Little League racing on the rise
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Liz Allison
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By Liz Allison, Special to Turner Sports Interactive
September 5, 2001
10:48 AM EDT (1448 GMT)
COMMENTARY
There seems to be a new sport on the rise these days for kids…you guessed it -- racing.
It is estimated that 4,000 kids between the ages of 5 and 13 are racing around the country.
There are several different options as far as what to race, but the most popular cars seem to be Quarter midgets and Bandoleros.
Tracks like Lowe's Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Kentucky Motor Speedway all host Bandolero events throughout the summer months, giving kids a safe, well-supervised form of racing.
This sport however is not cheap and can actually be quite expensive. You can expect to lay out close to $7,000 just to get started. And that does not include the weekly cost of fuel, storage, tires, repairs and entry fees.
The "Summer Shootout" program held at different tracks around the country would then add travel expenses on top of your regular expenses. There is no doubt that you are not looking at the normal costs of participation for a kid's sport.
One might question the environment of a race track compared to say a ballpark or a soccer field. From a girl who has spent many nights at a track with my own kids, I can tell you that it's not much different from a ballpark.
You will see kids running around with each other in between events, eating the same food from the snack bar that you would get at a ballpark. The only difference is that you can't catch a foul ball at a race track!
Does every kid out there racing these cars want to be a race car driver when he or she grows up? Probably so!
Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon got started when they were kids in the Quarter Midgets. They both treasure the days they had as kids learning the ropes of the sport that would ultimately bring them professional glory -- Winston Cup wins.
Is fear a factor for the kids racing? And is it too much for the kids to strap in to all the safety equipment and head out on the track to race their fellow competitors? This form of racing is so safe for the kids. If there is any fear at all, it would be in the parents, not the kids. They just want to have fun and, oh yeah, win.
Matt Martin, the 9-year-old son of Winston Cup driver Mark Martin, is clearly one of the most visible kids out there racing today. He stared racing at the tender age of 7.
Matt tested Jeff Gordon's original Quarter Midget at Lowes Motor Speedway in 1998. He was hooked from that point on.
Matt now drives in the Senior Honda 120 Division and the Light GX 160, AA class in Florida twice a week.
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Mark Martin with his son Matt.
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"This is racing," is Mark's response to Matt's burgeoning racing career.
"You go out there and watch those kids race and you get back to where it all started. I love it," continued Mark who got more excited as we talked about it.
I could not help but get caught up in his excitement just hearing a proud Dad talk about his son.
New Little League on the rise? Well, I would say so.
There sure is a lot of promise for the future of the sport that we love so much. Just knowing that somewhere out there is another Tony Stewart or a Jeff Gordon getting in that valuable track time in between homework and birthday parties.
I will take the race track over the ballpark any day.
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