As any 15- year-old, Annabeth Barnes is thrilled to have a learner’s permit that lets her drive on the road with proper supervision. Her driver’s ed teacher said she was one of the best drivers he’d met. There’s just one problem: the road is not a track. She’s been racing go-karts since age 7, taking the ultra-low-riders around asphalt and dirt at 70 miles per hour.

“I have a bit of a speeding problem,” the North Carolina teen admits. “Just a tiny bit.”

Barnes is featured in the award-winning documentary “Racing Dreams,” which opened in Georgia this week. It also follows 12-year-old Josh Hobson, a disciplined student and driver who wants to maintain his champion status and move up in the world of racing. Then there’s 13-year-old Brandon Warren, a fast racer with a hot temper and the desire for a big win after he was disqualified a year before.

In the film, they’re transitioning away from childhood and deciding whether racing is a hobby or a career. They consider the school they’ll miss, the sports they won’t play, family and finances. For Annabeth, who was 11 when the movie began filming, it was a decision between the “girlier” lives her friends lead and spending 48 out of 52 weekends racing. Here’s what Annabeth had to say about racing and the film.

Q: What was it like to be a girl getting into racing?

A: You’re racing against all boys and they don’t want a girl to beat them. They’re going to push you around. Their daddies are telling them, “You better not let that girl beat you.”

Q: In the film, you’re making some big decisions about whether to keep racing. How did it work out?

A: It was so cool how the movie showed that. It showed the point where I’m making all these sacrifices, but for what? Every weekend, every moment of my life, was about racing. I didn’t go to sleepovers. I didn’t get to be a normal 11-, 12-year-old girl. I made it this far, so what would be the point of giving up now? Then I had to look at it as 10, 15 years from now, down the road, am I going to be going to sleepovers or racing? It’s part of me. Racing. That’s what I wanted to do.

Q: What was it like graduating from karting to stock car racing, as the movie shows?

A: It was really hard. It’s basically like starting all over. I’m still getting used to it. In go-karts, we had a factory ride, so we got all our go-karts free. When you get into the bigger stuff, you don’ t know anything, so you need someone to help you. You’re throwing money you don’t have out the window. If we don’t get a sponsor, I don’t race. You want to race hard and be competitive, but if I get out there and tear something up, I won’t be racing for a while.

Q: What was it like to take driver’s ed after all those years on the track?

A: I was, surprisingly, really, really nervous. I was freaking out. I don’t – ugh. It’s so different. I always want to stay close to the right side of the road. I don’t mean to, I’m just used to it in racing. I want to keep pressing the gas down. I don’t feel like I’m going anywhere. That kind of adds to my speeding problem.