Think fast cars and mud are just for the boys?
One of the competitors at the Texas World Dirt Track Championships would dispute that.
Kristi Byrd is the lone female driver out of the 250 competitors in this weekend's event at Texas Motor Speedway.
The Ada, Okla., resident has only been to TMS for a concert before and is excited to be racing there.
"If you want to do something, do it -- whether it's a predominantly male sport or not," Byrd said.
She said it was difficult at first to be a woman in a male-dominated sport, but the men let up on her after she proved herself with top-three finishes in some of her local races.
Byrd said her father has been racing dirt cars since the '70s, so she grew up around cars. She and her father would go to the garage and work on his cars. Now, they work on hers.
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"Six years ago, I talked him in to letting me drive one," she said. "I had to talk him into letting me."
The championships run through the weekend at Texas Motor Speedway’s dirt track.
The event features O'Reilly Auto Parts SUPR Late Model, Modified and Limited Modified divisions.
