The pop, pop, pop of dozens of single cylinder engines filled the air June 24 at young drivers prepared to take their turns on the starting line at the Junior Drag Racing event at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison.
"I used to come to Bandimere with my dad and I liked drag racing," Samantha Biesemeier said as she waited her turn to go to the starting line. "Someone suggested junior drag racing, dad said OK, I tried and I really like racing."
The 12-year-old, who attends Dunston Middle School in Lakewood, said has been involved in junior drag racing for four years.
"When you pull to the starting line, there is a lot of adrenaline rushing through me," she said. "I don't know how to describe the feeling, I just want to go."
She said she has a great time at the races and she often is on the starting line to race drivers who also happen to be her friends.
"It is very competitive and everyone wants to win every race," she said. "But it is almost like everyone racing is a member of the same family. We hang around together when we are here at the track but it is all business when we pull up to the starting line. I also like racing because I can spend time with my parents."
Biesemeyer's car, like many of the cars, has a simple paint black paint job with few modifications.
That isn't the case with the cars driven by the Steirs brothers. Owen Steirs drives a car adorned with the red, white and blue emblems of Captain America and he wears a red Mohawk-type addition to the top of his helmet. His brother Austin's car has a lot of green art on it as the Incredible Hulk car. Austin, who has a Mohawk haircut also has a green Mohawk addition on the top of his helmet.
Their mother Christie Steirs said the boys got into junior drag racing because her husband and their uncle Roy Anderson are both drag racers and got the boys into the sport.
"Owen is currently tied for fifth place in his division and Austin is making runs to earn his license," the Lakewood resident said.
Austin said he is excited and ready to go racing.
"This is my first time to go racing," the boy said. "I think I'll like it because I like to go fast."
The three days of junior drag racing is an annual Bandimere Speedway event. It began when the track hosted the Junior Drag Racing Western Nationals. The same weekend was held open for the weekend called the Junior Drag Shoot-Out Event.
"This is a three-day event with a lot of special races and competitions," John Miller, track media representative, said. "We have almost 150 entries this year from all over Colorado and from a number of other states."
Pit areas were lined with equipment trailers pulled by a variety of vehicles ranging from pickup trucks to motor homes.
The car driven in junior dragster races are half the size of the dragsters driven by adults. There also is a huge difference in horsepower as the junior dragsters for younger age groups are divine by Briggs and Stratton lawn mower-style engines. The older group can upgrade their engines to small motorcycle engines.
A base car and engine for younger drivers costs about $5,000 new but used cars are usually available at a lower cost. The cost goes up as drivers get older and the cost for car and engine can be more than $8,000.
Driver safety equipment is required and the equipment to satisfy the rules can cost $500 or more. Each driver must be a member of the National Hot Rod Association. The fee for a year's membership is $34.
Additional costs include the equipment trailer, spare parts, fuel, and race entry fees. Travel expenses would be have to be added in to the total cost of competition if the team goes from track to track.
Miller said protecting the drivers is a must so the rules require drivers to wear full sets of protective equipment including safety racing suits and helmets plus they must have the regular five-point safety harness to belt them into the cockpit.
Races are open to 5- to 17-year-olds divided into five age groups. Rules for each age group limit the size and speed of the vehicles.
For example, five-year-old drivers are limited to a single pass down the track and can't go from a standing start to the finish line 1/8 of a mile away faster than 20 seconds while 13- to 17-year-old drivers can go a lot faster and can be traveling about 80 miles an hour when they cross the finish line.
The races at Bandimere are a local competition. However, there are parent-children racing teams that travel to other tracks to compete for points with the goal of being named a representative to one of two Junior Dragster finals, the Western Nationals in Tulsa and the Easter Nationals in Bristol, Tenn.
from Lakewood Sentinel - Latest Stories http://lakewoodsentinel.comhttp://lakewoodsentinel.com/stories/Young-Lakewood-hands-guide-race-cars,222603?branding=15
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