Got a Need for Speed?

If you love that feeling you get when you blow past your competition, if you can’t wait to set a new personal record, if you don’t mind putting in the time and effort to do your best, then maybe racing is for you. These Arizona young-uns have what it takes to live in the fast lane!

First-grader Loves the Fast Lane

At just 7, little Boddie Parker has a big need for speed. “Boddie the Blur” from Acacia Elementary gets up to highway speeds in his #15 go-kart, and that’s racing on a dirt track!

Using mini racing slicks (smooth tires), karts have just about an inch or two of clearance over the track. Powered by a souped-up lawn mower engine running on methanol (a type of alcohol), karts in Boddie’s class can reach speeds of 65 mph during a race!

Boddie has been racing karts for a year and just moved up to Junior 1, 4-cycle engine karts. Racing kids up to 11 or 12, he’s usually the youngest one on the track.

“When you get up to high speeds, it just feels really good,” Boddie says with a big smile. “Inside your helmet it feels like you’re going 100, even though the kart is (really) going 60.”

Currently, Boddie is running a very close second in the Tucson Kart Club standings for his class and holds the same place in the state standings.

When it comes to motorsports, Boddie got his start in dirt bike racing when he was just 4! But Boddie broke his femur (the long leg bone) in a big crash more than a year ago, so his parents switched him to racing on four wheels instead of two.

He comes from a long line of competitive drivers. His dad, Shane Parker, raced modifieds (a hybrid of a stock car and an open wheel car); his uncles have been into racing, and even his grandpa competed. Now on Fridays and Saturdays, they all pitch in to help Boddie go fast.

His dad, who runs the family auto shop, put together a larger go-kart for himself so that he could compete in the adult class. “I went back into go-karts just because Boddie’s doing it—it’s tons of fun!” Shane points out.

Boddie’s mom, Brandy Parker, keeps the paperwork for the club. Boddie says that racing just isn’t the same when she isn’t at the track.

The Blur confesses that he gets nervous before a race. “If I see some guys who are really good and they race against me, I get pretty nervous,” Boddie shares. “But then I just get on the track and it feels good!” A ton of famous pro drivers like Tony Stewart and Danica Patrick got their start in karts. “I really want to be like Tony Stewart. He also has a modified and a little sprint car. I’d like to be a big sprint car driver one day,” Boddie explains.

While the sport is expensive, Boddie says traveling is a blast and that he has made some really good friends around the track. He’d like to see a lot more kids get into kart racing, including more girls. “It would help,” he shares. “It could be a little cooler for a new change. We could also get more money for the club.”

Gilbert Teen Is Soapbox World Champ

She flies down the hill in her super sleek, bubblegum pink car. But her racer has no engine—it’s powered solely by gravity!

Welcome to the All-American Soap Box Derby in Akron, Ohio. The All-American racetrack is three lanes wide and 989 feet of smooth downhill racing. Each July, the fastest of the fast from around the world bring in their PERFECTED racers to compete head-to-head. Every nut is tightened just-so. Every wheel spins forever.

The racers aren’t much bigger than their drivers. And at the bottom of the hill, Krista Osborne is all smiles as she EMERGES from her blistering-fast racer.

Since its start in 1934, the derby has grown into a mega festival. “It’s like a big, weeklong celebration,” Krista explains. “There’s a police escort and you go onto a big stage. There are big dinners and stuff and a dance for all the kids.” Some of those kids come from far away places like Japan and New Zealand!

“I raced against a girl from Canada who spoke only French. There was this boy from Germany. His car looked really nice and I was scared,” Krista admits.

Krista, now 18, and her family live in Gilbert, but her mom and dad run the Soap Box Derby track in nearby Superior. “I started racing when I was 12. My dad (Carl) and I went to one race, and I thought it was cool that kids got to race each other,” Krista shares. Kids usually compete in three different classes, depending on their age and abilities.

Krista and her twin sister Karla are notoriously competitive, especially with each other. They competed in gymnastics together. They compete over school stuff at Mesquite High. And for the past five years, they’ve competed on the racetrack. “So many times we’ve had to race for first and second. It’s really hard on my parents because we’d get so competitive over it,” Krista says.

Last July, Krista moved up to the Ultimate Speed Challenge, where drivers ages 16 to 19 use technology and engineering to reach record speeds in their racers. You get a run down each of the three lanes, and whoever clocks the fastest time is the world champ!

“You want to find a line and not swerve,” Krista explains. “But my car is really hard to keep straight. When I got to the finish line, I was almost in the other lane!” Krista won all of her three heats, clocking a fastest time of 27.009 seconds.

“My dad came running down the whole track—I think he was actually crying. I was just excited about it,” the world champ recalls.

At the awards ceremony, officials rolled her car on stage, where Krista received her plaque and a $1,500 college scholarship.

This summer, Karla will be in the driver’s seat of the racer.

Burnin’ Up the Road on Two Wheels

The training is hard, but Michael Atkins doesn’t mind it. To be competitive in road racing, Michael pedals about 80 miles a week!

The freshman at Corona del Sol just turned 15. For the past year, he’s been on the San Tan/Paragon Racing team as a junior cyclist. “I usually ride four to five times a week—once a week with the team and the rest of the time with other riders,” Michael says.

Like swimming, competitive cycling takes a lot of practice and conditioning. Cyclists need endurance, strength, coordination and a head for racing strategy. “Yeah, it’s a challenge. You can be even younger, but I’m the youngest on the team,” Michael explains. “I mostly enjoy having to always push yourself to get better at it.”

Michael’s dad, Steve Atkins, has been an avid cyclist for 20 years! Like most kids, Michael remembers when he first learned to ride a bike. “I was about 2 or 3 when my dad taught me how,” he recalls. “My first bike was a small off-road bike.”

He learned to do small jumps and wheelies, but he didn’t get into road bikes (like Lance Armstrong rides) until middle school.

These days, he rides a beautiful (and really, really expensive) Nx7 by Blue Competition Cycles. “It’s very light. It’s full carbon (fiber). I like that it’s very stiff and very responsive,” Michael says.

Michael was thrilled to win the Swiss-American Criterium in his bracket on Jan. 31. A criterium is a short road course where cyclists pedal as far as they can in a fixed amount of time without getting lapped by the competition. To win these races, cyclists need precise riding skills and an ability to sprint to overtake the riders ahead of them. Michael races in junior 15–16, but the brackets go down to 12-year-old riders.

Michael trains year-round. While riding in the heat or pedaling uphill aren’t any fun, he loves sharpening his riding skills. “There’s no given talent (in cycling)—it’s just something you have to work at. I also like to push myself to be in good physical shape,” he points out.

He and his family also try to eat right, although they do allow a fast food meal once a week. He’d like to see a lot more kids get into the sport. “It’s really like no other sport community that’s out there. Everyone can be competitive and be best friends at the same time! I have made a lot of friends (through cycling),” Michael points out. He says you don’t need the best equipment to get started—just the basics. And because of the time it takes to train, getting your parents’ support is really important.