Thirteen-year-old Dylan Street’s dream has been to drive a Late Model race car.
That dream will become a reality at 7 p.m. Saturday when Hermon’s Speedway 95 opens for the season.
Street will be youngest driver to ever race in Speedway 95’s top class, according to Kim Baker Allen, the track’s office manager and head scorer.
Old Town native Street ran in the Sport-4 class as a 12-year-old last season and finished second in the points. He capped his season with his first win in the last race.
The shunt is a small passage that leads from his brain to his stomach and drains the excess fluid from his brain.
Street is going to be busy this racing season.
In addition to racing in the Late Model class at Speedway 95, he also is going to run eight to 10 features in the touring Outlaw Super Series, which was founded by Derek Mingo.
“We ran seven Outlaw races last year,” said Jeff Street, Dylan Street’s father. “Dylan’s best finish was a fourth.”
Street’s Outlaw car is a Chevy they bought off Doug Sinclair.
The Late Model car is a Ford Fusion they purchased from Mike Hopkins.
Sinclair is a former Speedway 95 Street Stocks points champion, and Hopkins claimed a Late Model points title. Both are from Hermon.
“When Dylan first started racing in the Stars of Tomorrow class at age 10, his goal was to drive a Late Model,” said Jeff Street. “I told him it was up to him, but he had to have a [strong] desire to do it.”
He did, and Dylan Street’s father said Hopkins’ right-hand man, Anthony Wilcox, has been a “great help” in setting the car up and explaining what to expect.
The Streets rented Speedway 95 eight days ago, and Dylan Street spent three hours learning the nuances of his new car. The next day, he drove it for five hours during a practice session with other drivers.
“He did very well in Friday’s session and even better the next day,” said Jeff Street.
“It’s a lot different than driving a Sport-4,” said Dylan Street. “It steers a lot easier than a Sport-4. It’s also a lot faster. You go 85-90 miles an hour in a Late Model compared to 70 in a Sport-4.
“It was awesome,” he added.
The Late Model Ford is a rear-wheel drive, while the Sport-4 Acura Integra he drove a year ago was a front-wheel drive.
“I had to get used to it. And it had different tires,” he said.
One of the most noticeable differences occurred when his car got loose.
In a loose car, the rear tires lose traction before the front tires. As a result, the car turns too easily and it fishtails.
“If you get loose in the turns in a Sport-4, you just gun it and you’ll pull out of it. In a Late Model, if you step on the gas, you’ll spin around,” said Street, who was encouraged by the two practice sessions.
“The car was set-up pretty well,” said Street, a seventh-grader at Leonard Middle School who plays soccer, baseball and hockey.
Father and son have one goal this season.
“I’m hoping to win at least one race,” Street said.
He added that he expects to learn a great deal from the other drivers in the class and is looking forward to his debut.
He said he doesn’t expect to be nervous but rather excited.
In addition to the 40-lap Late Model feature, there will be 25-lap features in the Sportsman, Street and Sport-4 classes.
Steuben’s Brenton Parritt is the defending points champ in the Late Model division, Skowhegan’s Zach Audet claimed the Sport-4 title by 88 points over Street, Glenburn’s DC Alexander annexed the Sportsman points, and Harrington’s Alex Berry captured the Street championship.
Allen said Audet is moving up to the Street class from the Sport-4s.
A pretty car contest will kick off Saturday’s festivities at 6:30 p.m.