RUBBIN' IS RACIN' O'Connell

Terri O'Connell—the nation's preeminent transgendered NASCAR driver—is featured in a Newsweek profile this week in which she recounts her rise to fame as Winston Cup winner J.T. Hayes and the difficulties encountered since her gender reassignment surgery in 1994. Though the piece mentions some discrimination and family trouble, the tone makes us wonder whether Newsweek editors smoothed out the speed bumps in O'Connell's story to appease Middle American readers.

An exclusive interview with O'Connell revealed there is much more to her past than the fact that she was once—gasp!—a man [ED: who wasn't these days?]. Like, for example, the fact that she's been trying to become the first woman in the Indy 500 but has been unable to get an agent—she says some have warned her that other Indy drivers would try to kill her by bumping her off the road. Below, a few more pieces of her story that you didn't see in Newsweek.

(Note: O'Connell asked that some names be withheld until her tell-all memoir, Dangerous Curves, finds a publisher.)

She once lived with (and chauffeured) Bianca Jagger: "I was in L.A. working on some of my projects in 2005 and needed a place to live, and I met this woman who was in deep with the Palestinian government. Bianca Jagger was also staying at her house, and because Bianca couldn't drive, we would coordinate our schedules every day. One day we were driving and her phone rang. She picked it up and said, "Calvin, you sold your company, you need to enjoy your life!" It was then that I really knew who I was with—she was just chitchatting with Calvin Klein."

A noted congressman screwed her over: "A congressman—who is still in the House—was my business partner in the mid-90s. I had a NASCAR apparel company. At this time he didn't know my past—at 5 foot 6, 117 pounds and lookin' like Teri Garr, who was gonna know? He was a multi-billionaire, a real good ole boy, and he tried to buy me out of my own company. Later the press broke about who I really was, and he was in the middle of running for governor. He was so angry."

She's dated some high rollers: "I also dated a congressman from Ohio and he flew down to Charlotte to meet me and wine and dine me. And I was with a major NASCAR team owner who knew my past but still saw me as a girl. I'm all woman under my clothes."

And some high rolling losers: "After surgery, I met a very powerful executive who owns a huge company that does business with NASCAR. He is a big deal. I thought he wanted to fund my company, and I flew down to the Atlanta 500 to meet him. Long story short, he had only booked one hotel room with one bed, and took advantage of me. At that point I had never slept with a man before as a woman."

She hates most Hollywood trannies: "You know who I'm talking about, and they are dirtying up the water for everyone. To deal with this issue, you have to handle yourself with grace and dignity. That's the only way I've been able to get through to motor sports people. That wouldn't happen if I was dressing like the Addams family, acting ridiculous. What daddy or minister in Kansas is gonna relate to that?"