The 19-year-old from Fort Mill, South Carolina suffered a concussion in a Pro Late Model crash at North Carolina’s Hickory Motor Speedway in April, an incident thatkept her off the track for most of the year. All of Robusto’s planned ARCA appearances with Venturini Motorsports were scrapped and postponed to 2024.

Robusto is feeling a sense of catharsis as she makes final preparations for Friday’sGeneral Tire 150 at Phoenix Raceway, an ARCA Menards Series race that doubles as the season-opener for the West Series. Having anticipated this moment for months, she is more motivated than ever to showcase her talent in front of a national audience.

“I’ve gotten a lot of practice in and plenty of time on the sim,” Robusto said. “I think we’re going to fire off with a really good setup, and the 45-minute practice we’re getting is going to give me plenty of time to get used to the heavy car. It’ll be different from everything I’ve driven so far, but I’m excited to finally make my [ARCA] debut.”

Robusto’s original plan was to make her first ARCA start in the East Series race at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway in May followed by a diverse schedule of short tracks, road courses and an intermediate. Instead, lingering effects from her concussion persisted through the summer. On nearly every occasion Robusto tried climbing into a race car, she experienced dizziness, poor hand-eye coordination or equilibrium issues, all of which prolonged her recovery.

Yet Robusto maintained a constant presence at the race track. Not one to back down from adversity, she utilized all the resources at her disposal to ensure she would be ready once cleared to race.

“I did everything I could to stay in the loop,” Robusto said. “I still went to all of the races that I would have been in to help [Venturini Motorsports], but I also stayed on top of my recovery with the medical team and trainers at the Toyota Performance Center.

“Everything was mentally challenging, but I’ve gotten back into the groove over these past few months.”

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Becoming more of a student by conversing with engineers, accumulating laps in the simulator and observing how the ARCA cars operated were crucial steps in Robusto’s recovery process. The next involved returning to the track as a driver.

After finishing 16^th in a Pro Late Model race at Nashville, the same track where she intended to make her ARCA debut, Robusto last month embarked on a full schedule in the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at Florida’s New Smyrna Speedway. She was consistent in the Pro Late Model class, scoring four top fives and a fourth-place points finish.

The exhausting but relatively flawless week at New Smyrna provided Robusto a confidence boost; it reinforced how much she had improved during the several months away from on-track competition.

“I think I’m stronger both physically and mentally than I was before my crash,” Robusto said. “I made it through [seven races] of being in a car at Speedweeks, and I felt really good. There were no problems, and we did really well throughout the week, so I’m definitely ready to start ARCA after waiting nearly a year.”

Robusto’s delayed ARCA debut at Phoenix will be much different than what Nashville was supposed to be. Rather than facing a little more than a dozen cars on a half-mile oval, Robusto is going up against42 other competitors at the largest facility on which she has raced to date.

Those obstacles are only a small part of the learning process Robusto has been going through in the weeks leading up to Phoenix. She’s still trying to ascertain how to handle a heavier ARCA car, along with the aerodynamics that are more prevalent in the series compared to the late models Robusto normally races.

Although Phoenix is going to be a demanding race, Robusto feels calm and collected after having formulated a game plan with crew chief Kevin Reed Jr.. Expectations are high for Robusto in Friday’s General Tire 150; she’s confident she will be among the frontrunners once it comes time to determine a winner.

“I want to be competitive,” Robusto said. “So many cars are going to be [at Phoenix], but from where I am speed-wise on the sim, we should be competitive throughout the race and be inside the top five or three. If we can, I want to fight for the win.”

Following Phoenix, Robusto plans to follow a similar outline of races that were mapped out before her concussion diagnosis. Her schedule features a variety of events across the ARCA platform, including stops at Sonoma Raceway and Kansas Speedway.

Robusto has waited long enough for her chance to finally turn a competitive lap in an ARCA car. She enters her rookie ARCA season rejuvenated and determined to build on the success she has already enjoyed at the short-track level.