Fort Wayne racecar driver continues to be source of inspiration

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WPTA) - “This is a dream,” Paige Rogers said. “It could happen, maybe it won’t happen. Then you get that call and it’s like, woah, it happened. It actually happened.”

For 19-year-old Paige Rogers, what happened was her decade-long dream came true.

Rogers, a racecar driver from Fort Wayne, was recently accepted into Rev Racing - which is part of NASCAR’s ‘Drive for Diversity’ program headquartered in North Carolina. It’s a step she says is huge for her career.

“Honestly, if this hadn’t worked out, I don’t think racing would have worked out for me,” Rogers said.

Rogers’ love and dedication to racing consumes most of her time. Time she says she could’ve spent at sporting events, weddings and other life events with friends.

But to Rogers, seeing her love and dedication pay off makes missing some of that time worth it in the end.

“Getting the phone call that you made it was 100 times worth it over and over again,” Rogers said. “Just to hear that hard work and that passion and dedication you put in... it paid off.”

Talking to Rogers, it’s easy to say she’s determined. So determined, in fact, she decided instead of waiting for the opportunity to come to her, she was going to go and get it herself.

“I drove 9 hours out to North Carolina, and I knocked on their door, and I said, ‘what do I have to do to get here’ and they were kind of in shock at that point and they were like ‘well I guess we’ve never had anyone do this’,” Rogers said.

As Rogers furthers her racing career, she still focuses on being a source of inspiration for others.

“I feel as if I can be the change and I can help people,” Rogers said. “That’s something that’s become really important to me even over the past few months. Just stepping back and realizing ‘Wow, I’m super blessed to have this opportunity and find what I love’. A lot of people go their whole entire lives searching for something like that.”

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