The University of Mississippi’s first motorsport registered student organization began in, perhaps, an unexpected place — the Alpha Chi Omega group chat on the Flare messaging app.
Grid Girls, an organization formed to encourage women to participate in motorsport, was officially recognized on Jan. 19, 2026 — one day before the start of this spring semester. New to being a registered organization and composed mostly of executive members, the club is focusing on outreach and developing friendships.
“My whole goal is to make friends, and I want that to be kind of the whole thing,” Kat Brubaker, president of Grid Girls, said. “This is a safe space where we all like this one thing, and we can talk about this and hang out.”
Brubaker, a junior public policy major from Arlington, Va., and member of Alpha Chi Omega, started the group to find friends with common interests.
“I was the one who created the idea for and established Grid Girls because I was at a low with my social life, and I wanted to create closer connections,” Brubaker said.
Not knowing where else to start, Brubaker reached out to her sorority sisters to see if anyone would be interested in a motorsport club.
“I felt like it would be really great to start this with some girls in my sorority so we could have a tight-knit executive board, and we could all do things together,” Brubaker said.
Several of Brubaker’s sorority sisters expressed interest, including Anna Watson, now the vice president of Grid Girls.
“Once I saw the text saying, ‘Hey, we’re starting up a club about girls who love motorsport,’ I decided to put myself out there and see if my motorsport love is reciprocated, and it is,” Watson, a sophomore integrated marketing communications major from Chicago, said.
Madelyn Rockwood, a sophomore marketing major and fellow Alpha Chi Omega member, also joined after seeing Brubaker’s message. She now serves as the club’s director of marketing and relations.
Like many of the other members, Brubaker’s love for motorsport is rooted in family tradition.
“My whole family is so into it,” Brubaker said. “I’ve been surrounded by it my whole life. My mom worked pit crew, and my grandpa worked in NASCAR races. My cousin still races (in) minor leagues, and my uncle on my dad’s side did Superbike racing.”
Watson’s love for the sport also developed through her family.
“My family lives in Indiana, so we’d go to the Indianapolis 500 every year … it got me into cars and racing, and I just fell in love with it,” Watson said.
Rockwood, who is from Flower Mound, Texas, also developed a love for cars at a young age, leading her to buy a 2019 Chevrolet Camaro Super Sport and begin street racing when she turned 18. Still a racer, she said the Grid Girls community is a welcoming learning environment.
“I just hope that we can continue to share the bond that we all have and pass that on to other Ole Miss girls to continue on this safe space for girls that have questions,” Rockwood said.
Though the organization started from a sisterhood, all students are welcome to join the club.
“The name Grid Girls is only because we founded it as a group of girls from a sorority, but it’s open to anybody, no matter the gender,” Watson said.
The organization’s name was also inspired by reclaiming motorsport spaces for women in an updated way.
“In Formula One, grid girls would hold the signs and be in sexy little outfits,” Brubaker said. “So, I kind of wanted to bring that to a different side and give it a new meaning.”
A core part of Grid Girls’ mission is breaking down the stereotype that women in motorsport are merely decorative.
“I think just to show people and other girls who want to join that it isn’t just the image of it all is breaking stereotypes,” Brubaker said. “There are girls who enjoy engineering, speed, fast things and cool things like cool cars. I think it’s important to show that women can be smart in their own spaces as well as create a space where they are supported.”
Because the organization is still in its early stages, no events have been announced, but the group’s leaders are planning for many car-themed engagement opportunities.
“A car wash is one thing we think would be fun,” Watson said. “We also wanted to do a drive-in movie. We would like to get a table at the union to pass out some stuff and get our name out there. I think we also wanted to do a watch party for some races and some crafts. We were thinking about doing some little charms for cars.”
Brubaker appreciates the budding community Grid Girls has created and hopes that it will encourage women to engage with motorsport in a greater capacity.
“I think it’s just so cool that we have this,” Brubaker said. “We already have this group of people who love (motorsport) so much, and if we could get everybody to pursue it, it would be even cooler.”
Grid Girls hosted its first in-person meeting on March 4 in Bishop Hall. The next meeting is not scheduled yet, but more information can be found on The ForUM.
“We want you to come,” Brubaker said. “We can’t start without people, and we can’t start without different perspectives.”
