Girl Go-Karter Chases Her NASCAR Dreams
LatestIn the new film Racing Dreams, eleven-year-old go-kart racer and NASCAR hopeful Annabeth Barnes shows what it’s like to be a girl in fast-paced sport still dominated by boys.
Barnes’s dad calls her “the next Danica Patrick,” and the go-kart races depicted in the film (currently playing in select theaters) are higher-stakes than outsiders might assume. The go-karts reach speeds of 80 mph, and the best kart drivers often go on to become NASCAR stars. That’s why Barnes spends all her weekends racing — including, she says, Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July. Barnes comes off as charming, smart, and dedicated, and her peers clearly respect her. When the two boys also profiled by director Marshall Curry — Josh Hobson and Brandon Warren — are caught on camera joshing about Barnes, one asks, “do you think she’s pretty?” Says the other, “I think she’s a good driver.”