Athlete Spotlight: Trey Carr

Trey Carr has a tendency to go in circles, but that doesn't mean he's just spinning his wheels.

• Photos

The 15-year-old Evans resident is an accomplished race car driver, and he's speeding to the top of his sport.

The Augusta Christian Schools sophomore earned the points championship in the semipro division of the Lanier National Speedway Legends car series, becoming the youngest racer to earn the title.

Carr was honored for that achievement at a ceremony last weekend in Gainesville, Ga., and he gladly shared the credit. "It's a combination of my driving, my dad working on the car and my family's support,"he said. "It's a team effort."

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During the season, which finished in September, Carr entered 16 races and recorded three victories, 12 top-five finishes and 15 top 10s.

Fifteen-year-old Augusta Christian School student Trey Carr stands by his Legends racing car.

Photo by Annette M. Drowlette

"It's weird. I turn into a different person when I'm racing,"he said. "I can be laughing and joking, but when I sit in the seat, I get zoned out. My dad knows to not even talk to me."

Carr's competitors, who are mostly men in their late 20s and early 30s, have tried to pick up some pointers from the racing prodigy.

"They'll ask me for advice,"he said. "It gets frustrating for them (to lose to a young gun), but they can't work on their cars as much as I do. They've got jobs, and the only thing on my mind is racing."

Carr will now move up to the late-model series, which features cars with more powerful engines, and that equals extra speed on the race track.

If Carr has his way, that next step might be just a pit stop before hitting the big time.

"My ultimate goal is to be a Winston Cup driver, but I also know that's a tough goal to reach,"he said. "I'd like to get a degree in engineering and start my own business, maybe running a shop working on Winston Cup cars."

Carr has been a competitive driver for eight years, starting with go-karts and progressing to the Legends at age 12. In the Legends series, Carr has reached speeds of 90 mph, and he could top out at 120 mph when he enters Late Model racing.

There is some danger involved, Carr admits, but he has never hesitated to put pedal to the medal.

"When you first get started, there's always that fear you might crash,"he said. "When you crank up the engine and run a couple of laps, the fears kind of go away."

Considering his son isn't even old enough to have a driver's license, you might think Bert Carr would be worried that Trey is going too far, too fast.

But the father says full speed ahead. "You watch him out there and your palms are all sweaty, but I know Trey is safe out there because he is a good driver,"Bert said.