My Son is a Future Star

[Lost in the South]

Took my 6 year old son out tonight for his first test drive in a quarter midget. Did pretty well the first few laps, then got a little loose coming out of four and headed straight across the grass, first at dad and then towards the back straight wall. He turned LEFT at the last second, gathered it up and did another lap before we caught up to him and gave him the kill-it sign.

I think he's ready for turn one at Indy. He's not intimidated running straight at a solid white wall and then turning as late as possible.

We put a little more wing in the rear (actually tightened up the throttle cable) and his last two runs were flawless.

Now I need to decide if his interest is higher than the $300 PlayStation2 I have covered with dust upstairs. That, and talk mommy into watching her son run at a wall every other weekend.

[ August 20, 2002: Message edited by: Lost in the South ]

[InertZero]

Good luck to your son!

[SoDak_IndyFan]

ROTFLMAO...

To steal a phrase from Big Wheel Hawaii:

"Priceless, just priceless."

(BTW, my sympathies to your wife )

[KevMcNJ]

dont waste time in a 1/4 midget. buy him a super modified

[slinger]

Right on Kev.Get him used to those wide tires early on.

[NDGator]

Whew, I thought STARrcam was adopting.

I hope he is an IRL Star.

[DedFlrs]

Enjoyed your story Lost, hope there are more chapters! Thanks for sharing

[Eagle104]

Originally posted by NDGator:
<STRONG>I hope he is an IRL Star.</STRONG>

Sounds like it's a safe bet when:
"He turned LEFT at the last second, gathered it up and did another lap...."

[Joe Baiza]

Originally posted by Lost in the South:
<STRONG>.....I think he's ready for turn one at Indy..</STRONG>

If he got to hit the kill switch, he did better than Scott Sharp at Indy last year.



Cute story ... I'll bet you're proud ... I would be proud. Good luck to him and have loads of fun.

[Coach P]

Originally posted by Lost in the South:
<STRONG>Took my 6 year old son out tonight for his first test drive in a quarter midget. Did pretty well the first few laps, then got a little loose coming out of four and headed straight across the grass, first at dad and then towards the back straight wall. He turned LEFT at the last second, gathered it up and did another lap before we caught up to him and gave him the kill-it sign.

I think he's ready for turn one at Indy. He's not intimidated running straight at a solid white wall and then turning as late as possible.

We put a little more wing in the rear (actually tightened up the throttle cable) and his last two runs were flawless.

Now I need to decide if his interest is higher than the $300 PlayStation2 I have covered with dust upstairs. That, and talk mommy into watching her son run at a wall every other weekend.

[ August 20, 2002: Message edited by: Lost in the South ]</STRONG>

I raced quarter-midgets for 3 years in my youth and just to let you know I loved it! It was a lot of fun. I raced in florida for the Tangerine Invitational. I raced at Big Z on the southeast side of Indy (does anybody else remember that track?). I raced at Kokomo. I raced at Mini-Indy speedway. and probably a few others I've forgotten. I remember my parents used to have to pull me out of the midget because I was physically worn out. My dad used to tell me that I can't be tired and worn out cause all I was doing was pushing a pedal and turning a steering wheel. He just didn't understand how my arms would constantly flex and relax over and over lap after lap. Flexing in the turns and relaxing in the short straight aways. Had a great duel with a kid named J.D. Nash from Pittsboro at Kokomo's quarter midget track. Best race of my short career. We swapped 1st and 2nd position every other turn and at Kokomo, when you come out of turn two, the sun is setting and staring you in the face where your blinded for what is only like a half a second, but it feels like eternity. My last quarter-midget race of my career was the very first quarter midget race at the Mini-Indy speedway (which is on the northeast corner of the state fairgrounds). I recently looked at the program from that race and saw names like Ed Carpenter, and Tony George Jr. next to mine. Sort of cool, I thought.

Sorry about the book I wrote, but you took me down memory lane. Kind of like the memories your son will gain from his quarter midget experience. By the way, the reason I got out of quarter midget racing was because it got too expensive to move up to bigger midgets and be competitive, but without a doubt 3 of the best years of my youth.

[ August 21, 2002: Message edited by: Coach P ]

[BigWheelHawaii]

Aloha Buddie,,,

Well he's already doing better than "Hannibal Wreckter" does most of the time...

Good Luck,,,maybe it's time to contact,,,Fast Eddie,,, that seat might be open...

[skypigeon]

[TxIndyFan]

He's not intimidated running straight at a solid white wall and then turning as late as possible.

Only because he's not old enough and not experinced enough to know what it means to run straight into that solid white wall.

Analogies may work - at least I hope so...

[Cant_hit_apex]

Don't sign with any of those Brazillian cigarette companies until you're sure you can't get some of that Bud money.