NASCAR Diversity program opens door for local racer

Brandy Bower is a dirt-tracker.

The Marysville native, 24, grew up racing go-karts but now drives sprint cars on Ohio short tracks.

Next week, she'll try her hand at stock cars for the first time since she took up the sport.

And the first laps she makes on the asphalt of Motor Mile Speedway in Radford, Va., might be the most important of her career.

Bower was one of 36 drivers selected to participate in the three-day NASCAR Drive for Diversity talent combine beginning Sunday in Radford.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so you have to adapt to whatever car you're going to be put into," Bower said. "I've strictly been on dirt, so it should be very interesting. You don't get many chances like this to show what you can do."

Ten of the participants will be awarded one-year contracts to drive for Revolution Racing in one of NASCAR's top two developmental series.

Selection to the Drive for Diversity program is hardly a ticket to a ride in the Daytona 500.

It is "a great opportunity for these young people to hone their skills, work hard and go as far in the sport as their talent will take them," said NASCAR managing director of public affairs Marcus Jadotte.

The NASCAR-funded program, operated in conjunction with Revolution CEO and former Dale Earnhardt Inc. president Max Siegel, is part of the governing body's effort to increase the participation and visibility of women and minorities in stock-car racing.

Bower, a Marysville Technical College student, part-time forklift operator and weekend racer, is grateful.

"This sport is so cutthroat," she said. "To have a program available and to be selected -- there's no words to describe it. I've got to find a way to put my nerves aside and show I can race."

smitchell@dispatch.com