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.

Clyde King re-mortgaged the family home and scraped every last penny the family could afford to spare to keep his daughter racing.

"It kind of split my family up, really," King said. "My dad was spending so much money on me to race and my mom got mad because it put them in debt and messed up their credit."

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King's 24-year-old brother, Jonathan, also was frustrated to see all the family's resources go to one sibling.

"I wish they would understand," said King, referring to her brother and mother. "They don't think it's a reachable goal for me. They know it's a money sport and we don't have any."

Meanwhile, King keeps fighting, but her family live under separate roofs these days -- she lives with her father while her brother lives with their mother.

Despite the family's hardships, King went on to race a partial schedule in NASCAR's Whelen All-American Series. In 2007, Clyde King decided to purchase the car and fund the program himself for a nearly a full season.

This season, High Point Racing and the Drive for Diversity program came through, affording King what she believes is a one-shot opportunity.

Her job: "Earn the respect of other drivers on the track.

"I've got to earn respect so they will race me like the way I race them, and I've become more of a professional. I'm not as immature about things," she said.

Racing go-karts, King said it was more or less a social scene. She would show up in her pajama pants and T-shirts and chat with friends for hours.

"That's what I used to do all the time," she said. "It was all socializing but now I've grown up a little bit and I have more experience."

What likely gave her that experience, King said, was the Drive for Diversity program.

"It's a really good program, they set me up with a team and the program gets my name out there and even my team is getting a lot of exposure and that's the biggest thing," King said. "And they also gave me media training and told me about the responsibilities that come with sponsorship."

King's father admits he is living a bit vicariously through his daughter. Nonetheless, he said she has what it takes and will continue to support her.

"I was at the store the other day and found a card with a picture of someone climbing a mountain and I got it for her because that's what Lindsey and I have been doing together since she was 9 years old," Clyde King said. "Both of us have been fighting these hurdles and she's almost to the top."

In the fall, King will begin class at Crafton Hills Community College and continue her part-time job at the Cabazon, Calif. mall, as well.

"College is my backup plan," King said. "I'm not sure what will happen next season, maybe more Late Models, but I really want to move up to NASCAR's Camping World Series, I just want to race. My dad has put everything into my racing that he can. I'll keep my name out here and hopefully someone will find me."

King hopes her recent history-making win at Toyota Speedway in the High Point Racing Drive for Diversity Chevrolet will keep her progressing.

"Well, my team has always believed that I'm a good driver and knew I could go somewhere, but the win confirmed everything," she said. "I'm making a believer out of people."

And soon enough, perhaps one of those people will be her mother.