The real turning point arrived in California, when she ordered her first new Ferrari. Aptly named the model name was California. As she was placing the order, a salesperson mentioned Ferrari’s track programs. Lisa signed up for two days…and never looked back. She progressed through the full curriculum, earned her racing license, honed her racecraft in go karts, track days and ultimately, the Ferrari Challenge Series. Nearly a decade later, she’s competed internationally, and won every ladies cup Championship from 2017 though 2025 with the exception of 2019, where she was recovering from a major accident. That earned her respect in a male-dominated paddock not by making noise, but by doing the work quietly, consistently, lap after lap, win after win.
Racing has never been abstract for Lisa; it’s visceral and hard won. A major crash at Daytona just before the COVID shutdown left her hospitalized for more than a week with multiple fractures. Six months later, she was back in the car. That resilience is part mindset, part method: structured gym work with a trainer, careful nutrition, IV therapy to buffer heavy travel, and an almost obsessive focus on hydration and recovery. On race weeks she studies data and video with her coach, rehearses the lap, and manages adrenaline with breathwork, and sometimes a song in her ear. Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” became a ritual before green flags.
As one of the oldest women racing internationally, Lisa embraces her role as a standard-bearer and a bridge. She plans a gradual shift from sprint racing to endurance events 12 and 24 hour races where concentration, teamwork, and strategy meet stamina. Off track, she mentors younger women, helping them navigate sponsorships, opportunities, and the unwritten rules of the sport.
Her story is also a family story. Though her father has never watched her race, too much worry, he admits, he’s the reason speed lives in her bones. Recently, Lisa surprised him with the car they once only dreamed about together: a Ford GT. She drove it straight to his Phoenix driveway, the house she grew up in and where he still resides, a full-circle moment that said everything words could not.
If there’s a single thread through Lisa’s life, it’s the mantra now tattooed on her wrist: keep going. Through pivots and setbacks, through late starts and steep learning curves, through victory and “red-mist” chaos, she has proven that one brave step can redraw a life. From rebuilding a Jeep in summer heat to standing on international podiums, Lisa Clark is living proof that confidence is built, not given and that it’s never too late to chase what moves you.
LISA clark
Lisa Clark grew up in motion. The daughter of an athletic, hands-on father, she spent childhood weekends at gyms and in garages, first as a dedicated gymnast, then as the kid who wanted to know how every engine fit back together. That early mix of discipline and curiosity shaped everything that followed. At Arizona State University she studied psychology with a minor in nutrition, planning a career in sports psychology. When ASU’s new sports-medicine track lost funding, she pivoted, finished her Psychology degree, and took her understanding of mindset into real life rather than a clinic.
Life steered her first into entrepreneurship. After putting herself through college and graduating, she met her then husband who was already in real estate, where they partnered and she helped build and sell a company, and then focused on raising her two daughters.
The through-line, speed, mechanics, possibility never left. A formative moment came when she and her father rebuilt a non-running Jeep together; later, a college dirt-bike accident led to a small insurance settlement that funded her first Porsche. She joined the local Porsche Club, learned the rhythms of autocross, and discovered how much joy there is in shaving tenths off a lap through cones in an empty lot.
Lisa Clark in her element. Racing and winning. With precision and passion she conquers some of the most iconic circuits in the world. From the legendary Eau Rouge at Spa-Francorchamps and the sweeping turns of Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, to the historic straightaways of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the dramatic elevation changes of Mugello show her relentless drive and the global journey that defines her racing career.
