Racers of the future are emerging soon. Katie Hettinger made history this weekend by winning her first Carolina Pro Late Model Series race. At Hickory Motor Speedway, Birthplace of NASCAR Stars, Hettinger won in her No. 71 Chevy on Saturday.
Get to know Katie Hettinger. The most successful female at Hickory Motor Speedway. Her career now includes Carolina Pro Late Model Series victories.
First female to win a series race. Hettinger, from Dryden, Michigan, beat young driver Max Reaves by 0.453 seconds. Hettinger got his seventh Hickory win.
From here, Katie Hettinger aims to challenge Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kevin Harvick's CARS Tour. How about that?
Young racer: “The Carolina Pro Late Model Series is a really good stepping-stone division before running the CARS Tour. This season, she competed full-time on the CARS Pro Late Model Tour.
You may also recognize Hettinger from her 2023 CARS Tour season. She was suspended for the season finale at Caraway Speedway. After their track brawl earlier in the race, she retaliated on Caden Kvapil at Tri-County Motor Speedway.
Overall, she had a great CARS Tour season. She won Pro Late Model Rookie of the Year. She improved and showed she could win without the penalty. The Tri-County incident occurred while she was in contention for the championship.
“This win at Hickory was one I really needed,” Hettinger said. “We had a good, consistent season on the CARS Tour – a lot of second-place finishes, decent qualifying, and led the points for a while in the summer – but we couldn't win.