HIDDENITE, NC :: Annabeth Barnes went ‘back to basics’ for her sophomore season in Late Model Stock Car competition after finding herself out of a ride with Rev Racing and racing with her family based team instead. Now, Barnes is ready to write the next chapter of her racing career as she has been selected as a finalist in the PEAK Stock Car Dream Challenge.
Last year, Barnes had been competing for Rev Racing through NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program. She was at the Drive for Diversity Combine again in October but, in January, when the 2014 class was selected, she found herself on the outside looking in. When asked if it was a setback, Barnes said it wasn’t a setback and that she just continued to look ahead.
“I don’t believe it was a setback because we have our program together for our personal car and we even got a new car that, no matter what they decided, we’d be prepared for the season to come,” Barnes said. “I was confident going in and we had the resources to go on no matter what they decided. When we got the news, I was a little surprised by the news but at the same time, when we found out, we had our game plan together.
“It was unfortunate in a sense that we wouldn’t be a part of that anymore but I’ve been reassured by NASCAR they’d be behind me and I feel like I’m more comfortable this year and we’re having better runs and a faster car and it’s better for me as a driver.”
Barnes has been running at Caraway Speedway near Asheboro, North Carolina where she sits eighth in track points and has recorded multiple top-10 finishes on the season. She plans to travel to other racetracks later on this season.
“We’ve been focusing a lot on getting the car where we want it to be so we can feel confident traveling so we’ve gone to Caraway a lot,” she remarked. “We’ll race a little bit at Hickory and we have plans for Southern National, Motor Mile and Langley Speedway for the Hampton Heat. We’ve been taking it easy the first part of the year and testing and it helps us going forward a lot. We’ve been getting our setups together and me getting comfortable with the new car so we can be confident going to different tracks.”
The next chapter in Barnes’ journey will take her to Charlotte Motor Speedway on June 8th where she will compete with 18 other hopefuls in the PEAK Stock Car Dream Challenge with the hopes of obtaining a one race sponsorship to compete in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series. Barnes said she was surprised when she got the call from Michael Waltrip being told she was a finalist and was going to Charlotte.
“It’s so exciting,” she commented. “I didn’t expect it at all because I came in a little late applying and getting our video. We didn’t expect it but decided why not, what a great opportunity. When I got the call from Michael Waltrip, it was exciting. I just answered and they asked if it was Annabeth Barnes and it was Michael Waltrip and I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I was so excited and it was really cool.”
Barnes also said she has not yet decided if she will again apply for the NASCAR Drive for Diversity.
“I’m looking ahead,” she stated. “Last year was my third year at the combine so I haven’t decided if I’ll apply or not. It’s a great opportunity and a great program I’d love to be a part of and represent it again. When one door closes, another door open and the PEAK has been the door that opened so I’m feeling really good about that but I’m keeping an open mind about doing that again.”
On track activity in the PEAK Stock Car Dream Challenge will be from June 9th-11th at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. The Velocity cable television network will have a telecast of the event on August 2nd at 9pm EST.
