Joomla Login LightBox powered by WowJoomla.com

Nate Barnes’ mother, Brenda, will tell you that he’s always liked toys that go fast, so it was no surprise when her son sold his mud truck, four-wheeler and other rides so that he could get his hands on his own dirt track car.

“He’s always been good, but he’s done better than we could have ever imagined,” Brenda said. “It just came naturally to him. We’ve been surprised just how well he’s done since this is his first year.”

Nate drives a Monte Carlo with a 355 Chevy engine in the factory stock class. He said the thrill of being behind the wheel was probably his favorite thing about being a racer. But it does have a cost.

“I bought the car turnkey,” Nate said. “I haven’t had to put too much into the car but it’s definitely not a cheap sport.”

Just to get started, Nate spent nearly $2,000 on safety equipment alone.

The track he runs on, Lakeside Speedway, requires drivers wear a HANS device, a fireproof racing suit, a helmet as well as special gloves and boots. But even with all the safety measures it can still be a dangerous.

“We go about 80 miles per hour on the straightaways,” Nate said of his hobby. “Sometimes we get into each other, but that’s racing. For the most part we try to not hit each other, but wrecks do happen.”

He was recently in an accident on the track after another car hit the wall and ricocheted into his.

Nate said that for the most part, his talent in racing was self-taught.

He said having experience driving in mud runs and motocross events gave him the skills that he needed to get out and drive with the other cars.

Before his first run, Nate had a mere two weekends to practice before getting on the track.

Now with seven weeks under his belt, Nate is in 13th place out of 47 cars and is hoping to be rookie of the year.

“It’s a lot of fun out there and it’s nice to look up in the stands and see your family and friends,” Nate said.

Brenda said going to watch him race has brought their family closer. They enjoy the opportunity to go out and watch him kick up some dirt.

“It’s kind of scary sometimes but he knows what he’s doing,” Brenda said.

Although Nate is the top placing Kearney driver, he hopes that this is just the beginning.

“Next year I’m going to race for points,” Nate said. “I just like the feeling of getting out there and giving it my all — hearing the engine and the crowd. It’s a blast.”

THE DETAILS

Nate Barnes races every Friday at Lakeside Speedway. His car number is 29.For more information on Lakeside Speedway, visit www.lakesidespeedway.net.

other drivers

Check out these other local drivers at I-35 Speedway (Winston):

- Ed Kline, No. 3K

- Brian Assel, No. 9J

- Darren Shaw, No. 11

- Courtney Burnett, No. 11C

- Bennie Turner II, No. 11T

- Brian Houghton, No. 13

- Jason Billup, No. 33

- David Claypool, No. 34

- JJ Baumli, No. 46

- Lynn Starry, No. 54

- Zack Sanders, No. 69

- Matt Marran, No. 69

- Jim Hopkins, No. 71

- Bruce Lewis, No. 77L

- Levi Trimble, No. 81T

- Luke Maddox, No. 84

Check out these other local drivers at Lakeside Speedway:

- Dave Powell, No. 2

- Chad Clancy, No. 04

- Josh Baker, No. 19

- Sean Foster, No. 19, 55

- Yancy Shepard, No. 22Y

- Jeff Soligo, No. 24

- Nick Little, No. 28

- Gary Donaldson, No. 28D

- Phil Snodgrass, No. 33

- Vic Austin, No. 34A

- Steven Dibben, No. 69

- Matt Dibben, No. 72

- Mark Dotson, No. 85D

- Brad Dibben, No. 99

Staff writer Carrie Alexander can be reached at 628-6010 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed