Back when I was 5 years old, my father put me on an old kart with a stock motor. I went around the track a good 5 times when my throttle hung. I was going full speed and not able to let off in the corner. I held on tight and made it around the track a few times, but then I flew of the track and into a thorn bush. Needless to say my mom wouldn't let me ride it anymore… or so she thought.
Fast forward 6 years to when I was 11. My family and I started going to the Delaware International Speedway, in Delmar, DE to watch the stock car races. In the begining we were going every other weekend but found it hard to keep up with the points, so we eventually ended up going every Saturday night. Our favorite class was the Super Late Model division, and we took an immediate liking to Donald Lingo Jr. and his style of driving. We would watch him run upfront week in and week out. My father and I started going down to the pits to have a closer look at the race cars and drivers. We always ended up at the LINGO pits, and eventually I started helping them do whatever they needed. I’d run to get wrenches, flashlights, etc. Then dad started talking to Donald Sr. and we both ended up getting on the crew. Donald won a few more races that year and actually ended up winning the points championship.
I kept telling dad that I wanted to race, and one night Donald heard me telling him. He spoke up and said that he had a kart and if dad wanted to I could race it at DMP to see if I had what it took. Well, dad said no thanks, that he had an old kart at home and an old motor from when he raced. Dad and I slapped it together and started racing it in the outlaw class against strokers with a limited motor and a stock appearing carbouretor. I was running this old stuff and my finish was 2nd place. I raced full time last year at DMP and I finished second in points for the championship with a points difference of only 17 pts! I had a very good rookie year, winning 6 races, and many top 5’s. At the 2008 awards banquet I was one of 5 people nominated by my peers for "SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR".This was such a big honor for me, and it will always be important to me for other racers to feel I'm a "good sport"!
Some of my life goals are to graduate from high school, and further my education in college, majoring in Engineering, While working on my educational degree, I would like to be racing in the Super Late Model Series, and hopefully win a few championships.
I look forward to the 2009 season in high hopes of having many wins and many good finishes. I know it will be a lot of hard work, because I will be adding to my experience by switching gears from the outlaw to animal class. I’m still going to run my outlaw motor at DMP, but i'll be running my animal at the US. 13 Kart Club. I'll also be driving in some National and State races. So, when you get a chance, come on out to the tracks and watch me race!
E-mail: Travis Walters |
