Hamilton Journal-News

He's sitting in the door of the trailer, sucking on a freeze pop with a buddy on a Saturday afternoon.

Ten minutes later, he pulls up a small set of coveralls and zips them, pulls on a full-face Bell crash helmet and plops down in the seat of a Yamaha Sportsman go-kart.

Ten-year-old Michael Fortner, a five-year veteran of go-kart racing, repeats this scene often over the weekend, racing two classes of karts. He races

24 weekends a year, and when he's not racing, he's a sixth-grader at Fairfield Intermediate School in Fairfield.

"I just love to race," Fortner said. "Anywhere, anytime."

At about 60 mph on the straightaway at the G&J Kartway in Camden, Fortner battles with more than a dozen other competitors in the Sportsman Cadet class and the Sportsman Yamaha class on any given Saturday or Sunday. He currently is sitting in fifth place in points in both classes and ranks second in the Great Lakes region of the World Karting Association regional series.

"It's a family thing, we spend the weekend doing this, but we also hang out with the other kids and their families, we camp, we watch movies in the camper in the evening, it's just fun," said Fortner's father, Drew Young.

Young is the crew chief/mechanic/coach for this young racer, just like nearly every other father of the more than 40 kids younger than 15 who race in the Ohio Valley Karting Association races in Camden, Circleville and New Castle, Indiana.

Fortner has two karts at his disposal, each with a couple of extra back-up engines in case something breaks.

"It's not cheap," Young added. "I've got about 20 grand tied up in just the racing stuff and extra parts and tires. That doesn't count the camper, enclosed trailer, safety gear."

Gary Gregg, whose father built the track in 1958 for Gary and his sister to have some fun, knows what success in kart racing can mean for someone who wants to be a full-time racer.

"Tony Stewart, Sam Hornish, Danica Patrick; they all started racing here at G&J when they were kids. Who knows, someone out of this current crop of kids could be the next Tony Stewart. It's about being good, and being in the right place at the right time. But it's also just a lot of fun and it's really family based," he said.

The Ohio Valley Karting Association was founded in 1965, with G&J Kartway being the home track. The OVKA has 16 classes of racing karts: Kids Karts are for 5- to 7-year-olds, four classes for 8- to 12-year-olds, two classes for 12- to 15-year-olds and nine classes for 15 and older. The OVKA has about 150 members, and more than one-third of the racers are younger than 15.

There are three more OVKA events at G&J this year; Aug. 12, Sept. 9 and 16. For more information, visit www.ovka.com.