By Barbie Layton, The Jackson Star & Herald
SANDYVILLE, W.Va. — From driving a school bus to competing in a 1964 Ford Falcon, Diana Casto is at home in either option.
A Jackson County native and school bus driver, Casto, who graduated from Ripley High School in 1995, grew up on a farm and knew nothing about race cars.
“If it had a manual transmission and a clutch, it was a tractor or a truck,” Casto said. “I was a typical small-town kid who didn’t get out much.”
While attending Ripley High, Casto, then Diana Cunningham, was a member of the softball team and the Future Farmers of America (FFA).
Once she graduated, she got married and had children.
“The kids pretty much did the same thing as far as farming and FFA,” she said.
Casto said her first marriage did not work out and eventually she met her current husband, Dana, who was a school bus driver.
“Meeting Dana, I grew out of that farm phase,” she said. “He was into race cars and motorsports, so I guess you could say I went from one type of horsepower to another.”
Casto participates in 10 races per season with the Southeast Gassers Association (SEGA), based out of North Carolina. She has been involved with the organization for the past three years.
