Whoever came up with the familiar call of, “Gentlemen, start your engines!” may want to broaden the demographic.
At just nine years old, Caiden Willey is in the midst of a full season as a youth race car driver in the Bandolero class at Wyant Group Raceway near Saskatoon.
Caiden, a Flin Flon resident, drives a Bandolero car, a race car designed for children and young teens that can reach speeds in excess of
70 km per hour.
Caiden can remember the first time he considered racing as a hobby – watching Will Ferrell as racecar driver Ricky Bobby in the comedy Talladega Nights.
“I liked seeing the big trophies they got, the experience,” he says.
Not long after watching the film, Caiden’s grandfather, Danny Parker, took him to an event and showed him a Bandolero car.
“He showed him a car and said, ‘How would you like to race it?’ says Karen Parker, Caiden’s grandmother and sponsor. “We bought it and
we went from there.”
“We went to the Walmart parking lot and tried out the car there. We liked it,” says Caiden.
Caiden, still two months away from his 10th birthday, is the youngest driver on the grid, but you’d never be able to tell from the bleachers.
He has gone from doing donuts in parking lots to winning a pair of races in his first full season behind the wheel, adding a podium in a feature race last month.
That’s not to say there wasn’t a learning curve for the young speedster. In his first race, Caiden was on track when a competitor tried passing him on the inside and clipped his car.
“I was just trying out the car, seeing what would happen. The number 10 car flipped over me in the first race,” he says.
“The car cut him off on the inside, hit his front end, then flipped over twice and hit the wall. She totalled her car,” says Parker.
At first Caiden thought he was seeing things.
“I saw the red lights on the signs. When it happened, I kind of got scared,” he says.
Spooked by the accident, Caiden finished near the back of the pack. After the race, he received some wisdom from his grandmother, who was in the crowd watching.
“My grandma said, ‘Don’t worry about what’s behind you, worry about what’s in front of you,’” says Caiden.
“The one thing we learned is that the safety gear works. That girl got out of there without a scratch,” says Parker.
The safety gear is serious business. All racers wear fire-retardant suits and HANS (head and neck support) devices to stabilize their head and neck in case of a severe wreck.
Hobby
Motorsports isn’t a cheap hobby for a nine-year-old to take up. Along with purchasing the car, Caiden and his family drive 12 hours every race weekend to and from the track.
Parker says the expenses are about the same as a year of high-level hockey.
“That’s the trade-off. If he was in hockey, it’d be about the same expense,” she says.
“Everyone we ever talk to, they spend a fortune on hockey. The car itself was about the same amount as parents putting out for the registration and equipment fees. All that stuff added up to about the same.”
For Caiden, the time and the effort is all worth it once he slides behind the wheel.
“I feel a lot of adrenaline. My heart starts pumping faster. It’s very scary behind the wheel,” says Caiden with a beaming grin. “Some spinning out, but otherwise you’re winning, you’re passing people, it’s pedal to the metal. Don’t let go.”
“It’s awesome, to feel that. I never thought I’d be driving before I was 16,” he adds. “Just driving and being able to push the pedal all the way down.”
Among Caiden’s future goals is a trip to NASCAR.
“That’s what I watch – the big show,” he says.
When asked how he hopes to get there, he had two simple goals: “Do good in the races and do good in school.”
Caiden took part in the second-last race weekend of the Bandolero season last weekend. His final race weekend of the year will be on September 9.
