Naoko Kitami

Naoko Kitami (北見直子; Kitami Naoko) (born March 15, 2000) is a Randomese professional racecar driver. Since 2019, she has been a member of J.U.M.P, a RARCAR racing team. So far, she has won two races (2021 Chaos at Cloud City) and (2021 Zoom Zoom Brr 500). She is known for being the first and youngest Asian woman to join RARCAR.

Early life
Naoko Kitami was born on March 15, 2000 in Cloud City, Oneiria Island, Random Region to Japanese immigrants. Her father is a retired car mechanic and her mother is a retired Shinto priest who owns a chain of flower shops.

During her elementary school years, Kitami and her parents moved to Japan so they could be closer with relatives. It was during this time that Kitami began tuning in regularly to televised RARCAR races with her father and began aspiring to be like her favorite racers.

Kitami and her family ended up moving back to Oneiria Island when she was in the seventh grade, which was when she began partaking in many different sports. However, she found herself not enjoying any of them and still had her mind set on being a racecar driver.

Kitami graduated from Opal Haven Grammar School in 2018.

2019: Beginnings and media attention
On November 17, 2019, a then-19 year old Kitami was announced as RARCAR’s newest racer, making her the first and youngest Asian woman to affiliate with them. Due to this, RARCAR's announcement received mass press coverage. Many Randomese news journalists have cited Kitami joining RARCAR as "a step in the right direction".

In December that same year, Kitami made her official RARCAR debut in the Lake Cheesepuff 1000 race of that year. She ended up blowing a tire during the final lap and finishing the race in 4th place.

Chaos at Cloud City Win
On March 7, 2021, Kitami won 1st place at the Chaos at Cloud City race in her hometown of Cloud City, Oneiria Island. This event is notable in the RARCAR community due to Kitami's extremely shocked reaction upon being announced as the winner.

Kitami once again made headlines as the first Asian woman to win a racing tournament in the Random Region and frequently appeared on news programs and talk shows discussing her experiences and thoughts on her fame.

Zoom Zoom Brr 500 Win
Kitami once again finished in 1st place following the events of the Zoom Zoom Brr 500 race of August 22, 2021. After being given the trophy, Kitami made a special announcement thanking her family, friends and fans for supporting her throughout her career. Alongside this expression of gratitude, she also wished her teammate Joey Jim Jones a speedy recovery, as he got into a major crash moments before her victory.

Fried Chicken 500
Kitami continued to make waves in the media when she finished the 2022 Fried Chicken 500 race in 2nd place, falling short of winning against J.U.M.P. teammate Richie Thomlinson-Meapson. Thomlinson-Meapson took Kitami with him when he gave his victory speech and stated that "without [Naoko's] enthusiasm and faith in [himself]" he would not have won the tournament. Kitami and Thomlinson-Meapson high-fived each other afterwards, which caused the both of them to trend real-time on various social media sites and search engines.

Personal life
Kitami lives in Cloud City with her parents. She is currently attending Gauzy Meadow University, an online university based in Rainbow Falls.

Kitami has cited retired RARCAR racer Chad Engine as her role model. In an April 2021 interview with Random Racing Weekly, she admitted to "obsessively" collecting merchandise of him during her elementary and middle school years. Kitami also revealed that she was the president of a Chad Engine fanclub during her freshman year of high school.

Religion
During an interview in 2020, Kitami revealed that she is a follower of Shinto and that she and her parents travel to Japan to attend Shinto events and festivals. Kitami also revealed that during her childhood, her mother wanted her to become a performer of gagaku (雅楽), a style of classical music that is performed at shrines.

Comments
Oh yeah Kitami got 2nd at this year's Fried Chicken 500, might be worth adding

-- PizzaPizzaYumYum (talk) 18:15, 4 June 2021 (UTC)

omg yeah i'll add it later! ^_^

-- linkin park numb nightcore (talk) 18:55, 4 June 2022 (UTC)