Well..... my son Matthew did it!!!! He qualified here in Atlanta at Andretti Speedlabs for the Red Bull Driver Search. Last night was the last night to qualify after almost three months of intense competition. And it came down to the wire.

Two of the top four qualifiers were there last night, a brother and sister combination, John (14) and Mary (18) Mossey. They both qualified last year and both have considerable karting experience driving Rotax karts. Coming into the night Matthew was .05 seconds out of 4th place (Mary had a 29.48 to Matthew's 29.53) and they were only taking the top four, so it was a do or die evening. Everyone used the same kart.

Matthew made some good runs and finally managed to get a 29.60 (his best run ever was a 29.53) which Mary eventually tied. It wasn't looking too good for a while. Then Matthew pulled out a 29.46 to grab the 4th place spot. Mary and family panicked and she went out to try again. After about 16 minutes she ripped a 29.45 to steal 4th back by .01 seconds. Matthew kept trying but couldn't quite get there. Matthew and Mary had two 8 minute runs left. Mary went first and decided to do back to back sessions against her brothers better judgement. A little more than halfway into her runs she pulled a 29.36 to further seal the lead but that was as good as she would get.

So it came down to Matthew's last two sessions. Matthew was consistently in the 29's and on his 14th run managed a 29.39... close but not enough. By this time everyone was sweating. More runs pass. Then... on lap 27 Matthew comes screaming around with a 29.30!!! He did it!!!!! Pulled it out by .06 seconds!!

I really hated it for Mary, she really wanted it very bad, but needless to say, apparently Matthew wanted it a little more.

So now the next step is the run-offs. The Run Offs will take place at 2 outdoor go-kart tracks, one on the East Coast and one on the West Coast, in July and August. Each event will have approximately 150 qualifiers and will take place over a 3 day period. The events will be organized by Red Bull and the qualifiers will compete in equal karts provided by Rotax.

Up to 10 drivers will be selected from the Run Offs and invited to attend the Semi Final in September.

So keep your fingers crossed for us. I suspect the Matthew's lack of karting experience will begin to show during the next round. He's only driven karts about 7 times now, once at Goldspeed when about 40 of the SCCA guys rented the track several years ago and about 6 times at Andretti. So if anyone out there would like to help Matthew and maybe let him share a ride in a kart at an autocross or anywhere else, I know he would greatly appreciate it. He definitely needs to get into something faster now and get a little experience with more speed.

Needless to say I was pretty proud. I would have given anything when I was a kid to have an opportunity like he's had. He's always at the autocross's with me so maybe you can come by and give him a little more encouragement.

For more info you can go to http://www.redbulldriversearch.com

Congratulations, He should be very proud to make it this far.

(I only wish there was something like this for me a few years ago ) (I am only 22.)

Thanks!! He IS very proud (and exhausted!). Like you, I wish I had that opportunity when I was young. I just hope I can help to move him on to the next level.

Wow..wow... that's great. I can see you smiling as you wrote, proud papa! Congrats.

I kept joking my wife that our 7 weeks old daughter is going to start karting as soon as she turns 4, she just ignores me everytime...

Yea, I just got off the phone with my ex and she doesn't like the idea of him driving an open wheel car (or kart). Her new husband wants him to drive a dirt kart and Matthew said NO WAY!!!!!! That's what I say too. We'll see how it goes... In the mean time, I've signed him up for a karting school on June 25th at Charlotte...
http://www.endurancekarting.com/2004/2004%.../RaceSchool.htm

That is WAY COOL! Congrats!

We NEED more pure bred AMERICAN drivers to compete with them foreigners....

How old is he? How did you start him off?

He turned 14 in April. I started him off by riding in my car during autocross's!!! Seriously, he has little to no kart experience. Most of his experience (except for once in a kart at an indoor track here) was during the qualifying! That's what blows me away!

Holy crap! The boy's a natural, eh? Let's see, 14 yrs old I was...growing my hair and playing drums...which got nowhere!!

very cool steve, very cool. the step father can suck it if you ask me. sorry thats lame. he shouldnt have a say

Way to go, Matthew!!

Steve, it's great that you have found his natural talent, and that you can both share it together. So many Dad's are too busy with themselves to pay any attention to their kids. My father was my basketball coach from my first year of Biddy basketball (age 6 or so) through my elementary 8th grade, and even in AAU in high school. To this day, I am convinced that this is the main reason that my father and I are so close. He invested time in me, and I truned out fine (no heckling on that one!). Your son will appreciate this time more andmore the older he gets. In fact, I still love going out and shooting hoops with my dad!

That's really cool Steve. It's fun to do things together that both of you share an interest in. He'll remember these times long after you're gone.

His stepdad has no say. Dirt karts are fun, but thats obviously not what your son wants. Chances are that he will never go pro, and you don't want him looking back saying "I wish they had let me drive what I wanted to drive".

Why is she anti-open wheel? Just thinking that a car without fenders must be more dangerous?

Congrats to your son. Hopefully that practice will help. Wish I owned a kart, I'd let him drive it. Hell, it sounds like he is probably better than I am.

Yea, she doesn't want him getting hurt, just being a mom I guess.

But he is very serious about not driving a dirt kart. I mean VERY serious. I'm not sure what the underlying reason is but he's determined he's not going to do it. I told him he ought to do both, the step dad was offering to sponsor the whole thing for him. But Matthew can't stand the step dad so maybe that's it.

I found someone here that will let Matthew drive his sons old kart (his son is 19 and doesn't use it anymore, a Yamaha KT100, VERY nice kart...) for $50 per autocross. That includes tires, fuel, everything. All Matthew has to do is show up. So for now that's what he'll do. That will actually be a whole lot cheaper for me too since karts are SO expensive.

So we're BOTH pretty excited. I've had a lot of email from people here offering to help and voicing their support and it's all greatly appreciated. It's been his dream to race and now he's getting his chance. Hopefully some day in the future you'll be reading about him racing somewhere!!!

That is awesome. Good Luck in the future!!

oh man now i have to worry about losing to both of you. it was bad enough losing to you, but now your 14 year old son is gonna kick my ass also. oh well guess ill get used to it

You might have a future F-1 driver one your hands give him a big congrats from the guys here,I don't think they would object
My son is right with me too,I havnt done Karts w/ him I think I should give him an opportunity.I know he loves the fact we are building a car.He sure does get into it. He talks like its his wants a seat there in it.Boy I don't know what to think about him getting out there guess I will have to let go one day. He's got his name"dad says its mine" on the first track car I had,chompin at the bit and the same age as yours

Good for him... and you Steve.Good luck on the next stint!

Tony

I think it's a dream that many kids have, it's just that most of them never get the opportunity. Sometimes I feel a little guilty spending the money I do on my car while all he can do is ride or watch. I've promised him that when he gets his learners permit he can co-drive my car in autox's. He turns 15 next April and I hope to get that permit shortly after that. He already thinks he can beat me. Of course, the way he's going, he might be able to!!!!! But I figure what better place to learn how to drive AND make him understand that the track is the place to go fast, not the street.

$50/autocross?! Sounds like that guy is doing it more for the love of the sport than the money. After gas to get the kart there, gas for the kart, tire wear, and all of that... all he has left is enough to buy some taco bell and a 6-pack. Now thats a cool guy.

He races an old Spitfire in a prepared class with his wife and he said it's no big deal to put it in is trailer and haul it out there. I figure it's saving me a ton of money to do it that way instead of buying it. He's going to help get it setup for Matthew next week. He really is a cool guy.

Congrats to Matthew, and cheers to the cool dude renting the kart for cheap!

Wow, awesome! Looks like he inherited some quick genes.

Keep us posted!

Congrats man! I cant wait to get my son his first Kart. He already has driving his electric "gator" (big, 2 speed john deer looking thing) down to a science and hes only 3.

On a side note. I went to one of the open qualifying events for this. They told me "your to old, you cant enter the event". So after about 10 minutes of arguing I gave up. I went back the following night to run a few laps. I beat the fastest time posted for open qualifiying by almost 2 full seconds. When I left the place the lady said "WOW, you were less than a .10 off from setting new lap records on 5 of your laps". "Not bad for an OLD FART huh" (all 31 years of me).

congrats to your son!

i only wish my dad was into racing like i am. but when i was 14, i was more into tennis, and my dad got me started in that, and helped me learn. but now, i tell him about modding my car and going to autox's and he just kinda smiles and sometimes shakes his head. although, once i start seeing a lot of track time and get comfortable racing my car, i'm most definitely gonna have to take my dad along one time cuz i know he'd love it.

he's kinda weird about his cars....he's owned porsches, 300zx's, a supra, xk8, and a g35 sport coupe....but never has the urge to really USE any of them on a track....ah well, i'll show him the light soon enough