Beverly Heady

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Full Name: Beverly Kay Heady (aka Bev)
Hometown:
Waco, TX
Lived in Arizona:
About 5 ½ years
Favorite Food(s):
Mexican food
Favorite Music:
80’s rock music…actually pretty much anything from the 80’s, country, rock, hip-hop, “I just love music!!”
9-5 Occupation: Lead Documents Specialist in the Market Research Industry
NASA Position/Title:
Registrar

The past editions of Who’s Who had always featured one of our drivers or officials, bringing both familiar and unfamiliar faces to our attention. Most of us dash into the credential office first thing in the morning, collect a yellow envelope, a couple schedule printouts and head directly back to our cars to get started with all busyness that consumes our track weekends.  The person behind the counter who gave you that envelope would most likely be Beverly Heady, registrar extraordinaire, and our spotlight for this edition of Who’s Who.

Beverly Kay Heady, or Bev as her friends call her, has spent roughly 5 1/2 years in Arizona. As a young girl, her father moved the family all around the country as a member of the United States Air Force, which came with the territory of course. From New Mexico, Texas, Washington state, Colorado, Florida, and Missouri – her family continued their travels until her father’s retirement, settling them in Waco, Texas.  For Beverly, Waco is her hometown, as she has spent most of her life there, including her junior high and high school years. As Beverly continued to make strides in her career, she found the opportunity to relocate to Arizona, and has been a resident ever since.

Proud moments for the Heady's!

Proud moments for the Heady's!

Shortly after her move to Phoenix, she was introduced to what was known at the time as “Club Racing AZ” in November of 2005–well before the organization became NASA-AZ. Beverly was invited to come out to the track to help with registrants and the critical logistics that take place away from the racing surface. Turns out that she enjoyed working with the people at the events and has been our Registrar ever since.

Ask any driver which aspects of NASA-AZ they like best, and one of the most common responses is the camaraderie with one another. While Beverly does not drive on the track (yet), she does meet everyone who attends at one point or another, and has made great friendships along the way. “The most exciting thing is seeing the excitement from the 1st timers on Saturday mornings,” Beverly explains. “I still need to build up some courage to get out there and drive one day.” While she admits she wants to do HPDE1 in the future, she wants to make sure she does so with a car suitable for the experience.

Beverly’s schedule typically revolves around the NASA-AZ calendar, as she is very committed to her role within the organization. Her memories of racing stem back from when she was a child. Her family would venture to the track, watching her uncle race mini-indy cars, and occasionally her cousin would run in the powder puff races. “I had a ride-along with one of our members a few years ago. I loved the ride, but it also got me to think about ‘what-ifs’, if I were to actually go out on track to drive,” says Beverly. “I guess that’s the mom in me. Sometimes I over-analyze things and scare myself. Haha!”

In the time she’s been with NASA, Beverly has seen a little bit of everything over the years – but maybe with some persuasion we can see her out there behind the wheel!

Outside of NASA-AZ, Beverly admits she’s an arts and crafts junkie! Anything from beading jewelry, Christmas crafts, and scrap-booking…you name it. “I get grief quite often for the crates of “crap” I have collected over the years!” Beverly explains. For those of you who don’t know much about the creative crafts – Scrap-booking 101 – it actually takes a bit of artistic skill to create something that both looks good and survives the test of time. For many, the crafts and scrap-booking are creative outlets and a great medium that can tell stories through the use of pictures and materials. For the guys out there who thought this was TMI on this topic, I think you’d cherish a scrapbook of all your racing if one was given to you!

Blast from the Past - Beverly and (her now husband) Tony

Blast from the Past - Beverly and (her now husband) Tony

At home Beverly enjoys quality time with her husband Tony, her son Jourdan and daughter Kelci, while her eldest son Kurtis is currently attending college in Texas and lives with her parents as he finishes his degree. Also in the Heady household, there is a dog named Butterball (also known as ‘Butter’) and a cat named Cookie. No doubt these two pets are as cute as their names!

Beverly with her Son Jourdan

Beverly with her Son Jourdan

Meeting Beverly, you’ll quickly gather a kind and gentle demeanor, a person who has a lot of patience–all the traits one needs to deal with hundreds of drivers in a given weekend! She follows the same ethics as her parents, holding close the importance of being generous and maintaining one’s kindness despite difficulties that life brings you. In the words of Beverly, and words we should all keep in mind “…be happy for what you have and who you have in your life.”

For the future, Beverly plans to continue her path in her career and provide the quality work she has done for NASA-AZ. As with many of us, she too has an itch to travel outside the US. “I would like to travel some and see a bit more of the world,” she adds. “I visited London when I was younger and my Dad was stationed there. I got to see some of the old castles and the world’s history. I would love to be able to go back now that I am older. I’d probably appreciate it more.”

So while Beverly may book that ticket across The Pond, I’m sure she will be at our future races for seasons to come. In recognition for all her time, effort and care she has given NASA-AZ and it’s participants from behind the counter at ALL of our events, hats-off to Beverly Heady!