Most kids dream is to be just like their dad and I was no different. My dad started racing go-karts when he was 14 years old. I have always loved racing and wanted to follow in my dad’s footsteps. I started racing my dirt go-kart when I was eight years old, and I’ve loved every second of it.

Racing is a sensation like no other. When I am racing, I am the go-kart. I can feel everything that happens. If it is a little sideways, I can feel it 100 percent. Since I can feel this, I am able to think about and figure out what I need to do in order to fix it to make me go faster and race better. It is just me, my kart and the track.

Racing is a mental sport. It is too loud to hear anybody unless they start screaming at the top of their lungs. You are in your own little kart, so there is nobody to talk to besides yourself. After every turn, I sit there reflecting on how I could have made that turn better and what I did well with it. After the race is over, I can think about what I need to do in order to make my go-kart faster for the next race. There are no friends when you are racing because it is so intense out there. Nothing else matters when I am racing.

When I race, I feel nothing. Every pain and thought in my head goes away the second I step onto that track. I don’t even feel like I am breathing when I race. Racing literally takes my breath away and my body feels weightless. I cannot describe the feelings I get from racing. It is an emotional rollercoaster that you have to experience first hand.

When I am stressed, I race. If I get into a big fight with my dad, I just go outside, get in my kart and race any bad emotions away. When I am done, I feel ten times better and I am more relaxed. This really helps with my relationship with my dad because he gets it. Racing is a family sport in our house. My older brother and sister both race, my dad started racing when he was 14. When I have to race against my sister, it gets very competitive because neither one of us wants to lose to the other. My mom is like the family paramedic. She deals with all of the injuries we get from racing, which can be anywhere from a minor cut to a broken bone. Racing is definitely a giant risk that I would take again and again.

I remember a couple of my injuries that make me cringe just thinking about them. Once when I was racing, I got a concussion because somebody hit my tire and then jumped over me. While they were jumping over me, they hit me in the head with their cart in the process. That was the most painful injury I’d ever had until about a month or two ago. I was in the middle of a race and I was feeling good. Then out of nowhere, somebody hits my tire and traveled over me, but this time, he landed on top of my shoulder. All of the weight from his kart and him was pressed on my shoulder and I could not really move it. But, that is the small price to pay in order to do what I love.

Even though the risk is huge, not racing is not an option because it is such a family-oriented event. Not being able to race in my house is like not being able to breathe; it just does not end well. I love that everybody in my house loves racing. It helps us bond better since we all have something that we are interested in, in common.

I cannot wait to be able to graduate to racing actual cars like my older brother does. My older brother Cam won the championship race at Wilmot recently. When I do really well in a race, my family is always there to support and back me up. But when I do poorly, I can always see my dad on the sidelines screaming, “What are you doing?” Sometimes I question why I race when I do something really stupid because I fully agree with my dad at certain points. But then I get this amazing feeling after it is all over and I cannot imagine myself not racing.

Once racing is in your blood, you cannot get it out. It is an addiction like no other for me. Even if I am not racing, I have to be doing something racing related; whether it is watching races on television or going to the track to watch people. There have even been a few times where my family and I have traveled around the country just to watch races —all dirt of course. Racing is a sport that is not only fun to watch, but is also fun to do, because everybody just gets so into it.

When I am older, I want my family to be able to experience the same adrenaline that I feel when I am racing. It brings my family closer together and I could not be more thankful for it.