"He's a very impressive driver," says a speedway owner. It's quite unusual to have someone his age do this well."
View full sizeBrandon Kidd,18, shown in his room in his family's Manlius home, is a race car driver who has already won several races. He is a recent Fayetteville-Manlius High School graduate and will start a degree in mechanical engineering at Syracuse University this fall. Manlius, NY -- Brandon Kidd was 11 years old when he drove his first go-cart in a race, and he remembers being petrified. “I was so nervous my first time that I kept kind of hoping it would rain,” he said. “I almost didn’t want to do it. ... But after that I was hooked. I knew then I wanted to win races.”
Kidd, who graduated from Fayetteville-Manlius High School in June, is doing just that. At 18, he’s been winning both stock car and dirt races.
He won his first race driving a full-size car on Father’s Day 2009 at Adirondack Speedway in Lewis County. Today he makes his professional debut in the 2010 ARCA Racing Series at Berlin Raceway in Marne, Mich.
Kidd has come a long way. When he first came to Adirondack, he was inexperienced and had never driven a late-model full-size 500-horsepower car before, said Paul Lyndaker, who owns Adirondack. “He’s a very impressive driver ... ,” he said. “It’s quite unusual to have someone his age do this well.’’
Last year, Kidd competed in 22 races, 16 on asphalt at Adirondack Speedway and the rest on dirt at the Chapman’s Can-Am Motorsports Park in LaFargeville, Jefferson County. He won three of his asphalt and two dirt races.
Chip Burdick, general manager of Can-Am, said other teenagers race, but Kidd distinguishes himself by being extremely smart with good racing instincts. “You can be the fastest, but not win any races if you’re not smart enough,” Burdick said. ’’He has patience. Some kids see an opening and just go for it, and then crash. He’s smooth.”
Kidd’s dream is to become a NASCAR driver, but he wants to be a driver with a college degree. This fall, he’ll major in mechanical engineering at Syracuse University. “That’s racing related, as there’s a lot of a physics in a race car,” he said.
Kidd’s fever for the sport shows no sign of waning. “From the first time I got in that go-cart, something inside me said I want to do that,” Kidd said. “It’s cool, and it’s something no one in my family has done before me.’’
Kidd said he is a thrill seeker. “I love roller coasters,” he said. “I love the Superman at Darien Lake, which I did five times in a row. In school, basketball or baseball never did anything for me. I’m an adrenaline junkie.”
Safety always is a concern, Kidd said. He’s crashed with the large car three or four times, and is careful to always make sure his helmet is on properly and he’s run through all the safety checks. “When I first get in the car, that’s when all the butterflies start. It’s weird because once I’m out there driving, all the fear goes away. It’s like I hit a switch,” he said. “It’s scarier for me to watch a race than to be in it. .”
Lee Gill, of LaFargeville, is Kidd’s mentor and owns the car he drives. Kidd’s racing is sponsored by Pinnacle Investments, which his father runs; Gillee’s NAPA, Gill’s company; and Romano Auto, which is run by his cousins. It’s a costly sport. Kidd said it costs his father about $100,000 for related expenses.
His parents are supportive, but Kidd said it’s often the parents who push their kids to race. “I’m in a nice situation,” he said. “If I told my dad I didn’t want to race anymore, he’d say OK, let’s go buy some golf clubs.”
Kidd has to travel to LaFargeville and then rent track time if he wants to practice. At home, he uses a realistic simulator on his computer.
Most of his classmates at F-M High School had no idea he raced, Kidd said. He gave away 70 T-shirts with his name on them last year. He was on the honor roll and in National Honor Society.
Kidd said he thinks racing is something that’s within you. “You have to have it in you to win,” Kidd said. “Some people don’t have the to courage push down that throttle all the way and go.”
Kidd said he’s partial to dirt racing, but is more skilled at asphalt. “With dirt, you’ve got no windshield and you’re sliding through the dirt sideways,” he said. “The fun factor is way better than asphalt.”
”Before he met Lee Gill, Kidd said his other car broke down a lot and that sapped his confidence. “You can put a mediocre driver in a good car and do well, but you can’t put a good driver in a mediocre car and perform well,” he said. “You need that whole equation, and Lee gave me that. Now I have confidence and can say ‘I know I can pass this guy, and then I do.’”
Elizabeth Doran can be reached at edoran@syracuse.com or 470-3012.