HIDDENITE, NC :: Annabeth Barnes has high hopes entering her first season in Late Model Stock Car competition.  Barnes will be racing at Hickory Motor Speedway for Revolution Racing, a track the young driver is familiar with and feels she can win at.

Barnes participates in a program called the “Drive for Diversity”, a program instituted by NASCAR to promote minority drivers.  Each year, NASCAR and Revolution Racing hold a combine at Langley Speedway where drivers get the opportunity to show potential team owners what they are made of.  Needless to say, Barnes impressed.

“My first combine was in 2011,” Barnes said about the Drive for Diversity program.  “I had to run a full season in Limited Late Models.  My second combine was in 2012 and I had run a full season in Limited Late Models again.  Limited Late Models aren’t that much different from Late Models.  A lot of people at the combine came off dirt and stuff like that so I was lucky to have that kind of (asphalt racing) experience.”

Barnes knows moving up to the faster Late Model Stock Car division is a big step but she’s confident her experience at Hickory will help.  She doesn’t just want to race, she wants to win.

“I’m really hoping to go for a championship,” Barnes stated.  “I know that’s a lot being my first year with Rev and my first full season in Late Models but I have so much experience at Hickory and I’m very confident.  I’m really hoping for a top five in points.”

One of the standouts in the Hickory Motor Speedway schedule is the Zloop Big 10 Challenge, a championship series consisting of 10 races.  Each race pays $2,000 to win and the winner of the Challenge will win $3,000.  Barnes is excited about that challenge.

“Definitely hoping to win some of those Zloop races because it’s an awesome thing they have going on there.” Barnes commented.  “I’m hoping to win those.  Winning races is the goal for the year.  It’s good to have solid finishes but, for me, wins are important.  They’re going to be important for me to show Rev that I deserve to be here and maybe get me in to the K&N Series next year so I’m going for wins.”

Like most racers, the racing bug bit Barnes early.  It was a passion passed down in her family.

“My dad raced stock cars when I was growing up,” Barnes mentioned.  “He really is in love with this sport like nobody I’ve ever seen.  His passion rubbed off me.  My older sister started racing go karts when I was five.  I started when I was about seven.  It just took off after that.”

Barnes feels that the Drive for Diversity program has really opened doors for female and minority races.  She points to the success of Darrell Wallace, Jr and Kyle Larson as a statement to the program and credits drivers like Danica Patrick and Johanna Long for opening the doors for women to become more accepted in the sport.

“Drive for Diversity is an amazing program,” Barnes explained.  “You’ll look at people who have come out of this program, Kyle Larson for example a, Sergio Pena nd Darrell Wallace Jr.  They’re making huge names for themselves in this sport.  That’s proof enough for anyone that it’s an amazing program that it’s developing drivers and preparing them.  Danica Patrick and Johanna Long also open doors and make wider opportunities.  They’ve opened doors for me and my teammates.”

Barnes is hoping she can break in to the top ranks of NASCAR competition.  She says she’d love to be running in one of the top-three divisions of NASCAR five years down the road though she realizes it’s a long road.  For now, she’s focused on what she has to do to improve as a driver.

“I’d like to be in one of the top three series five years from now, Nationwide preferably,” Barnes acknowledged.  “That’s kind of my goal.  Obviously, I’d like to be in the Sprint Cup Series but I understand I have a long road ahead.  It’s just the beginning for me and I’m so thankful for the people I have surrounding me and working hard to get me to that point.

Watch for Annabeth Barnes and her Revolution Racing Late Model, sponsored by Toyota, at Hickory Motor Speedway this season.  The first race of the season at Hickory Motor Speedway goes green on Saturday Night, March 9th.