Danika Braun of Lihue, Kauai, is all about speed.

Danika, a fifth-grader at Kalaheo Elementary School, got her Jr. Dragsters license in August 2015. Since then, she’s been able to legally drive on a private track and in the past year has mastered the quarter-mile racetrack at Kauai Raceway Park.

It’s not a coincidence that Danika has a propensity for racing. Her dad, David Braun Jr., races motorbikes. Stepdad Sonny Suniga, a lead service technician at Aloha Kia on Kauai, spent many years racing Hondas.

And she’s named after NASCAR driver Danica Patrick.

But it was only when she first gave it a try last summer that Danika, 10, fell in love with it. Outfitted in a helmet, jacket and gloves, the 4-foot-9-inch youngster got into her 12-foot-long half-dragster at Kauai Raceway Park and accelerated with no holds barred.

Two drivers race at a time in a straight line halfway down a quarter-mile track.

“She was a little nervous, but she did it,” said Suniga. “She went. The whole family was surprised.”

Danika described the feeling of going 77 miles per hour as: “It like … pulls you.”

She received her Jr. Dragster license after demonstrating her basic driving and vehicle control abilities on the track six times in front of officials. Now she’s hooked and wants to make a career out of it.

She races once a month as part of the Garden Isle Jr. Dragsters, a club for racers between the ages of 8 and 17 that follows guidelines set by the National Hot Rod Association. Her time has been consistent. She’s reached 8.9 seconds on the one-eighth mile stretch every time she’s raced.

Danika placed fourth at the Fourth of July Races this summer and will be one of 15 racers, ranging in age from 8 to 17, participating in the 2016 State Championship Races at Kauai Raceway Park on Sunday.

NASCAR’s Patrick is one of Danika’s idols, as is Kauai dragster Kelsie Vierra, who has won numerous Wally trophies, drag racing’s most presitigous prize.

Vierra, now 18, races in the adult class. She was the previous owner of Danika’s half-scale Jr. Dragster — which has a five-horsepower single-cylinder engine capable of going up to 85 mph.

Vierra, a family friend, has also been a mentor to Danika, offering her tips on how to relax and prepare mentally before a race.

Danika said the most nerve-wracking part is just before the start of a race, when the driver needs to react quickly when the light turns green.

“You might get a bad reaction,” she said, like starting too slowly or hitting the gas before the light turns green. She practices for this tense moment at home on a simulator.

Off the track she’s just like any other fifth-grader, playing basketball and participating in Girl Scouts. Among her toys is a collectible Courtney Force race car.

Though her older brother and younger sister are not racers, the whole family supports her by cheering for her at her monthly races at Kauai Raceway Park. Suniga’s company, Aloha Kia, sponsors her.

Suniga said racing helps keep Danika motivated in school. She has to keep up her grades to race, and the Garden Isle Jr. Dragsters, which currently has 15 members, recognizes individual academic achievements.

While she has her sights set on a professional racing career, for now she said she can’t wait to repaint the deep purple dragster her favorite color, teal. And she’ll have her driving skills down well before the legal age to get a driver’s license in the state — six years down the road.