Michelle Hummel has big dreams of being a doctor one day. That’s if she can’t get a racing career cranked up.

As odd a mix as Hummel’s career choices might seem, her father won’t doubt her — just as he didn’t when she declared she’ll become one of the best go-kart divers in North Florida.

“When she puts her mind to something, it’s very hard to stop her from doing it,” Alan Hummel said. “It’s not a natural thing to get into one of those (go-karts) and go about 90 mph and be good at it. That part of it surprised me.”

Hummel will make her third start in this weekend’s Easy Kart Florida Championship Series. She’s expected to be the only girl in the 125 Light Class when the two-day competition gets under way in Monticello after today’s testing.

In her first race in the Series, Hummel placed second at Jacksonville. The 16-year old from Pace was the only female, as is usually the case in most of her races.

“I think it’s fun to be one of the only girls out there,” she said. “I know the boys don’t like to lose to girls, but it makes things interesting. We are all trying to be successful.”

Hummel, a shortstop for the Pace High softball team in Santa Rosa County, has a better-than-average shot at getting an athletic scholarship to college. She’s nixing that idea for now, though, because she thinks a scholarship commitment would get in the way of her racing.

But the junior is giving scouts reasons to look. Last week she started a double play while playing second base. The play in the seventh inning secured a 2-1 win for Pace that eliminated Lincoln from the playoffs.

Pace was eliminated from the Class 5A playoffs in its next game. Now her focus will be on completing the Florida Easy Kart Series.

Success at this stage of her fledgling racing career has been coming in increments, the same way she developed interest in the sport. She heard stories from her father, who has written a book (“Penske Racing: 40 Years of Excellence”) about his passion for racing.

But her passion for racing didn’t begin until she saw Danica Patrick race in the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg three years ago.

Until then, the trip to St. Petersburg was one of few that she’d taken with her dad to the races. His interest goes back to the 1960s when his father worked for Sun Oil Company, which at the time helped finance the early years of the Penske team.

He takes his daughter with him during an annual pilgrimmage to the Indy 500, just as his father did with him. By the time she accompanied him to her first Indy 500 race two years ago, she was hooked on racing.

Seeing Patrick race at St. Petersburg in 2005 was the impetus, she said.

“During the course of the weekend, I realized this is really cool and I would want to get involved in it,” she said. “When you’re at St. Petersburg the cars are right in front of you going so fast. That’s interesting.”

She bought her kart on money she’d saved from her part-time job at the family’s batting-cage business and other cash she’d gotten as gifts. She also financed most of the maintenance on the $4,000 kart on her own.

Her passion for racing goes beyond the adrenaline rush.

“It’s kind of hard to describe, but going fast is a lot of fun because you don’t get to do that normally,” Hummel said. “The most fun thing is to be out there racing competitively with a group of karts.”

Her future in racing isn’t mapped out quite yet, Alan Hummel said. They’re looking for sponsors, with hopes of competing at the national level. From there, they hope to take the same path that Patrick rode to make a breakthrough for women drivers.

“If we could figure out a way to make it all work,” he said, “you’ll be seeing her in the Indianapolis 500 some day.”

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