Long Island’s Chris Young entered the gates of Orlando
Speedworld early last week with only a handful of INEX Legends
car races under his belt. After five-straight days of racing, the
15-year-old racer left Orlando Saturday with more experience
than he may have bargained for.
Entering the week with a goal of finishing every lap of every
race, Young raced his No. 49 legends car in the Legends Chargers
class every day from Tuesday through Saturday at Orlando’s
three-eighths-mile oval as a part of the 2009 Winter Nationals.
In those five days, the rookie racer found some terrific
success.
“Things went really well in Florida,” said Young, “and I
learned every lap that I was out there. We raced against some
really good racers and the experience I gained will never be
replaced. We call it our week of ‘firsts.’ It was my first time
racing on a big track; we got our first top-five; we led laps
for the first time; we made our first trip to tech with a
third-place finish, and we got our first win. Every one of them
was special.”
Young’s win came on Friday afternoon, and it came in exciting
fashion. He started third in the 20-lap feature and made some
daring moves to get to the lead not once, but twice. In the end,
Young finished ahead of NASCAR Camping World Truck Series racer
Chrissy Wallace for the popular triumph.
“We started third behind Matt Wallace and Josh Morris,”
explains Chris. “I got to the lead pretty early when (Wallace
and Morris) got together and I had to squeeze through on the
outside. The real estate was running out for sure, but somehow I
got through. I led for a few laps and got passed by two cars. I
was running third again when the same type of thing happened
again. The two in front spun and I shot toward the wall again
and barely made it through. I had some really good restarts at
the end of the race and Chrissy Wallace was right on me but I
was able to hold her off and get my first win!”
What may be equally as impressive as his first win was
Young’s improvement throughout the week. The results tell the
story; Young finished fifth in 13-car fields Tuesday and
Wednesday. On Thursday, the native New Yorker advanced from his
seventh-place starting position to finish what was then a
career-best third. And on Friday, he won his first race. On the
Winter Nationals’ final day on Saturday, Young started sixth and
ran competitively before getting involved in an accident and not
finishing the event – his only DNF of the week. Overall, Chris
finished with a fine fourth-place result in the Winter Nationals
Chargers division.
“The week was quite a learning experience. To go from running
on a tight quarter-mile (oval) at Lowe’s to racing on a big
track here and getting up to around 90 mph was a big step for
me. But I had a lot of great people around me and it made the
learning experience a lot easier for me to handle. I have to
thank Tom Baker and Mike Calinoff from Team Full Throttle, Kyle;
Adam; Brooks; and Nick from Kyle Beattie Racing, my parents,
Gene from ASI Racewear for the new driving suit, and God. I have
to also say congratulations to Mike (Calinoff) on the Daytona
500 win. That made it a special week for all of us at TFT,”
Young added.
Chris refers to one of his driver coaches and Team Full
Throttle President Mike Calinoff, who is the spotter for Daytona
500-winner Matt Kenseth. Like Young, Calinoff is also a Long
Island native and returned to spot for Kenseth’s No. 17 Ford
this season after spending the last three years with other
teams. Calinoff, who used to announce and spot at the Young
family’s home track, Riverhead (N.Y.) Raceway, concluded Florida
Speedweeks with his first Daytona 500 triumph in a week that saw
Young, one of his drivers, garner his first legends car win.
Chris Young is a 15-year-old legends car racer. He’s been
around racing his entire life watching his father, Chris,
compete and win races at Riverhead. Chris recently began driving
himself. He hopes to gain experience in the legends cars before
making a move up the racing ladder.
Chris is a member of the Team Full Throttle NASCAR Driver
Development Program and is represented by Driver Development
Services, Inc., Charlotte, N.C.
Team Full Throttle is a Mooresville, N.C., based driver
development program that specializes in all areas of personal
and professional development, including leadership, teamwork,
and communications as well as marketing, promotion, and on-track
driving skills. TFT currently comprises over 30 racers who
reside and race in all regions of the country.
For more information on Chris Young or Team Full Throttle,
visit
www.goteamfullthrottle.com or contact 704-664-1755.
Source:
Keith Shampine/Team Full Throttle PR
Posted:
February 17, 2009
