HIDDENITE, NC :: Annabeth Barnes impressed throughout much of the PEAK Stock Car Dream Challenge, showing passion and heart throughout the competition.  That desire took Barnes deep in to competition and gave the North Carolina teenager an experience she could only dream of and a goal to aim for.

“All of it was such a blast,” Barnes said.  “I was thankful to even be there. Although I had participated in D4D combine three times, I’ve never experienced any test of my abilities like that.  It was really crazy, things you don’t even think about.”

The competition consisted of a series of events testing drivers on car control, endurance and speed.

“Car control, we all struggled with that, especially us asphalt drivers because you want to keep your car straight and in control so it was crazy to be told to get sideways,” she said.  “The Dirt Late Model, they didn’t tell us until right before we went to do the dirt that that’s what we would be doing so we were all kind of surprised we’d get to do that.  I’ve never been on dirt, ever, so that’s a crazy experience.  What they didn’t show was that we got to go out with Clint.  He was driving and we were riding with him before we went out on the track.  It was the scariest experience of my life but it’s the most fun thing I’ve ever done.”

Barnes’ strength showed in the short track challenge, where each of the racers took laps around the quarter-mile at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“I wish they’d show more of the short track because we did that twice and I rocked the short track.  The entire experience was awesome.”

The endurance challenge consisted of a half-hour go-kart race in a road course layout in the infield at the Charlotte Motor Speedway.  Barnes ran strong in the race until she got shuffled back on a late race restart.  In the final sprint, Barnes passed several cars.  Her rally impressed NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team owner Michael Waltrip who complimented Barnes’ heart and desire.

“I was flattered for him to say that,” Barnes remarked.  “I do kind of drive with such a passion because it’s something that’s so important to me.  The whole time we were doing the challenge, I was giving it my all so for them to notice that meant a lot to me.”

Later in the show, the remaining contestants got to take laps around the main oval at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racecars.  Following that portion of the competition, Barnes stated that this was what she wanted to do for the rest of her life.

“That was so amazing,” Barnes explained.  “I had never done anything like that before and I was so excited I got to make it to that part because that’s what I wanted to do the most.  Everybody said they were scared and nervous about that.  I was the least nervous, I was just excited.  The whole time I was out there, I could not see myself doing anything else.  Going that fast and being behind the wheel of a car on the track, that’s the dream, to get to do that every week.  It was amazing.  I can’t wait to get to do that again and I hope to do that again.”

Barnes was hoping to make it in to the final three – where the marketing challenge of the competition would await.  She felt that was one of her bigger strengths.

“I was hoping to get to the last round.  I was a little surprised I didn’t make it in to the top three.  So, I think if I would’ve gotten to do the commercial, it would’ve paid in to my big strengths.  You have to do it on the track but not a lot of people can play to the marketing side of racing and that’s where I’m really strong and that’s where things would’ve been different but I’m still really happy.  I went, did the best  I could and had a lot of fun.”

When asked if the competition elevated her profile, Barnes said it has, citing an increased following on social media.

“I definitely think I got noticed.  I was getting a ton of tweets from people who never followed me before who were watching the show and cheering for me.  That meant a lot to me, more than anything, the fans having such support.  The fans vote you in the whole time and they’re the ones making you famous and putting your name out there.  I was blessed and excited that they were excited about it.”

With the PEAK Stock Car Dream Challenge behind her, Barnes now looks ahead to the rest of the racing season.  Much of Barnes’ season has been plagued by motor issues.  She was sidelined again on Saturday night at Hickory Motor Speedway due to mechanical problems after having to stay home during the Hampton Heat 200 – an event she ran well at in 2013.  Barnes now looks ahead to whatever races she can run from here on out while focusing on arriving in Martinsville in peak performance mode.

“We’ve been battling motor issues all year. Hopefully we can get all those worked out even if it’s just getting them worked out before Martinsville,” Barnes explained.  “We blew a motor three races in and, at that time, we had gotten it together.  We led laps against Dillon Bassett and thought we had it together and blowing that motor set us back a lot.  We got our motor back after it blew up and we haven’t got it running ever since.  We took a few weeks off hoping we can get it back together only to find we were still having trouble when we got to the track.”

Barnes felt she learned a lot from her experience at Martinsville last year where she fell just a few spots shy of making the feature in the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 300 (now called the MDCU 300 sponsored by the Martinsville DuPont Credit Union).

“The big issue we had was that we got taken out on the first lap of our heat race.  We definitely just be more cautious when it comes to the heat race.  That’s what killed us.  We ended up coming in, got a couple laps down but fortunately we got back out and made it in to the last chance race.  Just keeping it clean in the heat race, if just to get a better spot in the last chance race, and going in there is really tough.  I’m excited and I think we learned a lot from last year just car setup and things like that.”

If Annabeth Barnes makes the field in Martinsville this year, she will become the first female racer to start in the feature event in the MDCU 300.

Heart and desire is what defined Annabeth Barnes in the PEAK Stock Car Dream Challenge.  Now, she hopes that same passion, fueled with her radiant star power which commands center stage, will result in opportunities that she has dreamed of.