This truly is the “Land of Opportunity.” As we revel through the celebrations of our Independence Day weekend, even in stock car racing we are witnessing opportunities which have become more apparent during the past several decades.

In particular, we are seeing increasing opportunities for women to enter the sport.

Lyn St. James, Janet Guthrie and more recently, Danica Patrick pushed open the door. A host of up and coming female drivers have rushed on through, and they are now making a name for themselves in what previously was one of the truest examples of the “boys’ club.”

Here in Michigan, one such story is being written at Birch Run’s Dixie Motor Speedway, where 19 year -old Nicole Korbinski is gaining experience in the track’s Pro-Stock series. Affectionately known at Dixie as the “Polish Princess,” Korbinski, a former karting champion and modeling school graduate, made the jump to the stock cars this season. She is currently 10th in series points.

Her transition from karting to stock cars has not been without challenges though.

“I never had to shift before,” Korbinski says, “so I had to learn how to drive with the clutch so some of those ‘basics’ have had to be learned. Now, we’re just working on getting faster.”

Nicole is realistic about her goals – a sign of maturity many her age cannot boast.

“Right now we just want to move from the slow to fast heats (in qualifying). I want to move up,” she says. “I was (at the start of the season) hoping to compete for ‘Rookie of the Year,’ but we got a late start (the car wasn’t ready for the first few races), so now we’re shooting for ‘most improved driver.’”

As for experienced gained on the track to date, Nicole says it’s a far different style of driving on the short track.

“It’s definitely rough. I don’t know if it’s just because I’m a girl competing with the guys, but there are a lot of crashes out there. There are a couple of guys that aren’t all about it (having a girl run against them), but for the most part, they’re pretty supportive.”

Korbinski’s is just one of many stories involving women breaking barriers and gaining respect within the previously male-dominated sport of stock car racing. And while on the local scale, her story is similar as well, to that of Danica Patrick’s in NASCAR. Both have proven their skills in their respective open-wheel series. Both have unlimited marketing potential (Nicole has also won trophies in a host of modeling competitions), and both are gaining fans, experience and respect behind the wheel of stock cars.

No doubt, we’ll see both in victory lane soon.