Shauntia Latrice "Tia" Norfleet was born on May 1,1986 and is the first and only African American woman to hold a NASCAR driver's license.
11 Facts About Tia Norfleet
In 2000, Tia Norfleet switched to entry level spec racing competing in Bandolero cars, then moving to late model stock car racing on short tracks starting with the 2004 racing season; she became the first female African-American driver to purchase a NASCAR Late Model Series racing license.
Tia Norfleet attended local late model events at tracks near her Augusta, Georgia home, starting her Late Model career in 2004.
Tia Norfleet claimed to begin competing in NASCAR national touring series competition starting in the summer of 2012, and was operating a grassroots funding initiative, claiming it would finance her racing career; however she did not make it to the track in a major series in 2012.
Tia Norfleet has several criminal offenses on her record, and according to public records is actually 26 years old, not 24 as she has claimed; in addition, the NASCAR license that she has received was the first to be received by an African-American woman.
Tia Norfleet's father responded to the allegations by calling them a "witchhunt", by posting pictures of Tia's name on four separate licenses, although it's unclear why because she is the first African-American woman to retain such a license regardless of how many she has.
Tia Norfleet did stand by his daughter by refuting some of the allegations.
Tia Norfleet confirmed that she did indeed have a criminal record, and that her only NASCAR event was indeed a "start and park", but stated that she had never claimed to be a Nationwide Series driver even though she was shown with a NNS patch on her firesuit, which could be purchased from several different sources.
The entry-level NASCAR license Tia Norfleet held does not require any vetting by a sanctioning body; it only requires an application and a fee.
Tia Norfleet has never held a license or been approved to compete in any professional NASCAR regional or touring series.
Tia Norfleet supports the Safe Teen Georgia Driving Academy program, providing driving instruction at Atlanta Motor Speedway on behalf of the group; in addition she is an ambassador for Safe America Driving.