|
While
most kids his age were busy "playing"
racecar drivers on their Playstations and
Nintendo's, 12 year old Nick Estes was out
actually doing it. But then again, Nick was
not the average kid, he came from a racing
family.
Back in the late
seventies and through out the eighty's,
Nick's dad was busy burning up the local
dirt tracks in the Carolinas. Marion was
such a dominate driver back then, when his
familiar black and yellow Gremlin pulled in,
most began looking at the pay off sheet to
see what second prize was.
Nick followed in
his fathers tire tracks, beginning in 1999.
While most drivers like to start off in a
lower division such as the 4 cylinders, and
work their way up, not Nick. He jumped into
a Cutlass Supreme, and began racing in the
Street Stock class at Lancaster Speedway.
In his 8 years
of racing, he has competed at Lancaster,
Chester, and Carolina. Of the three tracks,
he has posted a win at Lancaster and
Chester.
This year Nick
traded in his familiar number 12, to drive
his dad's old number 86. The origin of the
number is a story of its own. Marion (his
dad) remembered the time he served in the
army, when he began deciding on his number.
86 in army lingo is "reject" and since he
said he always sorta felt like one himself
he chose that number. This year, Nick
decided that he was ready for a change of
pace, and hopefully a little better luck, so
he latched on to "the old reject" number,
hoping it would serve him as well as it did
his dad.
While luck has
not been as good the past few years, Nick
says he still enjoys getting out there on
the weekends and competing. According to
Nick, his toughest competition is two of the
guys he enjoys racing against the most, Ben
Watkins and Frankie McGuire. " If you beat
those two, you know you have accomplished
something!"
Nick now runs
pretty much at only Lancaster, but does
still occasionally will try his hand
elsewhere. According to Nick he's pretty
content with that though, as he says
Lancaster is his favorite place to run.
"It's a really big track with lots of speed,
and I just really enjoy racing there. And he
definitely knows his way around there.
With several
strong runs already this year, and another
half of the season to go this team is ready
for the ride back into victory lane.
Nick would like
to give a special thanks to several key
people who have helped him so much.
Special
Thanks
Mom and Dad
Tommy Lee
Eddie Black
Joe Allen
God
|
