Sisters youth wins cage kart race

Ten-year-old Dylan Vantress of Sisters won the coveted Salem Indoor Speedway Quarter Midget Cage Kart Cup over the weekend of February 2-3.

Dylan won all three heat races on Saturday, which gave him a front-row start for the main event on Sunday, February 3. He led all 20 laps in the main event, running a flawless race and lapping his competition for the win. 

The Quarter Midget Cage Karts run on a 1/10-mile indoor track. Dylan's car was powered by a 120cc Honda motorcycle engine.

"They go pretty fast, really," Dylan told The Nugget.

What does it take to be a winning cage kart racer?

"It takes a lot of hard work - and good grades - to make my dad proud and let me race," Dylan explained. "It's fun. I like going fast."

Dylan's not the only one.

"Racing is, for us, a family affair," says dad Casey.

Casey Vantress earned Rookie of the Year and took second in points in Sportsman Class dirt track racing in Madras.

Casey says that Dylan will race along with his dad in Albany and Lebanon this summer (if the fifth-grader keeps those grades up).

He says that his son has a natural knack for racing.

"He really feels the track," he said. "He's not jerky on the throttle."

This is Dylan's first year racing, and he and his dad are looking forward to more. If he continues to perform like he did in his last race, he has a shot at piling up enough points for a championship.