A chat with 14-year-old Colton Bettis, who is making a name for himself in the pavement sprint car world, reveals that the young racer from Lutz, Fla., is mature beyond his years.
Bettis generated headlines in 2020 when he made his pavement sprint car debut at the age of 10. The switch to open-wheel cars came following a season of super mini late model competition in which the 9-year-old rookie notched a feature victory.
When Bettis was 10, his grandfather, Tony Carreno, purchased a Hurricane chassis pavement sprint car with plans for Bettis to race it when the time was right. After several practice sessions with a restricted throttle, the team felt Bettis was ready to run with other cars.
“I ran my first race at Showtime Speedway, and Troy DeCaire and a bunch of other good drivers were in it,” remembered Bettis. “It was a winged race and I only got lapped by Troy DeCaire once, so that was pretty cool. After that first winged race, I ran non-winged at Showtime Speedway for the next year and a half.”
Bettis found success almost immediately. He captured a non-winged sprint car feature and won the Showtime Speedway Non-Winged Sprint Car Championship as a 12-year-old, becoming the youngest driver to claim a pavement sprint car title.
Bettis remembers the first time he drove a sprint car at speed.
“I thought it was very fast,” recalled Bettis. “I could feel all the vibrations and stuff even though I wasn’t up to speed. I practiced a couple of times and it got easier and easier every time I got in the car. I felt like I got used to the speed because I was so young. I kind of got more comfortable every time I got in it.
“We backed the throttle way back where I could barely get on the gas and stuff. It was probably only a quarter throttle. I think that, and the non-winged stuff, is what helped me with throttle control the most.”
Bettis got his start in racing at age 3 when his grandfather bought him a go-kart. His grandfather also built a small clay oval in the back of his property and started pulling him around with a rope attached to the back of the golf cart.
Once Bettis got familiar with using the brake and steering, they turned him loose and the rest is history.
The teenager is proving to be very versatile behind the wheel. Making his super late model debut in 2022, Bettis finished fifth after starting on the tail in a $10,000-to-win race. He found a top-three finish in his next start.
Last summer, Bettis traveled to Indiana to race at Anderson Speedway, home of the Little 500. Having never competed at the legendary high-banked speedway, and having never driven a midget, he won the USSA Kenyon Midget main event in convincing fashion.
Bettis is known as “The Bolt,” a nickname he earned during his karting days.
“I got that nickname from a guy named Ray Bragg in my kart days when I first started,” Bettis explained. “He called me ‘The Bolt’ because he said I always started in the back and came right through the pack. I was known for passing on the high side back then.”
Prior to the start of this season, Bettis asked his crew chief, Tra Pissott, what he could do to improve as a driver.
“Me and Tra were sitting at lunch one day,” Bettis said. “We were on the way to the race track and we stopped for lunch. I told him, ‘It’s time for me to step up.’ He told me, ‘I’m not pushing you. I’ve never pushed you. But you’re in that car, not me, so you do whatever feels comfortable to you.’
“I asked him what I need to do to get three or four tenths. He told me to drive it in there and the car would stick. So I drove it in there, and it stuck. The car actually felt a lot better handling when I drove it in there.”
Bettis took notice of Pissott’s advice and won the Southern Sprint Car Shootout Series opener on Jan. 13 at Auburndale Speedway. Then, three weeks later during twin 35-lap winged feature events at Showtime Speedway, he closed on eventual winner Davey Hamilton Jr. late in the race to finish second.
In the second 35-lap feature, he claimed his second feature victory of the year.
Bettis finished second a week later during the Dave Steele 125 at Showtime Speedway and was crowned the 2024 Dave Steele Sprint Car champion based on the three-race series.
In the process, he stalled Hamilton Jr., who has been the most dominant driver in Florida pavement sprint car circles the past two seasons.
It is apparent to many that “The Bolt” has arrived.
Even though Bettis prefers pavement sprint cars, he knows he will have to dabble in pavement late models soon if he is to advance his racing career.
“Like most, I’d like to someday make it to big-time racing on Sundays,” Bettis said. “But if I don’t, I just want to travel around racing sprint cars. I want to be a guy like Kody Swanson and Bobby Santos. Just getting in a sprint car and traveling across the world.”
Fast Facts
Birthday: Sept. 8, 2009
Hometown: Lutz, Fla.
Series: BG Products Southern Sprint Car Shootout Series
Sponsors: Rentalex Tools & Equipment, Rick’s Hauling, Morgan Exteriors, T&T Fabrication, Circle C’s Ranch, T. Carreno Fill Haul Inc., Jim’s Racing Engines, Tony Carreno