Shelton’s learning curve has been visible in the last year. She was seventh in points her rookie year in 2016, and while she slipped one spot to eighth in 2017, she nearly scored her first USAC National Midget Series win at Lawrenceburg Speedway during Indiana Midget Week.

Shelton led 26 of 30 laps in the feature before Abreu stole the lead – and the win – with a three-to-go slide job.

She still finished on the podium, becoming the third female driver to score multiple top-five finishes in a USAC National season, but the disappointment of coming so close and not getting the trophy was clear.

“That one was tough to swallow,” admitted Shelton, who would have been the first female winner in any USAC national division had she hung on. “I thought I had it; I really did. I hated seeing that last caution and knowing my teammates were behind me. Going back there (to Lawrenceburg) on Saturday, I have a pretty high level of confidence that we can replicate the kind of run we had last year and have a shot to seal the deal this time.

“It honestly races like Cycleland,” Shelton added, referencing the racy, three-eighths-mile oval. “It reminds me of go-kart racing, the style of racing that you get at Lawrenceburg, and that’s why I feel like I’m pretty good there. To get a win there would be … I don’t even know what I’d feel. I’d be speechless. It would just be pretty amazing to be the first female to win a USAC National race. Hopefully we can get it done.”

Shelton also knows that it won’t be any easier to win than it was in her attempts last year.

“The competition just keeps getting tougher and tougher each year, which never helps when you’re trying to get a breakthrough win because so many different cars can win on any given night,” she pointed out. “Seeing all the different tracks for a second, third or fourth time is always really helpful. Keith, Al and Pete give us great cars and us drivers just have to figure it out and get up on the wheel.”

Off the race track, Shelton has embraced the role of being a mentor to fellow female drivers trying to break into the sport on the same path that she has.

“It’s both an advantage and a disadvantage to be a girl in a male-dominated sport,” noted Shelton. “When I’m on the race track, gender doesn’t really matter, but when I’m off the race track I love talking to aspiring girl racers and giving them what advice I can. There are a lot of them coming up through the grassroots levels and through dirt racing right now. Hopefully they can follow in my footsteps and land some big rides and do big things in the future.”

Make no mistake, Shelton has watched the career path that Larson, Bell and others have taken out of USAC racing and into the top levels of NASCAR.

While her name hasn’t been called yet to make that jump, she’d like it to be before long, and she’s already started taking steps to get there.

“I raced a pavement race or two last year, out at Lake Havasu (Havasu 95 Speedway),” said Shelton. “They’re definitely different styles of cars; how to drive them and all is unique. I think it’s easier for a dirt driver to adapt to pavement than vice versa, so I do think we have an advantage in that sense.

“Seeing Rico and Kyle and Christopher make that transition … I’d like to follow in their footsteps and Toyota gives us the platform and opportunity to do that,” she added. “For that to even be possible is something I’m grateful for and hope to be able to utilize myself one day soon.”

And while she’s seen the impact that Danica Patrick has had on the national levels of racing over the past few years, Shelton made it clear she doesn’t specifically aspire to be ‘the next Danica.’

“I just want to win,” she stated. “For me, it’s not about being the best female racer, but the best racer.”