Tia Norfleet has eyes set on NASCAR, she is aiming to become the first African-American NASCAR driver. Tia wants to motivate young girls of all colours, all races and all creeds, and to let them know that you don’t have to go out and do something that is immoral or not right. Hit the jump to read the rest of the story.
Ever since she was given a souped-up Barbie Car by her father at the tender age of seven, Tia Norfleet has been addicted to racing, and racing as fast as possible.
Fast forward 16 years and the petite native of Suffolk, Virginia is poised to become the first African-American female to compete in the elite ranks of National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR).
Although Ms Norfleet’s first love as a young child was music, racing was in her blood.
Her father, Bobby Norfleet, was a protege of African-American NASCAR driver Wendell Scott and has spent most of his career racing in motorcycles, drag cars and stock cars.
Mr Norfleet told Reuters: ‘I have been racing for all of her life and Tia decided a long time ago as a small child that she wanted to race’.
Ms Norfleet says that although she loves racing, her principle objective is to inspire other young women to follow their own dreams.
She told Reuters: ‘That’s my main goal — to motivate young girls of all colours, all races and all creeds, and to let them know that you don’t have to go out and do something that is immoral or not right.
‘I want them to know you can be positive and you can achieve things. When people tell you you can’t do something, I just want to motivate them to be all that they can be.
Mr Norfleet recalls the moment with sharp clarity when he knew his daughter was destined to follow in his footsteps.
He said: ‘She was just seven years old and her first car was the battery-powered Barbie Car. She wanted me to soup it up so she could beat the other kids in the neighbourhood.
‘So I went to work on that car. We put two car batteries in and it would just fly. She loved it, she loved going fast. I knew then that she was interested in racing’.
Ms Norfleet, who is just five feet (1.52 metres) tall, remembers that Barbie Car with great affection.
‘I drove that car literally until the wheels fell off’, she said with a chuckle. ‘I have hardly done anything else ever since because I have been so attached to racing’.
Addicted to speed largely because of that souped-up Barbie Car, Ms Norfleet took up go-cart racing in 1995 and went on to record 22 top-10 finishes, six top-fives and two wins.
In 2000, she moved up to the Bandoleros Series before driving a NASCAR Late Model in the 2004 series, producing two top-15 finishes in 18 starts. Most recently, she has been practising in Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) cars……Read the full story here
