Girls got guts!

[DarkSkies]

We stopped to get some gas the other morning and I spied this Jr Dragster. I knew it was a kids' dragster, but was real surprised when I talked to the owner. It was his 9 year old daughter that races it, with his help and support. Her 10 year old friend races too, and the families are all in it with them together.

I was intrigued when I heard this and I had to know more.

Apparently it all started with her Dad, a guy named Pete. Pete has run heavy street machines at various tracks for a bunch of years, so he knows his stuff. His daughter and her friend were always around the cars and asking questions. They wanted to try...

[DarkSkies]

As I said, Pete has run heavy street at the tracks, from a 71RT Charger to the modified L-88 Corvette he now runs. He helped the girls build the dragster.

It's pretty safe, they're only using a briggs & stratton 5hp motor. They can get up to 45 mph or so.

He says the girls have a blast, and encourages other parents out there to do the same. He said there are a lot of younger kids getting into the sport, with parental supervision, of course.

I thought it was a cool way for Pete to continue doing what he loves and at the same time get all his family to actively participate.

This would make a great human interest newspaper article.

[DarkSkies]

Pics of the Junior Dragster

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[DarkSkies]

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[DarkSkies]

For those out there looking for inexpensive advertising, the sides of this dragster are clean and currently have no advertising. Pete says they could use some sponsors. Anyone interested hit me up and I'll give you his e-mail.

Also, Speedy here used to race for fun and the adrenalin rush. I wondered if he could tell us something about these Jr Dragsters. :HappyWave:

[nitestrikes]

As I said, Pete has run heavy street at the tracks, from a 71RT Charger

My friend used to race a 71RT charger on the streets of yonkers. Those were the days. Great top end for such a heavy car.
Nice story Dark, hope the girls win some trophies.

[surfstix1963]

Great way for the family to interact w/ each other and spend some quality time together.

[DarkSkies]

Manchester Girl, 14, Gets Green Flag For NASCAR Dream



April 22, 2010|By JESSE LEAVENWORTH, The Hartford Courant
STAFFORD — Hot pink and purple are the colors of race car driver Kaitlyn Brice, a throttle-down girl revving up for her first stock car competition on Saturday.

Kaitlyn, 14, will be the youngest NASCAR-licensed driver ever to race at Stafford Motor Speedway, a track official confirmed.

Although she can't legally drive on state roads for another two years, the Manchester teen was sanctioned to contend on the half-mile oval at Stafford after NASCAR lowered the minimum age for entry-level drivers from 16 to 14, starting this year.
Not everyone agrees that was a good idea, but Kaitlyn's parents say that safety is paramount and that their younger daughter has the smarts, maturity and four-barrel passion to run with the roaring pack.

She's had a thirst for acceleration from the start, and is "a bit of a speed freak," mother Lisa Brice said, recounting Kaitlyn's first jetliner take-off several years ago: "She was saying, 'Go faster! Faster!'"

Kaitlyn's fellow speedster is her father, Jim "Smokey" Brice, a 39-year-old truck driver who has raced in NASCAR's Dare Stock division for the past five years. Kaitlyn has been her father's head cheerleader, racing student and assistant mechanic, once telling her mother on the phone that she had to call her back because she and dad were "working on the tranny."

On Saturday, father and daughter also will be competitors. The two will race in the same entry-level division at Stafford's Tech-Net Spring Sizzler. They'll race in similar cars, 1986 Monte Carlos with 305-cubic-inch engines.

Brice needled his daughter about a possible bump and shove.
"All I know is she better not get in my way, 'cause I'll move her," he said, laughing.
"No you won't!" Kaitlyn replied.

Gasoline and asphalt are in the family's blood. Jim Brice's father, Jim Sr., raced on the figure-eight track at the former Riverside Park Speedway in Agawam, Mass. The family-owned business, Smokey's Racing ( www.smokeysracing.com (http://www.smokeysracing.com/)) now has five cars in a six-bay garage in Stafford.

Kaitlyn's Monte Carlo is emblazoned with a purple "13" — her birthday is Feb. 13, 1996 — yellow and black Batman logos and a figurine of the Caped Crusader tied to the roll cage. The Illing Middle School honors student calls the car "Batman" because she was about to board that particular ride last year at an amusement park when her father telephoned her about the lowered age for rookie drivers.

http://articles.courant.com/images/pixel.gif

http://articles.courant.com/2010-04-22/news/hc-ct-nascar-girl-0422.artapr22_1_nascar-dream-non-nascar-stafford-motor-speedway

[captnemo]

Always enjoy the stories you manage to discover, dark. This is a good example of something that keeps the family together.

[7deadlyplugs]

What a great car Dark. I think I would be a little more protective of my kid but to each his own.

That's crazy that a girl 14, is racing in a NASCAR race. We will have to keep an eye out for her name as she gets older and enters the adult races. Wishing her lots of luck.