The Dale Earnhardt quote “The winner ain’t the one with the fastest car; it’s the one who refuses to lose” is a favorite saying of many motorsports lovers, but it’s especially apt for Rita Goulet. Despite being born into a family struggling with poverty, mental illness and addiction, becoming homeless at age 16 and later enduring and escaping an abusive marriage, she refused to let those difficult roadblocks define her life. Through hard work and determination, she built a career dedicated to public service, first as a paramedic and then as a police officer — serving 11 years (the last three as a patrol sergeant) with the Tuscaloosa Police Department in Alabama before transferring two years ago to the Gastonia Police Department in North Carolina.

But Goulet wasn’t done defying the odds. In 2018 she followed her love of fast cars into the racing world, driving her Mazda Miata in amateur autocross events. After learning that NASCAR’s ARCA Menards Series offered a relatively affordable path to going pro, she bought an old NASCAR K&N car and entered her first ARCA race in 2022. In the course of that racing season she met Tim Goulet, now her husband, and they formed their own team, Rise Motorsports. Today she continues to serve and protect the Gastonia community while hitting the speedway full-time in her #31 Chevrolet sponsored by the nonprofit National Police Association, raising awareness of the sacrifices made by law enforcement officers. During this season’s race in Nashville during National Police Week, her car’s paint scheme featured the names of all 137 officers who died in the line of duty in 2023. Goulet recently spoke with APB about her dual careers and her successes on and off the track.

What motivated you to become an EMT, and then to make the transition to law enforcement?

I was an 18-year-old homeless teen when 9/11 happened. I remember watching the twin towers fall on TV, and all I wanted to do was scrape up all the money I had and go over there to help. I realized that I had no real skill that would help, and I vowed never to be in a position again where I was helpless. That’s what led me to become an EMT. After a few years as a paramedic, I realized that we were always responding to the aftermath and there was nothing to do to prevent it. I wanted to arrest the drunk driver before he plowed into another vehicle, or intervene in domestic violence cases before someone was killed, so I became a cop to be able to do more to keep these horrible things from happening.

What was the most challenging aspect of becoming a law enforcement officer?

Officer safety, and learning when to go hands-on. As a paramedic, our options for forcing someone to receive medical care are very restricted, so I learned to use “verbal judo” and excellent communication skills to help patients. However, as a paramedic, patients rarely want to hurt you! As a police officer, I had to learn quickly that there are people out there who will hurt me just because I’m a cop, and I had to learn to make the transition from “verbal judo” to using appropriate force when needed. I worked very hard on that transition, and thankfully, I had some amazing FTOs and instructors at Tuscaloosa P.D. who helped me with those skills.

What are some of your favorite things about the job?

I know this sounds cheesy, but I genuinely love helping people. If I can make one citizen’s day better every shift, I’m happy. Due to my past history of being a victim of domestic violence, I make a huge effort to help other victims connect with resources in the community. Even if it’s just helping someone with directions or changing a tire, I love making people’s day a bit better.

What inspired you to start racing?

I didn’t have a lot of freedom as a kid, and when I became homeless at 16, I didn’t have a driver’s license. Learning to drive at 23 was a huge step toward freedom for me. I wasn’t dependent on my friends or significant other to do basic things like go to the store or run errands. If I wanted to take a drive and just enjoy the wind in my hair, I could finally do that! My first car was a manual transmission, and no one thought I could learn to drive on one (of course, I had to prove them wrong!). The technical skill of learning to shift really appealed to me, and it wasn’t long before I was tearing up the backcountry roads in Tuscaloosa with the top down on my little yellow Miata.

What difficulties did you encounter in making the transition to racing in NASCAR?

Before NASCAR, I raced a Miata in regional club races. Most everyone in the regional level is racing as a hobby; there’s a lot of camaraderie in the paddock, and I made a lot of friends there who were always willing to offer advice and help when I ran into a mechanical issue. NASCAR is a whole different beast. Most of the drivers in my current series are doing their best to make it to the top three NASCAR series (Truck, Xfinity and Cup), and they don’t have a lot of patience for a middle-aged rookie still trying to learn. I’ve gotten very good at staying out of the way and letting the faster cars by, but someday I’d love to be competitive and be able to keep up with them. Unfortunately, they have hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding, and that’s what it takes to purchase the equipment to run up front. Meanwhile, I’m just thrilled I get to be in the race, and every race I try to do a little bit better. I have made a few friends in the garage, though! There are several other smaller teams who are in similar financial positions and it’s an absolute blast getting to race with them. Hopefully, someday I’ll be able to work on funding and be able to run up front, but until then, I’m having the time of my life!

What qualities or skills do policing and racing have in common?

Self-confidence is huge! When you’re on the track, you have to believe in your abilities, just like you do on the street as a police officer. As both a race car driver and a police officer, you have to make split-second decisions in incredibly stressful situations. And finally, people can be pretty cruel on the internet when you have a bad race, just like they can be when they don’t understand a use-of-force situation. Learning to ignore the keyboard warriors and do the best I can do, both as a police officer and as a race car driver, has been very important.

How have you been able to use your racing career to raise awareness and support for law enforcement?

The National Police Foundation has been absolutely instrumental to our team. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t have been able to race this year. I’m incredibly grateful to them for taking a chance on me and our little race team. It’s amazing how many people will come up to me before and after a race and tell me they are a retired cop, or a current cop, or know someone who’s a cop, and they’re thrilled to see the NPA on the car, and it gives me a great opportunity to tell people about all the good work that the NPA does, from advocating for officers’ interests to donating bullet-resistant vests to departments that would not otherwise been able to protect their K-9 officers. Having the NPA on the car also gives me a great opportunity to talk to race fans who maybe have not thought too much about law enforcement. I love talking about being a cop, and I hope that over the past couple of years, I’ve been able to change a few hearts and minds, or at least help them to think more positively about their local law enforcement. I’ve gotten a lot of “Why did the police do this to me?” type of stories, and one fantastic thing is I’m able to explain why they may have been stopped or searched in a nonconfrontational way, and they leave the conversation happy that someone took the time to explain it to them. It’s been an amazing chance to educate the public on what policing is really about.

Why was it important to you to include the names of fallen officers on your car?

One plus to racing on national TV nearly every weekend is being able to use the car as a platform for good. I wanted to contribute to recognizing National Police Week, and what better way to do it than putting the name of every single officer and K-9 who died in the line of duty in 2023? As officers, we all know someone who made the ultimate sacrifice, and I wanted to use my platform to bring more recognition to the officers who gave their lives. One of the officers who lost their life in 2023 was Officer Garrett Crumby. I worked with him for eight years at the Tuscaloosa P.D. before he moved on to the Huntsville P.D. He was kind, funny, always willing to help his co-workers; I don’t think I ever saw him with a frown on his face. He genuinely cared about the citizens he was sworn to protect, and his loss was felt deeply, both by his former colleagues at the Tuscaloosa P.D. and his current colleagues at the Huntsville P.D. He left behind his wife, Taylor Crumby, who dispatched for Tuscaloosa Police, and she’s just the sweetest person you’d ever meet.

How is this racing season going for you, and what’s on the horizon?

It’s going well. When I’m not in the car, the team rents it to other drivers, and unfortunately, there have been a few wrecks that we’ve had to overcome, but overall, I’m happy with how my races are turning out. This is my second full year in the NASCAR ARCA East series, and I’m improving every single race (except for Iowa Speedway — that track is my nemesis, but I will figure it out). My eventual goal is to continue to work on my racecraft and confidence, and work on partner relationships to continue to build the team to be more competitive.

Is there anything else you want to tell our readers?

If you’re interested in lateraling to North Carolina, come check out Gastonia P.D.! Feel free to follow our team adventures on Facebook/Instagram/X at @risemotorsports or @racingcop (that’s me!) and give our amazing sponsor, the National Police Association, a follow on X or Facebook! While the NPA is our primary sponsor for all of my ARCA East races, we still have plenty of room on the car for additional sponsors and I’d love to chat with anyone interested at rita@risemotorsports.com.