Born in Suffolk, Virginia in 1986, Norfleet's interest in racing began at age 7, when her father, NASCAR driver Bobby Norfleet, doubled the battery power of a Hot WheelsBarbie car to increase its speed. Norfleet claims her racing career began at age 14, when she began competing in kart racing events; she went on to attempt a career in drag racing at the local and regional level. In 2000, Norfleet switched to entry levelspec 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. Norfleet attended local late model events at tracks near her Augusta, Georgia home, starting her Late Model career in 2004. She 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.
Controversy
In March 2013, a New York Times article reported that there were numerous inconsistencies in Norfleet's self-promotion efforts. They observe that she has only raced in one low level event, where she ran one lap before parking her car. She also 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, which she claimed was the first to be received by an African-American woman, is a kind that any driver who wishes to acquire is able to purchase. Suggesting that she is making an effort to subvert the sport's development process, NASCAR's vice president for public affairs has said, “I am uncomfortable with Tia representing herself in the way that she has.” Norfleet responded that the accusations were "a biased, smear campaign". Her father responded to the allegations by calling them a "witchhunt", by posting pictures of Tia's name on four separate licenses, and refuting some of the allegations. Tia confirmed that she did indeed have a criminal record, and that her only NASCAR event was indeed a "start and park", but also stated that she had never claimed to be a Nationwide Series driver even though she was shown with a NNS patch on her firesuit.
