I heard the announcement in September, and the first race was scheduled for the end of March, meaning if I had any chance of making the first race I better get moving.

Growing up in a racing family, my first thought was this endeavor was going to be a challenge, but nothing I couldn?t handle with the help of my husband. Boy was I wrong!

Because my family always had race cars and racing equipment, I never saw what it took to build the team from scratch and totally underestimated exactly what it would take. Certainly, I knew we needed a car, engine, tools, something to haul it in and all of the obvious equipment, but it wasn?t until I began making phone calls to get the ball rolling that it occurred to me that there were lots of small, tedious, miscellaneous things to get as well.

With all of that said, I knew making the March deadline I had set for myself was unattainable, so I took a deep breath to clear my head and started a detailed list of everything we would need, from fuel jugs to my driving suit ? and everything in between. Because my family drag races, I didn?t quite know everything that a midget effort needed, so I picked up the phone and called everyone I knew that could shed some light.

This was and continues to be a great learning experience, and I cannot tell you how helpful everyone has been. From successful team owners to drivers and manufacturers, everyone has been very gracious to talk to me and has gone out of their way to make sure I had all of the information necessary.

Because the original fact-finding mission took about three months, I started my search for a chassis the first part of January, which was excellent timing because I had made plans to go to the Chili Bowl, where I met many of the people I?d been talking with on the phone.

It was this networking that led me to Dan Boorse, whose Stealth chassis I ended up buying in late February.

Once the car finally arrived to our garage in Charlotte in mid-March, the fun began. We got to turn a winning Elco Motorsports Stealth into a Haus Motorsports machine. Stripping everything down to the bare chassis, we had it blasted and powder coated black. Dropped in the Ford Focus powerplant with the help of the guys at Real Race Cars and transported it to Jeff McCall?s shop in Cherryville, N.C., where we began the final preparations.

It was now the middle of May, and still lots of work needed to be done. We decided to have new body panels made so we could have dirt and asphalt bodies. The hood and tail tank needed to go from red to white, an asphalt shock-and-spring package was needed and an open schedule, which proves to be difficult to find when three people are involved.

Although it is now July and we still are still putting things together, this has been an awesome experience and I wouldn?t change any of it for the world. I?ve met so many great people and formed many friendships along the way, learned a ton about the ins and outs of a midget and most importantly have learned that car owners deserve a great deal of respect because it?s not just about building a car and putting it on the track ... it?s about hard work and dedication and the people you meet along the way.

Soon the waiting game will be over and we will be on the track where my next learning experience will begin, how to juggle being a car owner and a driver.

I can?t wait!