MARNE, Mich. — Samantha Stuart has been racing at Berlin Raceway for 18 years now and she hasn't let anything slow her down.
In July of 2019, Samantha gave birth to her first-born, but still couldn't stay away from racing for too long.
After sitting out in 2019, Stuart was set to take the shortened 2020 season off as well, but that didn't last long.
"I watched the first race and said to my husband, 'I really want to do this,'" she recalled, "and he said, 'our car is still a superstock,' which is the class they eliminated."
But Tim and Samantha were dedicated to getting her behind the wheel in 2020.
"He thrashed on the car for two weeks straight; I don't think he slept," she laughed.
After the sleepless nights, the No. 16 car was ready to hit the track for the final race of 2020 in the limited late model division.
Not only did Stuart get on the track, she was able to pick up the feature win, her tenth at Berlin Raceway.
"We got the win, which was nice for our first and last night out."
After finishing last season on that high note, Stuart has decided to take one final ride this summer.
This time, in the track's top division: the super late models.
"We decided you know what, we'll do one more year of racing and figured why not try the highest level there is at Berlin, so went out and got a super late model and we'll try our hand at that."
Stuart has been racing at Berlin since she was 22-years old and is now the winningest female driver in track history but she says it's time for her and her husband Tim to focus on family.
"I have a precious little baby at home and a wonderful step daughter, it's important family time, we want to focus on that."
Saturday night kicks off the 71st season of racing at Berlin and Stuart has some lofty goals for not only the Icebreaker, but the summer as a whole.
"I know opening night is five-thousand dollars to win and 75 laps, I want to come home in one piece and have fun," she said about her goals, "but I want to get some top five finishes this year."
The number of females in motorsports continues to grow across the country and Stuart is hopeful that will continue.
"It's very refreshing to see how many young women are involved in racing now and I hope that continues to evolve," she added, "follow your dreams, your dream can be whatever you want it to be."
Racing begins at 4:00 PM on Saturday at Berlin Raceway; for more information click here.
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