, after a rigorous ride through the diabolical dust and dunes in Saudi Arabia, and had to check for certain she had made history in the endurance event.
“I don’t think an American female’s ever won a stage, right?” she asked.
Price was right: The 31-year-old Californian this week became the first female American driver and third woman ever to win a Dakar stage.
Not bad for a Dakar rookie.
Price has forged a career out of remote adventures around the globe. She is a former X Games medalist, drove in an electric racing series for Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500 team owner Chip Ganassi, was a national dirt bike champion, and went Hollywood for a spell, earning credits as a stunt driver, including in “Jumanji: The Next Level.”
But racing in Dakar?
The off-road race that stretches for thousands of miles, this year held for up to 15 days throughout the jagged rocks and canyons in Saudi territory, had been a dream for Price since 2015.
“This year, I finally just said, you know what, I’m going,” Price told The Associated Press. “If that takes spending every ounce of dollars I have in my savings account, I’m going to make it happen. I don’t want to wait anymore. I was trying to get sponsors…
