Modesto native on track to make history as IndyCar’s only female team president

What George Lucas did for cars and racing with his breakthrough movie, “American Graffiti,” fellow Modesto native Jill Gregory promises to emulate with Andretti Global, with the next chapter to be written during Sunday’s 110th Indianapolis 500.

“It’s been a very direct effort to try to make sure that we’re the team people want to beat,” Gregory, the first and only female team president in the NTT IndyCar Series, said about the three-car team’s expansion. “The people we have now want to be in IndyCar.”

A graduate of Modesto’s Davis High School and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Gregory built a winning career at the intersection of racing and marketing. She served as general manager of Sonoma Raceway and then as executive vice president and chief marketing and content officer at NASCAR.

She joined Andretti Global early last year following pivotal leadership roles promoting sports with brands including Bank of America, Sprint and VISA. She serves on a panel representing women in motorsports, and Adweek has twice named her one of “The Most Powerful Women in Sports.”

Given the recent upward trajectory of IndyCar ratings and with new television partner Fox Sports, Gregory is riding a rising tide of positive IndyCar news. This includes increasing fan awareness, popularity, ratings, added sponsors and greater name recognition at a time many other racing series are stagnant or declining.

On Sunday, Andretti Global will be represented by two former Brickyard winners, Will Power (2018) and Marcus Ericsson (2022), and Kyle Kirkwood.

Gregory’s boss is Dan Towriss, CEO of TWG Motorsports, which also fields race teams in IndyCar’s feeder series, Indy NXT, IMSA sports cars, Formula E (electric) and the new Cadillac-powered F1 team.

Towriss said hiring Gregory was a no-brainer because of her years in marketing, branding and team building. “Jill is just a talented executive — she sees things develop before maybe a lot of other people see it,” he said.

“She’s big on building teams and culture. We want to have the right strategy, people, resources and culture, and Jill’s a big part of that, of bringing the right people and building the right culture so that these teams function together. “I found her experience, her judgment, her skill set to be very broad,” Towriss added. “She just gets it.”

And it all began in Modesto. Gregory often schedules visits home whenever her busy schedule allows. Born into an adventurous family, she and her two sisters were always playing sports, camping or taking road trips.

“We did everything. Played soccer. Played track and field … tennis.” Experience in sports encouraged her to try new things and is an excellent background to be an effective leader, she said. “It was always like, let’s try something,” Gregory said about her childhood.

While not the only woman at Andretti Global, she said she hopes her key leadership role inspires young girls to bravely chase their goals. “There’s a saying, ‘If you can see her, you can be her,’ so I think as you grow in your career, you take that a little more seriously,” Gregory said. “If you have the confidence to do it, there are roles out there for you. But on a day-to-day basis, I think it should be, ‘I’m the best team president out there, not the best female team president.’”

Ray Sotero worked as an education, hard news and political reporter for The Modesto Bee from 1983-90; he has covered the Indy 500 since 1992.