Butler Twp. boy excels on dirt-track circuit
Racing is in his blood. Winning is part of his racing.
A big part.
Butler Township resident and fifth-grader Brayden Beatty, 10, is competing in the Young Guns Jr. Sprint series this year. He is competing in the Stock Division.
He competed in the series last year as well. Brayden raced go-karts before that.
His father, Steve Beatty, used to race Crate Late Models. His grandfather, John Beatty, raced Super Lates and Semi-Lates, winning points championships at Pittsburgh (Pa.) Motor Speedway.
The Young Guns series is for children, ages 7 to 16.“I couldn't wait to do it,” Brayden said. “I like it a lot.”Brayden had 12 wins racing go-karts before joining the Young Guns Series. The motor in the Stock division of that series enables the cars to go as fast as 60 miles per hour.The Open division of the series consists of faster cars.“We're thinking of putting Brayden in the Open division next year,” his father said. “We'll see how it goes. He's doing very well right now.”With four races remaining in the Young Guns series — which consists of race cards at Blanket Hill in Kittanning, Mercer Raceway Park, Hummingbird and Tri-City — Brayden has tallied 990 points.Among the 16 children regularly competing in the stock series, Brayden is second with 990 points. Mason McAndrew leads the series with 992.“I feel like I can get him,” Brayden said. “My goal is to win the points championship.”Why not?
Brayden won the last two features he's competed in — both outside of the Young Guns series — and has eight feature wins this season.He's gone airborne on tracks a couple of times — his car accidentally going over another's tire — and he's slammed into the wall at Mercer.He has never been injured, nor has any fear or nerves on the track.“When he hit that wall and the medical crew came out to check him, Brayden said, 'I'm fine ... how's my car?' He was more worried about the damage done to the car,” his mother, Mindy Beatty, said.When a car gets wrecked, fathers of other drivers come together in the pits, share parts and get the damaged car back on the track, if possible.“Dirt track racing is a community sport that way, especially with these kids out there,” Steve Beatty said. “I've helped other guys out and they've helped me out.”And Brayden is learning how to help himself out.“We get him out here in the garage (with the car) when we can,” his father said.“He's gotten pretty good at washing the car down too,” his mother chimed in.His parents said Brayden is a responsible race driver and shows sportsmanship after every race.“Whether he finishes first, fourth, last ... he always walks around to the other drivers and congratulates them on a good race,” Mindy Beatty said. “This sport has taught him a lot.“All he watches on TV is racing. He's into it. This is what he wants to do.”Brayden competes in no other sport.“Dirt track racing is my favorite,” he said. “It's hard to predict what's going to happen out there. It's exciting.”“These kids put on a show,” Steve Beatty said. “It's not follow the leader. They race closely to each other's cars and race for positioning all the time.”Brayden said he's made plenty of friends through dirt track racing. He wants to run a Late Model at Lernerville Speedway someday.His family attends Friday night races at Lernerville often. The track is only a few miles from their home.Brayden's grandfather won features there. Chris Rudolph, a Modified racer, is one of Brayden's sponsors.Having a 10-year-old son speeding around a dirt racetrack doesn't bother Mindy Beatty in the slightest.“Racing wheel-to-wheel with your buddies ... what better way to spend a Saturday night?” she said.
