Start of something new

How often does a woman get the opportunity to control a score of men with their testosterone pumping at volumes rivaling the rate at which their 600-horsepower engines slurp racing gasoline?

It's a weekly occurrence for Alicia Osborn, one of few -- if not the only -- female chief starters in NASCAR.

"I got a kick out of it this year when I was announced as the most powerful woman at the track," she said.

Osborn noted that's not why she enjoys starting races in the weekly NASCAR All-American Series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway's Bullring.

The track isn't solely a man's world, she says; there are other female officials and rescue workers, and at least one woman races every week.

Hundreds of women drive race cars, but two national NASCAR officials said they aren't aware of any other woman working as a track's chief starter.

Osborn, 32, doesn't mind when someone calls her the "flag girl" or "flag chick." She takes her job seriously, but not herself.

"I feel comfortable up there," she said, "if you can be comfortable standing in a bucket above a racetrack with cars going under you at a million miles an hour."

The speeds are more like 120 mph but probably seem faster when viewed from the starter's stand, about 15 feet above the start-finish line.

The vibration helps soothe her feet, which, even in comfortable shoes, tire of standing for up to four hours.

"It's the best place to be, a weird rush," Osborn said.

Her job comes with considerable responsibility.

The starter usually takes direction from a race director perched atop the grandstand who has the optimum view and relies on reports from other officials around the track.

She can decide when to alter a race's flow for safety concerns.

A starter uses an assortment of colored flags to direct racers when to go, when to slow, and when to head for the pits because of poor track judgment or mechanical problems.

The part-time job can be grueling, especially in the summer when Osborn bakes under the sun until evening falls. Even then temperatures can be hot.

And flying debris can be dangerous, which is why she wears safety goggles. She also uses earplugs under headsets connected to a pair of two-way radios.

The Bullring, which hosts races tonight, has become the outlet for Osborn's love of motor sports, a passion that began in 2000 when she worked for a local television station. She was asked to assist a camera operator during the annual NASCAR Nextel Cup race at the speedway that year -- the first race she ever attended.

The next year Osborn began assisting in the speedway's media center during major races. A few years later she started to work in the Bullring's "tech barn" by registering drivers.

The Houston native wanted to be closer to the action, so she applied to become assistant starter and got the job. Osborn spent last year training under Robert Thomas and was promoted after he retired at the end of season. Now she's helping Brian McMillian learn the job.

The only part of Osborn's attire on Saturday nights that sets her apart from other starters is a pair of pink-trimmed black gloves, which she wears for a better grip on the wooden flag staffs. The pink highlight makes it easier for drivers to see when she uses hand signals, she said.

It's the lone feminine feature of her mandatory uniform that includes black pants and a bulky NASCAR-issued white shirt, which is available only in men's sizes.