16-year-old Katie Hettinger makes history after Carolina Pro Late Model Series win

The next generation of racers is coming up quickly. Katie Hettinger won her first-ever Carolina Pro Late Model Series race and made history this weekend. On Saturday, Hettinger claimed the checkered flag in her No. 71 Chevy at Hickory Motor Speedway, the Birthplace of the NASCAR Stars.

In case you are unaware of who Katie Hettinger is, get familiar. She’s the winningest female ever at Hickory Motor Speedway. Now, her career has taken her to victory lane in the Carolina Pro Late Model Series.

She is now the first-ever female to win a race in the series. Hettinger, from Dryden, Michigan, was able to win by just 0.453 of a second over Max Reaves, another young driver. This was Hettinger’s seventh career win at Hickory.

From here, Katie Hettinger wants to take on Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kevin Harvick’s CARS Tour. How about that?

“The Carolina Pro Late Model Series is a really good stepping-stone division before running the CARS Tour,” the young racer said. She also raced the CARS Pro Late Model Tour full-time this season. “It’s a good place to race, whether you’re male or female. I’m there to compete and win races, just like all the other guys.”

What I really like is that Hettinger has her eyes set on the next step. She isn’t content to just win races, she’s looking to challenge herself, conquer that challenge, and then move on to the next thing.

Katie Hettinger ‘needed’ this win at Hickory

Now, you may also know Hettinger from her 2023 CARS Tour season. To end the year, she was suspended for the season finale at Caraway Speedway. That was due to retaliation she put on Caden Kvapil at Tri-County Motor Speedway, after the two got into it on the track earlier in the race.

She had a really solid season in the CARS Tour as a whole. She claimed Rookie of the Year in the Pro Late Model division. Minus the penalty, she was improving and showing she had what it took to compete for wins. She was even in contention for the championship at the time of the Tri-County incident.

With the CARS Tour behind her, this win at Hickory was major.

“This win at Hickory was one I really needed,” Hettinger said. “We had a good, consistent season on the CARS Tour – had a bunch of second-place finishes, were pretty decent in qualifying, led the points for a good bit there during the summer – just couldn’t break through to get that win. But my Anthony Campi Racing team stayed with me all season long, and my guys there always gave me a really good car.

“Saturday was my first time driving a car with my new team and, hopefully, it showed a little preview of how next year will go.”

Make sure you keep an eye out for Katie Hettinger. She might be coming to a racetrack near you.