Fantasy NASCAR Racing

Kirk began her racing career in motorcycles at the age of 9, moving up through the ranks of the sport during her teenage years and finally reaching the peak of the sport, the A.M.A. Grand National Championship.  She became the first woman in history to reach a Grand National Championship final when she earned a spot in the 1983 Knoxville Half Mile event.  In 1986, she made history by winning a Class C flat track race in Knoxville, Tennessee.  After Kirk retired from motorcycle racing due to frustration about the refusal of companies to provide spare parts to a female competitor, she moved on to late model racing in 1989.  Kirk joined the NASCAR Winston All-American Challenge Series in 1991, becoming the first female driver to compete in the series.  In 1994, she was named the Most Popular Driver in the series, which had been renamed the Slim Jim All Pro Series, and would finish seventh in series points two years later.  Kirk became the second woman to win a NASCAR touring series event when she won the 1994 Snowball Derby, which was at the time a points race in the All Pro Series.  In 1997, Kirk made the next big step as she moved to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.  She signed with Geoff Bodine Racing with Loveable, a lingerie company, as the sponsor.  She made her debut in 1997 at the Walt Disney World Speedway, qualifying 9th and finishing 24th; she was the first female driver to compete in the series.  Her best finish that year was an 11th at Heartland Park Topeka.