Big things happening around here in 2018. I’ve been following MyRacer to races since 1997 when we started dating. This July I will be “in the thick of it” for 21 years and it doesn’t look like I’ll be out of it any time soon. This year, MyLittleRacer started racing. I know, I know, it’s crazy! He’s only 5 but he is so much like his Dad, we knew when he said he wated to race, he meant it.

Back in October, we took MyLittleRacer and Racette to a “drive a quarter midget” day at a nearby track. If you’ve never heard of these or been to one, here is what it boils down to. Some drivers at the track bring their different types of cars out so parents can bring their children to test one out to see if they like it before buying the whole kit-n-kaboodle themselves. Some track staff donate their time, they let each child go out on the track alone and someone mans the remote brake control just in case the child gets carried away. They do maybe 10-15 laps and they receive an “I tested a quarter midget” (or whatever), medal commemorating the day. It’s a really nice little setup and a great idea if you’re thinking about getting your child into racing. They get to try out a REAL car and see other kids driving them too, letting them know that it is just like any other sport they might join, kids are into it! MyRacette is very into all things pretty and “girl-ish” and even though I point out girl race car drivers everywhere we go, she doesn’t seem to really bat an eye, it’s just not holding her interest. Now I’m going to be completely honest, I knew, I KNEW, she would not be a fan but MyRacer wanted them both to try them out, just in case. He just wanted to run out and buy two cars but if MyLittleRacer or Racette had no interest in racing, then we just wasted a pretty penny on cars no one would drive and we’d have to store them somewhere until we could unload them. This route was a good compromise. Here is where this “test day” really comes in handy. MyRacette was miserable from the time we made her put the suit on. She didn’t like getting strapped into the car, or the ugly gloves, or the helmet messing her hair. She drove slowly, tentatively, so much so that the track guys actually flagged her down so MyRacer could talk to her to try and get her to go faster, which only made it worse. She HATED it. She was one of the last few kids to go so she had seen what was going on and how it all worked beforehand, it just wasn’t her cup of tea.

A little back story here, MyRacette received a power wheels race car for her first birthday from her grandparents. She was still too small for it really but it was on clearance and since it wasn’t assembled yet with the power wheels stickers, I knew I could customize it and maybe make her a little more drawn to it. I made little decals with her name and daddy’s car number so it was something she was used to seeing but other than sitting in it for a few minutes here or there, she was 4 before she really even bothered to drive it. That same year, I bought a purple Disney Princess power wheels at a city-wide yard sale and she fell in love. She would change her princess dresses and drive around with her dolls strapped in for hours. She had a “dedicated route” because she didn’t like to get stuck and wait for someone to come help her. She drove that more than anything before or since, best $40 I spent.  MyLittleRacer was a completely diferent story.

I knew when he was only a year old that he was a completely different breed. He had his eyes on those power wheels cars from day one. Anything with wheels, he was all over it. As soon as he was able he was crawling toward the power wheels, climbing in, crying for MyRacette to drive him around because he couldn’t reach the pedals. He was fixated, he watched everything she did, from turning the wheels, to pressing the pedal, to plugging it in to charge afterward. His LittleRacer brain was turning and banking all of this information for when his little feet could reach. When that day came, it was mind-bending. I sat there watching him from the back porch, steering with purpose towards where he wanted to go, instinctively knowing how to turn the wheel while in reverse to get himself un-stuck or turned around, it was crazy. This little one year old could drive circles around his five year old sister, because that definitely WAS, his cup of tea.

Try a quarter-midget day was no exception. His eyes lit up when we pulled into the track parking lot. He practically jumped into the driver’s suit getting ready for his turn. His face was priceless. I was in trouble. He went out onto the track and he was a natural. He was lifting going into the corners, he was heavy on the gas down the straightaways, he overcorrected naturally when the back end got loose, it was amazing. He was fast and running a natural line, MyRacer couldn’t believe it. The look of pure joy on MyLittleRacer’s face when he was done was something I’ll remember forever. This was his purple princess power wheels. So MyRacer hopped right on the classified sites.

It was weeks of decisions and research. What class should we start MyLittleRacer out in, what tracks could he race at. We ultimately settled on a kid kart. He has raced at four different tracks so far in 2018 and he is loving every minute of it. He is getting better and faster every week, running a better line and getting used to the different turns at each track. The kid kart classes aren’t huge, sometimes there is only one other cart, sometimes three or four but that’s just fine, he’s leaning just the same, and he loves it. He has 3 wins under his belt so far and he earned each one. He doesn’t get discouraged when he is beaten, even if the competition is a couple of 8 year olds with more experience on their last year in the class, he drives just as hard and we are so proud.  He has spun out, hit other karts, and even hit a tire track marker during a feature. Sometimes his kart shuts off, that’s just how it goes sometimes, he takes it all in stride and keeps turning left. MyRacette still has no desire to get behind the wheel and that’s fine, she will find her next purple power wheels somewhere else. MyRacer is proud his racing legacy continues with our son, and our daughter will build us something completely different and amazing in her own time.