I’ve been going to the track a lot more recently, and it’s the kind of place where you focus on yourself. You’re trying to improve your lap time, not crash, and it feels like you and your car are the only ones there. However, one driver has always caught my attention when I’ve seen her out there: Amy Bok.
You always see Bok charging down the track in her bright red, smiling 2012 Mazda Miata, carefree and seemingly unafraid. She is always out there for the entire session, and is often the last one still out there at the end of the day, when all the retired people have pooped out and put their track cars back on the trailer. It’s crazy to think she has only started tracking her Miata a few months ago.
Miata is always the answer
Bok was initially driving a 2020 Subaru WRX back when she lived on the East Coast. She needed that All Wheel Drive. I know that feeling all too well (and don’t miss it). She had already learned to drive stick, inspired by seeing her mother mastering manual (“It seemed victorious. You’re a doer when you’re actually in control of the car.”), and the WRX had that intoxicating exhaust sound. It seemed like the perfect fit at the time. Unfortunately, a surgery gone wrong at the end of her military career left Bok unable to step on the clutch anymore.
It took years to heal, to be able to step on the clutch again.
In 2025, now living back in Los Angeles, Bok felt she needed a car. A small budget had her looking at a Prius, a Mini Cooper, and a Miata. After test-driving the NC Miata, she knew she had to have it. The convertible, the torque… It felt right. Bok fell in love. She went back with the cash that same day.
“The feeling when you’re driving is so freeing,” she told me. “The Miata was a sign of liberation. This was my ‘Get the F Out Mobile.’ It’s stylish. And I’m a beach girl, and it works with the beach. The Miata was just dual-purpose. Maybe tri-purpose. Being able to do multiple things with one car just made sense to me.”
I replied: “They do say, Miata is always the answer.” (Especially if it remains gas-powered.)
I also own a Miata, although it’s an NA. So maybe I’m biased. But Bok soon learned the Miata could do even more than she initially thought. The Miata is her daily driver — she has put 35,000 miles on it since she got it a year ago — but she found out it can also be taken to the track after she started taking it to car meets.
She was reborn.
Especially on the track
The Miata was always Bok’s escape. Driving with the top down at night when it’s cooler, with less traffic. The breeze. If she’s ever feeling stressed, she takes the car out. “I just feel free. And everything feels alright after the drive.”
Going to the track is like that, but times infinity. But Bok was initially intimidated. A friend invited her to the track after hearing she got an NC Miata, but she was so afraid that she just rode with him. However, she met a few people with the exact same car that track day, including a woman with an NC. She told Bok that she was scared at first, too, but “you can do it.” It was encouraging.
Now, Bok is all about the track. It only took a few times. She loves the speed (though the Miata can struggle to keep up on the straights) and that everyone gets out of the way. It’s all about focusing on yourself. Learning new techniques. Improving your driving. You’re not competing with anyone else.
When Bok isn’t on the track, however, she isn’t afraid to approach others. Maybe it’s something I can learn. She is always asking other people for tips, ride-alongs… She is always asking, listening, and applying. “It’s all baby steps,” she said.
While being a woman in a male-dominated hobby isn’t always easy (there are the creeps, the gatekeepers), Bok has found one advantage: men are willing to help her. “They are nicer to me, so it’s more comfortable for me to learn or get through it. A lot of men are helpful. If I was a dude, I’d probably have ot find a good friend to help.”
Even recently, Bok decided to check out drifting for the first time and found herself riding along with veteran Japanese drifter Taka Aono, known for competing in his 1986 Toyota Corolla (AE86). “He remembers me now because he taught me. I thought that was pretty interesting. Eventually, I want to get into drifting. It seems so fun.
“It was a nice surprise. I got to see how he coaches and if I like it or not. I did better after he went on a ride-along with me. I got to learn more small techniques. Each coach teaches differently. You learn different things. You pick up things here and there. There was a significant difference after I was coached by him.”
Adrenaline junkies bonding over cars off the track
Drifting!? Yes, her next project car will be a drift car, she told me. This isn’t all too surprising: Miata drivers are adrenaline junkies. That’s something Bok noticed about other Miata owners she’s come across.
“They like the thrill. I think that’s why I am a Miata girl.”
Bok is no stranger to scary incidents on the track. One time, she over-corrected and found herself driving off the track very quickly. With so much dust kicking up around her, she couldn’t see where the car was going. But she knew she was sliding sideways very fast. “It was super scary. I think that was the scariest moment. After that, the car was fine. I was fine. It was just scary to know I could injure myself as well as the car.”
But that’s the difference between regular people and Miata people. That didn’t stop her from getting back onto the track. And she even wants to get crazier with it. She has dreams of drifting. She bought a motorcycle. I love the track, too, but I told her the bike was too much for me. I think Bok loves the thrill of living on the edge (within reason). I’m not that brave.
She has noticed that the Miata community definitely bonds over having that drive to, well, drive. And drive dangerously. It’s something they can all just feel. It doesn’t need to be talked about. It draws them together.
Bok has also noticed that the car community can be full of stereotypes, of course. Some cars (we won’t say which) have a more snobby crowd. Some love to cruise. Some love to collect. Some love to build. Different cars bring out different personalities. This can make car meets interesting.
She said: “We can just bond over a simple thing called a ‘car.’ Regardless of culture, nationality, political views, or religion… All those differences go out the window when you’re just talking about cars. You relate with one another. It brings people together. All ages. All generations.”
One group she has been missing, however, is women. Women who love to cars. Women who love driving. “It’s hard to find girlfriends. There are a lot of creeps and weirdos in the car scene. I can’t tell what people’s intentions are sometimes. I just want to be friends with everyone. But that’s not always the case, ’cause car girls are rare.”
She isn’t looking for male validation. Her passion is the track. Her passion is the Miata. As I said, you’ll see her out there on the track until the very end when everyone else has already gone home. Her and her red Miata.
