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When executives with Coca-Cola and Meijer wanted Indianapolis 500 champion Arie Luyendyk to appear at a recent promotional event, they didnít call his sponsors, his public relations firm or even his agent. They went straight to Noblesville native Beth Daly to negotiate the deal.

Within a week of the initial phone call, Daly ñ a part-time homemaker and the mother of three boys ñ had bypassed the usual red tape in contacting a driver and secured a personal interview, all without resorting to sly tactics. She simply followed Luyendyk into his trailer after a victory at Daytona, scribbled the details on a scrap of paper and walked out five minutes later with the driverís full cooperation.

Of course, it didnít hurt that Daly knew her own way around the track: A passionate racing fan since her teen years, she grew up attending every Indy 500 race since sixth grade, tagging along with a father who kept tabs on the drivers and a brother who loved to tinker with cars. It also didnít hurt that she had an inside scoop on the life of a race-car driver: Husband Derek Daly made his mark in the 1980s as a successful Formula One driver in Europe and later as an Indy car racer.

Those credits, coupled with a smart business sense and a likeable personality, propelled Daly into her current position as a promotional manager for drivers and companies seeking an active role in the racing industry. As owner of Blackburn Sports Marketing, Daly works primarily as a liaison, securing drivers for promotions and initiating contacts between sponsors. She also manages hospitality suites for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. "Iím essentially the woman behind the scenes at many of the racing parties," she says. "I have contacts with the drivers as a friend and with the corporations as a business associate, so Iím the common bond that starts up relationships between these very different people."

Her skill in that field has provided the foundation for several high-profile business agreements. When Sony Corp. approached Daly about sponsoring a racing team, she introduced executives to various IRL drivers at a party. Shortly afterward, the company signed on as a sponsor for driver Eddie Cheeverís car for this yearís Indy 500. Her personal contacts also helped pair Raynor Manufacturing Co., a company that produces garage doors, with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. After Daly introduced two corporate executives at a racing event, the men drew up a contract that outfitted the Speedwayís garages with the companyís doors. "Itís amazing how many deals are born out of these events," she says. "My business is truly a who-you-know business, and itís gratifying to be the one initiating many of these relationships."

Personal Drive

Ironically, the relationship Daly didnít initiate is the one she treasures most: her 12-year marriage to Derek. The two met in 1983, when Daly worked as a sales rep for the now-defunct AM radio station WFBM. A self-proclaimed tomboy who followed brother Johnís brief stint as a racing mechanic, Daly knew more about the Indy 500, its drivers and the entire industry than any of the on-air personalities, so the producer sent her to the track to do a live remote each evening leading up to the race. She interviewed drivers, recorded the fastest lap times and reported on the dayís events ñ all while fighting off admirers who at times paid more attention to her lithe frame than her interview questions. "I think I surprised a lot of people because I wasnít just a girl trying to fake her way around the track. I had hung around my brother and dad long enough to ask intelligent questions and talk the talk," she says. "After the drivers got to know that I wasnít bluffing, we all could relax a little. Besides, I always considered the drivers to be my brothers and tried never to mix business with pleasure."

Toward the middle of the month, a friend and public relations manager for several drivers suggested she interview Derek, an Irish rookie who had recently come over from the European Formula One racing league. "It was the end of a long day, and Iíd already done so many interviews. I just shrugged it off and said, ëOh, Iíve got enough for this round,í" she says. When her friend insisted, Daly consented to the interview as a personal favor. "Derek was fairly arrogant," she says. "I didnít think much of him at the time."

Clearly, Derek had different ideas and asked Daly to dinner after the interview. She accepted only when she learned that his public relations manager would also join them, but her initial reservations didnít last long. "We had great fun that night because we both loved racing and could talk as equals," she says. "Of course, he was also very charming one-on-one and had such beautiful blue eyes!"

The two stayed in close contact through May, but neither knew what to expect when Derek returned to Europe at the end of the month. He lived in England for seven months, but he still managed to write Daly long letters and call every so often. "Somewhere along the way we began to realize that this was more than just a friendship, that we truly missed being together on a deeper level," Daly says.

At the end of the year, Derek signed a contract to drive in the United States and began visiting Daly between races. Then his luck took a turn for the worse. He lost control of the car during a rainfall and crashed into the wall at the Michigan 400 in September 1984, shattering bones in his ankles, legs and hips. Doctors prescribed a strict regimen of physical therapy, and Daly insisted he live with her family in Noblesville for three months while he recuperated. As his legs strengthened, so did their relationship: Derek took his first steps at Christmas and proposed two months later, on Valentineís Day. "I think he was on medication at the time," Daly jokes.

They married in August 1985 and bought a house on Morse Lake so that Derek had access to the Speedway and Daly could maintain her family ties. Life was hardly calm for the newlyweds, though. With Derek on the road nearly every week during the summer, Daly was forced to travel to the races to spend time with her husband. Most weekends she flew out late Friday night, joined Derek for a race and took in some sights before she caught a red-eye flight back to Indianapolis Sunday night. During the week she sold radio ads and coordinated racing packages for WIBC 1070AM, where she began working a year and a half after their marriage. "It wasnít exactly a normal arrangement, spending the weekend somewhere exotic and then coming back for my sales meetings Monday morning, but we made it work because both aspects of my life were important to me," she says. "I loved sitting in the stands as a driverís wife, and I loved having time to bond and travel together."

Wheeling and Dealing

That arrangement worked for nearly three years, when Daly left WIBC to devote more time to her racing activities. She already spent most of her days spearheading racing promos and coordinating driver appearances for the station during the summer, but those responsibilities combined with her sales duties left her less time for traveling than she wanted. "Iím someone whoís always looking for a new challenge and a new opportunity, but I also need time with my family to make me a balanced person," she says. "Sales wasnít fulfilling me anymore, especially when I reached my personal sales goal early that year. I simply needed another challenge."

Blackburn Sports Marketing ñ named after Dalyís maiden name ñ proved ideal for its flexibility as well as its challenge. Because the business relied mainly on personal contacts, Daly traveled with Derek full-time, though they maintained their Noblesville residence as home base. She bought an original three-year-old Michael Andretti car and launched her business with appearances at parties, trade shows, conventions and races. She coordinated autograph sessions with willing drivers, set up spontaneous appearances and modeled her own deals based on Derekís experiences. Drivers soon came to know her as a sympathetic and reliable business partner because of her credentials on and off the track. "Besides being in the actual driverís seat, she has lived the same type of life as any driver," says Derek. "She still goes to the races, and she has a passion for racing that shows every time she talks to someone. She also knows what itís like to live with a driver, so people know they can trust her because sheís an insider."

As her contacts expanded, Daly found herself taking on a more active role at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. She now hosts hospitality events throughout May, organizes driver track talks and gives corporate executives an up-close look at the Indy 500 practices and qualification days. This year she also helped raise funds for a baby-sitting service at the track for the families of drivers and mechanics, an impressive feat for a woman who has her hands plenty full from March through May. "Sometimes I meet myself coming and going, but itís such an exciting business," she says. "The thrill of the race just never goes away."

The Fast Lane

Part of that thrill stems from Dalyís own experiences in racing, though hers played out in the water instead of on the track. A seasoned Jet skiier, she originally took up the sport as a hobby in 1988 when Roseina Brabham, wife of Derekís teammate Geoff Brabham, invited her for a spin on Morse Lake. She bought her own ski a couple months afterward and joined Brabham in devising a practice course in one arm of the lake. A year later, she accepted her first racing invitation and entered the World Finals at Lake Havisou; at the age of 30, she finished fifth in the Novice Division, beating out racers who had barely hit 20 and who boasted far more experience.

Her success spurred her to take up the sport seriously, so she secured sponsors and began racing throughout the Midwest and Florida. When she returned to the World Finals in 1990, she won the Novice Division and at 31 earned distinction as the oldest woman to capture the title. "It wasnít that I had to prove anything, but being older definitely made me more competitive ñ I had to be, because I was competing against 18-year-olds who were in much better shape and who had much more energy," she says.

She faced an even greater physical challenge in 1991, when she learned she was pregnant with the coupleís first son, Conor. Whizzing across the water at top speeds of 48 miles per hour, she took every precaution to avoid accidents and injuries. Fortunately, her stand-up ski confined most of the shocks to her legs instead of her hips and stomach, so her doctor allowed her to continue skiing up until three months before her due date.

She was back on the ski within a few months of giving birth, this time in the Expert Division. That next year she won the title of Midwestern Region champion and made the top 14 in the World Finals in her division. Then disaster sidelined her in October 1993: She broke her shoulder, foot and collar bone when another ski ran her over on a turn. Her doctor warned her to take some time off, to let her injuries heal and her body recuperate. Not long afterward, she found herself pregnant with son Colin, now 3. As before, she backed off in training intensity, but she returned to the water as soon as the doctor consented. "My mind needed the constant practice almost as much as my body did ñ this was therapy for me," she says.

The training paid off in 1995. Just six months after giving birth to Colin, Daly turned pro and started a whirlwind racing tour that kept her on the road every weekend from June to August. Her mother watched the boys while Derek and Daly made the circuit, from San Diego to Fort Lauderdale, from Lake Michigan to Denver. At the end of the season, the 37-year-old mother of two was named Pro Rookie of the Year. "That summer I really got a taste of what it meant to be a working mom," she says. "Traveling and being away from the babies was tough, but at the same time this was my once-in-a-lifetime chance to live my dream. It took some balancing, but what a thrill it was."

Family First

The balancing act couldnít last forever, though. Dividing her time between home, work and the water eventually took its toll on her mentally as well as physically. "Life was definitely exciting while I was racing, but it wasnít necessarily the life I needed," Daly says. "I was exhausted and a bit overwhelmed with everything going on. I knew my babies needed me home, and I didnít have enough energy for racing and family and business all at once. Something had to give."

Though she didnít officially retire, Daly cut back on racing in 1996, partly because she felt sheíd reached her athletic peak. "I personally could never ski better than I did then ñ I was racing against world champions and giving my idols a run for their money. I probably will never top that accomplishment in the water," she says. "Iím also a little too secure in my life to risk the safety issues that are always present. I have to take care of myself for my family, and I certainly donít have any regrets about making that decision."

Now mother to three boys ñ son Christian was born last year ñ she runs Blackburn Sports Marketing from home so she can raise her sons. Thanks to expert planning, she bases most of her engagements in Indianapolis. Not only does this help ease the scheduling stresses on the family, but it also gives her the chance to watch videos with her boys and supervise the spontaneous baking projects they periodically cook up. "Children are so very interesting to me, with all their questions and their enthusiasm," she says. "I love being there to share these experiences with them. Thatís my chief achievement now, maintaining a home where I can actually spend time with my kids."

Her own mother, who still lives in Noblesville, watches the boys when Daly occasionally has to travel alone, but most times she and Derek pack up the whole family when Derek hits the road in late summer as a commentator for the SpeedVision TV network. "We choose the cities that are fun for kids, so these are vacations more than work. Itís important to give the boys a sense of stability so they know whatís home," she says.

She hasnít given up racing entirely, though. She plans to compete in some regional races this year, more to stay in shape than to capture any titles. She recently hired a personal trainer to help maintain her size-4 figure and the muscles she spent years developing. "My rational side knows my heydays of racing will never be like they were before, but another side of me still itches to get in the water and see what I can do," she says. "I at least want to be ready if that time comes."

Even without future skiing success, Daly says life has dealt her more than an adequate hand. With a stable family, a successful business and plenty of years to go before retirement, very little threatens to sideline her happiness. "Iím more fulfilled now than Iíve been at any point in the past, even when I had all the excitement of traveling for Derekís races and my own," she says. "I guess Iíve arrived in my own sort of Victory Lane."