CHARLOTTE, NC :: Kate Dallenbach’s ready to take her rookie stripes off as she looks ahead to her sophomore season in Late Model Stock Car racing.

Dallenbach, 18, recently signed with Richard Childress Racing as a development driver.  Last season, she competed in 10 events for Lee Faulk Racing – mostly at Hickory Motor Speedway in Newton, North Carolina.  She’s hoping to follow in the footsteps of her father, Wally, and mother, Robin, who have both competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

“I’m really excited about this,” Kate Dallenbach said.  “There are so many great drivers here.  I’m really grateful for Richard Childress and everything he’s done for me and for Mike Dillon and Team Dillon Racing.  He’s given me a really great opportunity and just being here and I’m really excited about what this year has for us.”

While she will race predominantly on asphalt, she will also run several dirt Late Model races for Mike Dillon.

“I’m really excited about it, not only for me but to race with Ahnna [Parkhurst] and [Richard Childress] is helping us out a lot,” she remarked.  “It’s great to have not only this opportunity but with TDR, another great race team.  They are probably the best with Dale McDowell, the best team you can have on dirt. So I’m happy he’s given to both of us.

Dallenbach plans to run a limited schedule in the Championship Auto Racing Series (CARS) Late Model Stock Tour while also running at Anderson Motor Speedway in Williamson, South Carolina, Greenville-Pickens Speedway in Easley, South Carolina and Hickory Motor Speedway.

“We’re going to travel around a little bit.  We’re definitely working on doing some of the tour races like Southern National Motorsports Park and Orange County Speedway … I’m really excited that they have a lot of great tracks there instead of just visiting one track.  I’ll be able to experience more and get a lot more seat time.”

Prior to running in the Perimeter Late Model Stock Cars last year, Dallenbach raced in the Straight-Rail Super Late Models at New Smyrna Speedway in Florida.  She learned a lot last season but she only ran a limited schedule.  This year, with running a full slate of races, she feels she’s going to learn a lot more and progress even more as a driver.

“Moving from Florida to here, they’re totally different cars.  Last year, we only did about 10 races and it was really hard to get enough seat time and get used to everything.  This year, we’re doing about 30-40 races so I think I’m pretty confident this year because I’ll have a lot more seat time, a lot more practice and I think it was good to get last year under my belt so I can move on this year and improve on myself and my driving.”

One track Dallenbach felt she learned a lot at was Myrtle Beach Speedway.  She practiced and qualified for the Southeast Limited Late Model Series race at Myrtle Beach last November but, when the race started on a wet track, crew-chief Michael Faulk parked both of his cars.  Still, she said she learned a lot about tire management – something she knows will be important in the CARS Tour races.

“I definitely learned a lot more but I really wanted to race there.  Mike taught me a lot.  I learned a lot from him especially for that track.  There’s not a lot of grip – especially a 100 lap race.  Just from watching it, you could tell a lot of people would use up their tires really fast.  That’s something that I’m pretty confident with and that’s really important for the longer races.”

Along with her Late Model Stock Car schedule and her dirt Late Model schedule, Dallenbach says there is a possibility she could race in a handful of Super Late Model races in 2015 as well.  She’s the only driver who can claim both her parents raced in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.  Now, she’s on the same path.

RACE22.com’s Matt Weaver contributed to this report.