In the world of motorsports, it can be rare to come across a woman in a position of power. Although, that is not to say that they aren’t there. In fact, it is Victoria Thomas that helms Kellymoss, the winningest team in the history of Porsche racing. 

“I had been to a NASCAR race once and I was like, ‘yeah, this is not for me’”. Thomas didn’t grow up with an interest in sports, let alone the notoriously exclusive land of motor racing. Instead, she spent years working diligently in accounting, successfully employing a team of five other women with a clientele of 50 businesses. “My passion was around using financial statements as the scoreboard of your business to increase profitability and improve cash flow and decrease taxation.” When Kellymoss approached Thomas with the aim of bringing her onboard as CFO, she was hesitant to leave her previous position, “it took about seven job offers”. 

Despite her initial indecision, Thomas’ move to Kellymoss would totally change the game. “The racing department was just hemorrhaging money,” she says, noting that in a racing team the boring world of paperwork is often the last thing on anyone’s mind, “they were so busy keeping the cars on track.” Thomas put her head down and got down to work, with a sole focus on finances. “It took me several years to lift my head up and go, ‘there are literally no women anywhere in this industry.’” In 2022, Thomas and her husband took full ownership of Kellymoss. 

Thomas notes a poignant phone call with 90s IndyCar driver Lyn St. James in changing her perspective on her role as a woman in the industry. “[Lyn] called me and said, ‘how is it possible that the number one most prestigious team in Porsche racing is owned by a woman, and that is something that isn't even on my trajectory’”.

The Porsche Carrera Cup in which Kellymoss competes races as part of the support program of Formula One, appearing at race weekends across Europe, Asia, and North America. In 2023, they ran the first ever female racing driver in the Porsche Carrera Cup North America, “taking that platform and bringing a female in and giving her not just an opportunity to race but an opportunity to race with a team that has absolutely proven pedigree.” As Thomas expresses, the driver of any racing team is the most visible role and has a knock on impact across any paddock. “What it really does is increase the number of technicians that see an opportunity in our sport, the number of engineers.” It also, of course, can have a financial benefit to a business. “It's not just about doing the right thing socially, it's also about being a strong business owner, and I'm invested in a sport that is missing 51% of the population.” 

Under Thomas’ leadership, Kellymoss created the Be Your Own Hero program, leveraging racing role models Ashley Freiberg and Loni Unser to bring off-track motorsports education for young girls to on-track activations. Thomas says it’s all about teaching future female racing drivers to stand up for themselves, and push for their rightful place in the sport. What does she tell them? “Don't be a princess, you don't need somebody to come save you. It's your job to understand if you should have not taken that apex to do the pass or if you should pull back and pass in a safer opportunity. Whatever it is, you take full responsibility for all the good and all the bad.” It goes without saying, but of course Thomas has been treated differently in the industry due to being a woman. However, she says she uses it as fuel. “For sure there are men out there on the track that will say, ‘women suck at driving.’ What does that have to do with your performance? Use that to be a better driver.” 

In recent years, all-female racing series’ such as the W Series and the F1 Academy have brought new attention to the role of women in single seaters, and Thomas has nothing but praise for these programs. “Any time you can ever draw attention to women in the sport, and I'm not saying that this directly applies, but all press is good press, right?” She notes that Susie Wolff, as an ex-driver deeply embedded in the sphere of Formula One, “brings an incredible amount of credibility to the F1 Academy.”