PEMBERTON, NJ --  First introduced to driving at the age of six, the now 18-year-old race car driver, Sarah M. Napora, has competed in hundreds of races. Her estimated top speeds are 90 mph, all on a dirt oval race track. Dirt racing takes a lot of focus and skill. But, it seems, this young lady is a natural.

“Dirt oval racing is not neat, or pretty. You have to know how to drive the car into the corner to get it out and set up for the next corner down the straightaway,” Sarah explained. “To be on the racetrack is an unbelievable feeling. It is the best minute to thirty minutes of the week. To have control of a vehicle with the diligence and power of a racecar is a feeling like no other. To feel a racecar get sideways on dirt is a rush. To have the throttle banged out to the floor down the straightaway is empowering. To be passing cars, making good moves... it is the best feeling in the world.”

When asked what she loves about racing, she said, “There are many things to love about racing. I love how different it is inside of a racecar than how it is in the stands. The perspective of racing is amazing.

“I love being one with the car; feeling everything you can as a driver to pull off the track and make the adjustments needed. You become one with the racecar.

“Before a race, my mind always likes to focus. I mean a heavy, deep focus. While I am buckling up into the seat, I always take a deep breath and pray for safety,” she said. “While in staging, getting ready to hit the track, it is like a rush of energy but you can’t do anything with this energy until the drop of the green flag.

“I currently race 270cc micro sprints for my father, our team that we have built. I also race a 602 crate modified for GB Racing, a racing team and family I have known since the start of my career,” Sarah said.

Her father is a parts supervisor at BMW, while her mother works as a phlebotomist, and Sarah is a part of a family legacy when it comes to racing. Her great-uncle is a dirt late model and UMP modified racer based out of West Virginia, but that’s not all.

“My family and I are from Pemberton, New Jersey. I come from a bloodline of racing. My father was a great enduro racer and loved to build cars to destroy them in demolition derbies; he proposed to my mom after winning a derby at Wall Stadium in 1999,” Sarah explained. “My grandfather and grandmother were mud hop racers, and my grandmother was featured in many magazines and newspapers for her competitions.”

“My father sold his 8 cylinder enduro after this so that I could become a racecar driver,” she said, when asked how she got started. “I have had many mentors in my racing career. A few I can name are Tony Bowzowski, George Idell, Don Shipley, George Gareis, John Bangs, and Andrew Locuson,” said Sarah. “These are some people who have helped me not just at the start of my career, but even now. Tony gave me the opportunity to drive a racecar for the first time. George I. is the reason that I got to be in a racecar in the first place. Don has been a family friend and mentor to myself and father since we started racing, and even until this day I race with his son. George Gareis and John Bangs taught me when I was little in novice school at the age of six and are now teaching me all I know about modifieds. Andrew is a huge help with the 270. I am thankful for each of these guys.”

When asked about her biggest challenges, she said, “The most challenging thing about being a race car driver is being a minority. Most people have come to respect females in racing, but I still get people who treat me differently on and off the track,” the young driver explained. “The thing is, I am just another race car driver. I am no different than anyone else. Me being a female has absolutely nothing to do with my driving ability or talent, but it sure does feel nice to beat the males who treat me differently and prove this.”

One of the scariest experiences she has had was a wreck that caused side impact and whiplash. She was wearing all of her safety equipment at the time.

Her last few races were in Florida with the Howling Wolf Racing 7 for the “Florida 600 wingless Speedweeks”. She even spent some time racing at the Hendry County Motorsports Park in Clewiston.

“Eight nights of racing: It was an intense week and a half with a jam packed racing schedule but it was a whole lot of fun, and I got to learn so much for it being my second time in a 600,” she said. “Hendry County is a big racetrack, one-third mile, with a different track surface than we have here back at home in the Northeast.”

She described the HCMP track as sandier. “Some nights it was looser and some it was tighter. But, I loved the speed you could carry down the straightway and into the corners. The facility was beautiful too, and I have always wanted to race on a track surrounded by palm trees. I got to knock that off my bucket list.”

When asked about her plans for the future, Sarah said she hopes to own her very own race team, and build a developmental program for drivers who come from different places and backgrounds.

“I hope to be able to continue racing until the day I can’t anymore. I have so much to prove in the years to come, and it is my dream to do so. Racing never gets old and never will, even on the bad days I could never walk away.”

Sarah went on, “I want to give people the opportunity that they may not receive if not for a developmental program or race team who believes in them. Racing is a competitive sport, not just on the track, but off as well.”

For now, this driven young woman attends Burlington County Institute of Technology, where she studies sports medicine, and will graduate in June. She is also seeking her Associate’s Degree in exercise science, health, and wellness this May.

“I plan to get my associates degree and then transfer to finish my undergrad and head to med school and become an MD,” she said.

When asked what advice she would give to someone who wants to start racing would be, she replied, “Go for it. This is my advice. Racing is such a strong sport. My sincere advice, though, would be to do your research. Find someone reliable to help you out. Find a good mentor. Having friends in racing is important for learning new things when you don’t know too much. Also, don’t cut corners. It may be easy to do, but racing can be dangerous, so safety is priority.”