I can’t help but chuckle as Benton eighth-grader Jace Cooksey confesses that our conversation makes him a bit nervous. When Jace isn’t in school, he often races mini-sprint cars on the racing circuit. Jace confesses that he also gets a little nervous before races. This leads me to conclude that talking to me makes him as nervous as flying around a tight and congested turn in a dirt track car race, racing at seventy-five miles per hour.

Jace says that he was nine when he started racing. He stumbled upon some Facebook posts and became intrigued. “At the time,” he shares, “I stared at the posts and thought, ‘Well, my dad races. Why can’t I?’”

Racing, for Jace, who has been competing for five years, is as much a mental sport as it is physical. “You have to use many mental skills,” says Jace. He adds, “You have to plan out. You ask yourself, is this good to pass right here? Is it slick, or is it tacky? You have to remember everything.”

With a father and brother who also compete, racing is a family sport. He says they usually practice at Wayne County Speedway but have traveled as far as Texas and Florida. With a smile, he adds that the family is contemplating a road trip to California to compete.

Jace hopes to continue progressing through the racing circuit, transitioning to either sprint car or midget racing when he’s sixteen, and aims to race in NASCAR upon reaching adulthood. For someone who’s racing at seventyfive miles per hour on a quarter-mile dirt track at the age of fourteen, revving his car up to 7000 RPMs, anything feels possible.

Jace says that he flipped his car more than once. “It hurts. The heavy hits—they really hurt,” says Jace. “I mean, you just have to do it, I guess. You can’t get scared by it.”

He says he’s learned many lessons he’ll apply throughout life through racing. From thinking through options before making decisions to being decisive when the situation requires it, and his physical reflexes, which are well-trained. Racing has taught him a great deal. The knowledge and abilities he’s gained on the dirt track have applications throughout his life.

One to enjoy working with his hands, he shares that his favorite class is Robotics. He also enjoys history; generally, he just enjoys school, but his out-of-school passion is definitely figuring out how to put his car across that finish line a little before the next driver!

Time in the racing pits is time with the three men he admires most: his crew chief, Daniel Robinson, his older brother, and especially his father. For Jace, racing isn’t just about the speed—it’s about learning, growing, and connecting with the people he admires most, even as he navigates the thrilling ups and downs of the dirt track.