CEDAR FALLS - The first time she did it, some thought it was a fluke.

But when Jill George qualified for the Yankee Dirt Track Classic in Farley again this season, she may have changed a few minds.

A year ago, George became the first woman to qualify for the finals at the Yankee Dirt Track Classic. She not only repeated the feat on Sept. 20, she also posted a top-10 finish.

"To make the Yankee finals two years in a row is pretty neat," George said while preparing for this Saturday's Vault World of Outlaws World Finals at 'The Dirt Track' at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. "One time is a fluke, and twice is … we've kind of made it."

After an up-and-down 2008 summer season, George has saved her best racing for late in the year.

She qualified for the Liberty 100 in West Liberty and finished 11th and was 11th at the Spec Motor Nationals on Sept. 12 at Farley.

"We had some pretty successful moments," George said. "This is my fifth year racing, and I think we made huge strides this season. Looking back on it, this easily has been our most successful season."

George feels it could have been even better, but she spent a good portion of her season racing on asphalt believing she'd be invited back to the NASCAR Drive for Diversity progam, the same one she participated in last October. But NASCAR put an age limit of 25 on the program's participants, eliminating George from consideration.

"Last year's Drive for Diversity was a great experience, not so much on the track, but a lot with the relationships I created," George said. "With that experience, we did everything they told us to do, which was get asphalt experience, and then the age limit kind of burst our bubble.

"We were switching back and forth, and it seemed like I was always taking something from dirt to asphalt and asphalt to dirt. We gave up a lot of seat time on dirt tracks to race asphalt and then … I've got mixed emotions about it."

George is excited about the opportunity in North Carolina, where she will face some of the top dirt late model drivers in the nation, including Steve Francis and Shannon Babb.

George spent seven days in late February and early March working with former NASCAR and Indy car driver Andy Hillenburg, who is also owner of the FASTRACK Racing School. During her time in North Carolina, she participated in a time trial at the Dirt Track at Lowe's and was the 27th-fastest car out of 70-plus entries.

While George feels she's making great progress in her late model, she's less confident about her abilities of getting her team's hauler to Concord, N.C., and, specifically, through the Blue Ridge Mountains

"I can drive the hauler, but probably not through the mountains," George laughed. "That would be interesting."

The World of Outlaws race, which also includes a sprint-car event, can be seen live on the Speed Network from 8-11 p.m.

Contact Jim Nelson at (319) 291-1521 or jim.nelson@wcfcourier.com