YORKTON - When it comes to motorsports Shantelle Kalika is something of a unicorn.
Kalika who hails from Prince Albert, drives stock cars – the kind like those you see on television coverage of NASCAR.
In fact, she takes to the track in NASCAR Canada events, where she is typically the only female driver, as was the case at the recent Leland Industries 250 race at the Sutherland Automotive Speedway in Saskatoon. She finished 10th in the race.
So it seemed reasonable to assume Kalika started on dirt tracks – there are several scattered across the province including Yellowhead International Raceway here at Yorkton – but that was not the case.
“I didn’t,” she said when asked about a possible dirt track initiation into the sport.
Instead, Kalika got behind the steering wheel because of the blood in her veins.
“I was raised in a racing family. Dad started on dirt tracks and open wheeled,” she said.
Even with family ties Kalika did not ‘race’ to race.
“I didn’t start young. I was 20,” she said, adding it was her father (Ben Busch) who was readying to retire, and basically asked Kalika if she was interested in going under the helmet and taking his place.
“It wasn’t something I thought I always wanted to do,” she said, but the chance was there and she took it with a certain level of gusto.
That no doubt pleased her father.
Her mother was less excited by the prospect.
“My mom was totally against it,” said Kalika now 34.
Dad obviously won out, and Kalika started racing. Through the years since she has raced at different levels, largely at the Sutherland track Saskatchewan’s only top level oval, but has also travelled to other provinces and into the U.S.
For many races it was about an education in the sport, not about racing to win. Often that has meant starting at the back of the pack, a position that is heavy on the education it provides as a racer has to weave through the field to see a glimpse of the lead, said Kalika.
“It taught me a lot about race craft and car control,” she said.
The lessons have been learned well, as Kalika has excelled in various cars and classes, topping the pro truck class in Sutherland in 2016, and then the Sportsman class in 2018, the same award her father won in 2011.
Kalika adapted fast, she was Rookie of the Year in the Pro Late Models class, and this year – with one race left on the schedule – Kalika tops the Astro Towing Pro Late Models standings. She is the first female driver to lead in the series.
“You progress year after year,” said Kalika, adding when you move classes it changes things of course, starting with the speeds involved, so you have to re-adjust and adapt.
As for NASCAR Canada Kalika owned a car for the series since 2018, but in 2023, sold it. So this year she rented a car for the Sutherland race which she said attracts the top drivers in the west and often beyond.
Interestingly, Kalika said stock car racing is, in her mind a team sport, with the driver in the limelight, but family, the pit crew and sponsors all being integral to success – sponsors in particular helping pay the bills.
“I wouldn’t be able to do it without my sponsors. It really is a team sport. It takes a whole village to pull it off,” she said.
It has all been a bit of racing resurgence for Kalika who said she has found her passion for racing again.
“It brought back a lot more of the fun,” she said, adding the track is a break from being the CEO of a major firm. Where it and family leave her with a very busy life. “It’s about escape for me. . . I’ve fell in love with it again.”
Kalika also hopes she might inspire future female drivers.
“I’m the only female for Western Canada that races (NASCAR) . . . I hope I can pave a path for others to follow,” she said.
