Sophomore Alex Reed’s goal of becoming a race car driver has come true. Alex had his first race on May 4th, 2024 at Devils Bowl Speedway, and will continue racing for the rest of the season.

 “I was very excited to start racing because it is something I have been very passionate about since I was a child,” Alex said.

Numbers matter in sports whether it's #23 for Michael Jordan and Lebron James in basketball or  #12 for Tom Brady in Football or even #20 for Carter Crossman; every sport number has its own journey. For Alex, #81 is his number because it's always been his number in video games ever since he started playing.

Alex's sponsor is Richard Reed & Son and he hopes many more to come because it’s an expensive sport and hobby.

His childhood hero is Race Car Driver Ryan Newman. Newman has won 18 races and had  268 top tens. Alex hopes to follow in his footsteps and become a NASCAR driver as well.

Despite some challenges, Alex was happy with his first race. Regarding problems, he says ”just little stuff, I don’t really think anything went wrong. I think it was a driver’s error that became a mechanical failure for the bad run so 50/50.” Alex finished last in both races because of a motor issue and spun out at the end of the race when he was in 5th out of the 16 cars.

Although this may sound like a tough first racing event, Alex is taking it in stride and ready for the next one. He will be racing almost every weekend until the end of the summer.

Alex is also making new friends on the race track. “I have lots of them that I'm close with now and I love.”

Alex doesn't seem to be focused on going up to a better car yet.“Unless I get a better chance but for right now I’ll stick with Mini Sprints,” he says.  Mini Sprint is a 500 cc race car used for dirt. It usually costs around $10-20,000 and you can drive at any age.

Devil's Bowl Speedway opened in 1967 as a dirt track. They have switched from dirt to asphalt many times since then and as of 2024, it is still a dirt track.

Alex will race most Saturdays in West Haven(see the schedule here). Head out to the race track if you can to cheer him on!