With her first Late Model win in the books, Lindsey King wants to prove to the racing community that she's a serious competitor.

But more than that, the 19-year-old wants to prove to her mother that her aspirations of becoming a female NASCAR driver aren't futile.

“

My dad has put everything into my racing that he can. I'll keep my name out here and hopefully someone will find me.

”

LINDSEY KING

Born to working-class parents in the small town of Cherry Valley, Calif., King began racing go-karts at the age of 9 to please her father, 66-year-old Clyde King, a past racer of street stocks in the 1960s.

"He raced stockcars when he was younger, so he always loved racing. He had to convince me, at first, but now I love it, too," said King, who landed her first full-time ride this season in NASCAR's Whelen All-American Series.

King was accepted into NASCAR's Drive for Diversity program between the 2007 and 2008 seasons and in January got the call from Tim Huddleston, owner of High Point Racing. As part of the Drive for Diversity agreement, Huddleston asked King to field his No. 59 Chevrolet for the 2008 season.

King's drive to race began in 1998 when she told her father she wanted a go-kart to drive for fun after seeing some neighbor kids enjoying themselves on a nearby track. Their father-daughter relationship was redefined at that moment.

By the end of the day, King had talked her father out of his money and into her very own go-kart. She took a class and went on to compete in karts for six years and notched 32 main-event wins and four class championships along the way.

Of course, racing wasn't her only interest. When she wasn't at the track, King was being shuttled to the soccer field by her mother, Laura.

By the end of her kart career, King was forced by her mother to choose between the two sports, as participation in both was too costly and time consuming.

"I chose racing," King said.

In 2005, King went on to race INEX Legends cars and in two months posted her first main-event win.

In 2006, she moved up to the Legends Pro division but didn't perform as well, in part because King didn't have as much money. As the competition grew stronger in the developmental series the costs grew stronger, too. (Continued)