Ging fast and collecting trophies has been a passion for Betty Robertson ever since she was a child growing up on a dairy farm in upstate New York. "I love to race," says the president and CEO of Lyncole XIT Grounding, a Los Angeles-based engineering company that manufactures and installs electrical grounding systems.

"I started racing when I got my driver's license," she says. "Before that, I'd race anything with wheels - go carts, bicycles, even roller skates."

Robertson's father gave her a home-built Ford, and on Sunday afternoons, he taught her how to drive and later, how to race.

"In order to get my Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) license, I had to do four track events with an instructor, teaching lines," Robertson says.

Lines is making the corner as short as possible while going 40 to 50 mph. Robertson earned her SCCA license at age 16.

The diminutive five-foot, two-inch Robertson became serious about competitive racing in 1965, when she began competing with her 1965 Plymouth Barracuda Commando V-8. She jumped into the import scene in 1979, purchasing her first BMW 2002T11 four-cylinder, which allowed her to race road courses at speeds of 80 to 90 mph.

A trailblazer in the car-racing genre, Robertson was one of the first women in the country to embrace and excel in this male-dominated sport. Early on, she gained a reputation as a winning driver, and male participants would let her borrow their cars - with the stipulation that she wouldn't out-drive them in their own cars. But, she did, and often.

"I love the speed and the thrill of putting a car through its paces," Robertson says. "Besides, where else can you go 0 to 60 flat out and not have to worry about being chased by a traffic officer?"

A Winner in Business, Too
Robertson began her off-track professional career in 1960s. Once again, she blazed trails in a field dominated by men. This time, it was the field of electrical engineering.

While a senior facilities engineer at Hughes Aircraft Company, responsible for major construction projects, Robertson met two retired aerospace engineers who had invented the first electrolytic grounding system, the XIT Rod.

The revolutionary grounding system provided approximately five times more effective protection from electrical shock than any grounding method available to industry at that time, and it didn't take Robertson long to recognize that the XIT System was far ahead of its time and represented a real opportunity.

"I saw great potential for this amazing device, and I took the leap into entrepreneurship," Robertson recalls. "In 1985, I cashed in my retirement fund, and bought the XIT Rod Company and the exclusive patent to the device."

Robertson's new company - Lyncole Industries - began manufacturing and improving the design of the XIT Rod, and also developed Lynionite, a proprietary backfill material used to cover the rod once it was positioned in the ground. In 1989, Lyncole Industries Technical Services began to provide applications engineering support and field services.

"We were positioned to take advantage of the grounding needs of companies, which have become increasingly important in the protection of today's sensitive and sophisticated electronic equipment," Robertson says.

Today, Lyncole Industries employs 30 people, and last year, it recorded sales of $2.5 million. Lyncole's extensive client list includes AT&T, Chevron, Hughes Electronics, MCI, Motorola, and Sprint, and it has thousands of installations worldwide, including ones in Asia, South Africa, and Saudi Arabia.

Pursuing Her Passion
Robertson has enjoyed success both in business and in racing. She has raced all over the United States, and BMW has sponsored her to race at its famed Nurburgring racecourse in Germany.

Over the years, she has won many trophies and received numerous accolades for her driving expertise. After several years of participating at the Nurburgring, under the guidance of BMW's professional driving instructors, Robertson earned a place in the coveted Routiner Class.

"To drivers of this three-day Nurburgring boot camp, the Routinier Class is like receiving a Golden Globe Award or an Oscar," she says. "It is the best of the best."

Robertson says she is completely at ease when racing, and she has never had a serious accident.

"When I am racing, I feel like I am one with the car," she explains. "I am in total control of what happens. If I do something dumb, then I may get hurt, but it is entirely up to me. Staying focused on the car, the track, and the other drivers is the key to fun, performance and winning.

"Racing is like owning your own business," Robertson continues. "You may not know what is going to happen next, so you have to be prepared at all the times."

It also is an expensive passion, as Robertson will attest.

"I once drove the tread off a set of brand new racing tires in one weekend with my BMW M6," Robertson says. (The M class is BMW's motor sport version. Although they are designed for performance on road courses, they are street legal.) "When you put a car through its paces, you have to repair brakes, pads and rotors every three months. Then, there also is the travel to racecourses and other expenses."

Robertson retired her BMW M6 from competition in 1998. She now has an M Roadster that she uses for competition, entering classes in which all the cars are the same weight versus horsepower. The cars she races against are production cars. In the BMW 635csi M6 class, she is likely to race against Corvettes, larger Porsches, Ferraris, and other BMWs.

Mixing Business and Pleasure
Robertson has made her passion for auto racing part of the marketing strategy for her company. Lyncole Industries has received contacts and referrals from people that Robertson has met through racing, a fact that Robertson says is not all that unusual in her opinion.

"A lot of business people race," she explains. "There is a tremendous opportunity to network at the race course.

"At one of the Nurburgring events, I met a communications engineer who not only understood the special grounding expertise of Lyncole Technical Services, but also said that his firm was looking for a company like Lyncole to do training. A few weeks later, Lyncole was in New Jersey working for Lucent Technologies."

Robertson, it seems, is always looking for opportunities to mix business with pleasure. She points out that the communications systems being used at racetracks today are a critical part of the operations. It is imperative to be in constant touch with the driver, which requires the best electrical protection and power quality possible.

The Lyncole grounding systems work very effectively with lightning, surge and radio frequency protection. In fact, providing a stable, low-resistance ground reference for the radio equipment, power supplies, and field strength is one of Lyncole's specialties.

"At each track I visit, I try to talk to the track electrician and radio-communications technicians to determine if they have any noise, hum, transmitter, or receiver interference," Robertson says. "These are the problems that Lyncole can make go away and stay away."

Somehow, we know Robertson will keep succeeding, at both business and racing.

JUDIE FRAMAN is senior editor of Enterprising Women magazine.