FERNS: The Next Generation

INDIANAPOLIS — My passion for motorsports began at a young age.

I first sat in a race car, a quarter midget, when I was 6 years old and had instant butterflies; like love at first sight. I remember buckling myself in, reaching for the pedals and acting like I was racing, although the car was up on stands.

I didn’t want to get out of the car unless it was coming home with me.

I was hooked.

After an hour of sitting in the quarter midget, my parents pulled me out — and the car came home with us.

In all honesty, although my mom and dad are responsible for introducing me to the sport, I’m sure they didn’t foreshadow their daughter carving a 22-plus-year career out of what was intended to be a family hobby. Yet here we are.

Recently, I have spent some time at quarter-midget and micro-sprint races throughout the state of Indiana. While attending these events, I have paid attention to the racing, interacted with some of the families and young racers and observed the competitive environment(s) from an objective point of view.

Here is some of what I learned:

Like everything else in racing and life, the cost of quarter-midget racing is insane.

The NASCAR Youth series does a great job of giving greater visibility and insight for the young drivers to receive opportunities in motorsports through their programs and race structure, including scheduling races at NASCAR tracks, taking a lap around IMS, the Car IQ Fab Four program and others.

It is important to remind the kids that even if they don’t want to be a “driver” per say, but they still like racing, there are other career paths in motorsports available such as mechanic, engineer, media, marketing, officiating and management.

The track and on-site facilities may have changed a bit since I raced there, but U.S. 24 Speedway, located west of Logansport, Ind., still puts on some of the best micro-sprint racing.

The technology and data now available in micro-sprint racing is wicked.

If I had a young one, I would run them in quarter midgets for two to three years to learn the fundamentals of racing and then move them on to micro sprints.

Parents should allow their kids the space to decide if racing really is their passion. They will show you through their actions and dedication. My dad recognized at a very young age that racing was what I loved to do — before I even knew what a “passion” was.

Quarter midgets and micros are both important series and vehicles to foster and nurture growth and development in a young racer’s career.

I am aware there are other options available to start in racing, such as outlaw karts and go-karts, but those were not observed and not a segment of the sport with which I am familiar. Consider my bias, I started in quarter midgets, Bandoleros and micros.

The experiences I had as a young racer were defining moments and essential to my career evolution — both on and off the track.

Every person is going to have their own opinion and recommendation(s) based on their own subjective experience. It is crucial to be mindful of that when deciding what path may be best for what the overall goal(s), budget and personal interest(s) may be.

I’m so thankful my parents brought the quarter midget home with us on that summer day in 2002.

“If you can find a passion at a young age, … you can be 65 and still love that passion and still have a reason to dance out of bed and down the hall every morning.” — Stevie Nicks

THIS ARTICLE IS REPOSTED FROM THE July 24 EDITION OF <a href=”https://speedsportinsider.com”>SPEED SPORT INSIDER</a>
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