Jennifer Jo Cobb is about to perform on a considerably bigger stage, and she won’t even have to leave home to do it.

Cobb, a 28-year-old Kansas City native and regular NASCAR Late Modified driver at I-70 Speedway in Odessa, Mo., will make her ARCA RE/MAX Series debut at this weekend’s BPU 200 at Kansas Speedway.

Kansas City's Jennifer JO Cobb can't wait to make her ARCA RE/MAX debut in her primary sponsor's big race.

“I’m ready to move on,” Cobb said. “And I think this could be the start of something.”

Cobb’s primary sponsor, Kansas City Board of Public Utilities, also is the primary sponsor of the ARCA RE/MAX race at Kansas Speedway, so it seemed natural that Cobb should step up in her sponsor’s big race.

But don’t think BPU forced her hand.

“BPU has been so good to me,” Cobb said. “I told them I wanted to race (in the BPU 200), and I told them I wanted their name on my car. They didn’t push me. I decided I wanted to be in this race.”

And BPU is tickled to have her.

In fact, during a media day last month to hype the race, BPU General Manager E. Leon Daggett predicted he’d hand the winner’s trophy to Cobb on raceday.

“When he says stuff like that, I don’t feel any pressure,” Cobb said. “I feel good. It gives me a good picture in my head, which is what I need. If he stood up there and said, ‘Well, I sure hope she gets in a couple of good laps and we’re behind her no matter what,’ that doesn’t do me any good.

“Is it realistic? If we get the car we want, definitely it’s possible. I’m not overconfident. I’m confident.”

But it might be a bit of a stretch to think Cobb could win her ARCA debut.

A racer since she was 18, Cobb is accustomed to running lighter cars on a shorter track. She normally races on a half-mile track; Kansas Speedway is a 11/2-mile tri-oval.

“A big difference is, the cars are a lot heavier,” Cobb said of the ARCA rides. “They’re 700 pounds heavier. But the biggest thing is aerodynamics. You can feel the wind move your car around. You can develop an aero-push. You can actually spin out without being touched because of the wind.”

To prepare for the change, Cobb went to Lowes Motor Speedway in Charlotte, N.C., a 11/2-mile oval, and turned around 100 hot laps.

“It gave me a feel for a bigger car,” Cobb said. “It gave me a feel for the draft. It was an awesome experience.”

Cobb actually predicts an easier time in the ARCA race than in her I-70 races at least as far as driving is concerned.

“Straightaways are the easiest part of racing,” Cobb said. “I-70’s a half-mile. This a mile-and-a-half. All in all, this should be easier. That’s why Winston Cup drivers aren’t crazy about the little race tracks.”

Cobb is crazy about racing and sees ARCA as the next logical step in her career.

“My goal is to do four to six ARCA races this year, and race ARCA full-time next season,” she said. “And it’s mostly because of this track. I don’t know that I’d be thinking about this caliber of racing if not for Kansas Speedway. There are so many local drivers who see it’s possible.”

Cobb’s ultimate goal is to join NASCAR’s Winston Cup series.

She tried to take a step in that direction during the aforementioned media day, which coincided with a Goodyear tire test by three Cup veterans.

Cobb a communications major at Kansas University who’s two semesters away from graduation works for a weekly Kansas City motorsports television show.

In her role as reporter for that show, Cobb asked the Cup racers Jeff Gordon, Jimmy Spencer and John Andretti a question about short-track racing.

But she prefaced the question with a plug.

“Next time you’re putting a team together, I wish you’d keep me in mind,” she said.

Her eyes gleamed when asked about it later.

“Yeah, you liked that?” she asked. “You think they’ll remember me?”