ANDERSON, Ind. (AP) – Erin Crocker always figured she’d face a higher standard as a race-car driver. And she knew it would take more than top finishes to turn heads.

After 16 years of racing quarter-midgets, mini-sprint and winged sprint cars, and even trucks, she now has the biggest break of her career.

Ford Motor Racing chose the 23-year-old Massachusetts native over about two dozen other women for a new initiative designed to eventually launch NASCAR’s first female star.

“You’d always hear things, like A girl doesn’t belong in the sport,”‘ Crocker said. “But I think if you’ve got the skill and get the respect, you’ll be fine.”

Only a handful of women have reached the top levels in a sport that remains almost exclusively a man’s world even now, 27 years after Janet Guthrie became the first woman to drive in the Indianapolis 500.

Guthrie, Lyn St. James and Sarah Fisher have run Indy cars. Shawna Robinson tried stock cars. Kelly Sutton and Tina Gordon are regulars on NASCAR’s truck circuit this season. So far, none has made it big. Ford and Crocker hope to change that.

The women vying to take part in the program were chosen by Ford officials, along with St. James and Bob East, a prominent midget car owner who helped train NASCAR champions Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon.

The four finalists – Crocker, Michelle Theriault, Lynsey Tilton and Alison MacLeod – were invited to a two-day tryout last month.

Ford decided to go with Crocker, who grew up driving quarter-midgets in Wilbraham, Mass., and was the first woman to qualify for the Knoxville Nationals in a sprint car.

“We want someone who is a great driver, who is properly trained,” said John Szymanski, Ford’s director of sponsor development. “The fact she is a woman, we feel, is the trump card.”

The plan now is for Ford representatives to scout Crocker’s races in the World of Outlaws series before giving her another test drive. If all goes well, Crocker could join East’s midget team later this year.

NASCAR started a similar program, “Drive for Diversity,” this year with five drivers – four blacks and one woman – who are now driving late-model cars.

“When we have more women as part of pit crews and drivers and fans, we think the opportunities will be greater for women drivers,” NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said. “That’s good for the sport.”

The four finalists from Ford’s program came from a variety of backgrounds.

MacLeod, a 14-year-old from Ontario whom Ford identified as a long-term prospect, has competed the last three years in go-karts. She was the only female with a podium finish at last year’s winter nationals in Daytona, Fla. Theriault, 18, is from Alpharetta, Ga., and drives on the Hooters Cup series. She was chosen as the Legends’ series most improved driver at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2001. Tilton, 17, drives in Arizona and had eight top-five finishes last year on the go-kart circuit. Before that, she raced motorcycles and BMX bikes.

During the tryouts, the drivers went through a series of physical exercises as well as an on-track test at the bumpy, paved, one-quarter mile track.

East, who watched from the infield, kept an eye on the stopwatch. But he was more interested in the intangibles – communication and how the drivers responded to coaching – than speed.

“Basically, you’re looking at car control, how they catch onto things, whether they squeeze the throttle,” he said. “Midgets are one of the hardest cars to drive, and it gives them a good idea of where they’re at.”

The drivers ran about 10 laps before pulling into the infield to discuss their runs with East.

St. James, who drove in seven Indianapolis 500s from 1992-00, believes programs like Ford’s are beginning to open the door for a new generation of women.

Crocker knows it will take more than Ford’s backing to advance. She needs to win.

“I’ve always said being a woman in the sport has a lot of advantages and disadvantages,” she said. “Being a woman opens doors. But once you get in the door, you have to do more.”