LANCASTER, S.C. - "I did not intend for anybody to see these and now I'm exploited," says ex-Miss Sprint Cup Paige Duke. 

For the past year and half, 24-year-old Duke of Lancaster, South Carolina, has served as one of three Miss Sprint Cups.  She traveled across the country nearly every weekend to NASCAR races and events as an ambassador of the sport. 

Two weeks ago, a friend alerted Duke that naked pictures of her were circulating via email and message boards.  She says, "These were pictures I had sent an ex-boyfriend when I was 18.  This is the most embarrassing thing that could have ever happened to me."

Duke's attorneys have been working to have the six or seven images, which depict a fully nude Duke in her college dorm room at Clemson University six years ago,  pulled from the Internet. 

Duke has yet to speak to her ex-boyfriend.  "We're still investigating how these pictures got out there.  All we know is they came from his computer, he's the only person i sent them to," Duke says.

A week and a half ago, Sprint terminated Duke over the phone.  She says she was not offered a chance to explain the pictures, but understands she violated a morality clause in her contract.  She says, "I lost my job, the best job I could have ever asked for, it was perfect for me."

A Sprint Cup spokesperson tells FOX Charlotte, "We'll all miss her and wish her nothing but the best in her future."

Duke's fans miss her, too.  Two support pages have popped up on Facebook and the part time animal nurse's Twitter feed is full of supportive comments.  Duke is spending time with her family and her two dogs waiting and praying, she says, for the next chapter in her life to start.  "I just wanna set the record straight, I'm gonna own up to my mistakes.  It's something I did, I've cried enough tears over it, I'm tired of crying, I'm tired of hiding from everybody."

Duke says she hopes young girls learn from her mistake.  Her rule of thumb now: don't do anything you wouldn't want your grandma to see.