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Tyler Clem races in the 2016 Dirtcar Nationals, at Voulisa Speedway Park, in Deleon Springs, Florida.

You could say that 13-year-old Tyler Clem, of St. Petersburg, Florida, comes by his racing skills naturally. He’s grown up at race tracks watching his dad, Bubba Clem, race dirt cars, sprint cars, and late models. “It was really cool. That’s why I got into racing,” he said.

The damage to Tyler Clem’s car is a testimonial to the fact that racing sprint cars is for the big boys.

Racing since he was 4 years old, Tyler competes in five divisions –- Late Model, Limited Late Model, 410 and 360 Winged Sprint Car, and Midget Sprint Cars.

He has been racing dirt cars for four years and racing in general for eight. His first experience in the sport was racing a quarter midget sprint car that his father bought him.

“It was a miniature sprint car with no wings. I ran on asphalt and won two races my first year,” he said.

The most powerful class he has raced is dirt late models. “They’re like a stock car with engines that produce 600-horsepower. They’re real fun cars to race,” he said.

Here’s a great example of how aggressive 13-year-old Tyler Clem is. He races against pros who are two to three times older than he is.

He turned pro when he started racing dirt cars about four years ago.

The first few years of competing were spent getting comfortable at local tracks in Florida.  He still races Florida tracks including Bubba Raceway Park, in Ocala, Florida, and also competes in events in Alabama and Georgia.

Tyler Clem making the wide turn in his #14 Late Model racecar.

He says that his greatest victory to date was his first dirt track win at Bubba Raceway Park when he was 11 years old.  “The competition was mostly in their 30s and 40s,” he said.

He has also raced at the Talladega short track, in Eastaboga, Alabama, during NASCAR weekend in May of last year. That race was billed as a Race for the Ages. The oldest driver in the contest was 82-year-old legend Red Farmer and the youngest was Tyler, who was 12. A total of 58 drivers participated. He challenged for the lead for most of the race, but ultimately finished fourth.

So far in 2016 he has participated in three NeSmith Winter events, three Sunshine State Modified Tour contests, two 410 Winged Sprints, six Dirtcar events, one Limited Late Model, two World of Outlaws, and five unsanctioned events.  His best finishes were fourth in NeSmith, fourth in SSMT, fifth in Dirtcar, and eighth in WoO. He’s come on strong in the Unsanctioned division that started in March with a first place finish on April 30, a second place on May 21, a third place on May 14 and a fifth place finish on April 9. The season ends in November.

Tyler races for Clem Racing, Inc, which his father started. The team also includes his father and Travis Nicholls, who maintains his engines.

The K&N logo is prominent with logos of other Tyler Clem sponsors on his #14 car.

An eighth grader in middle school, Tyler races on the weekend and works on his car during the week.  His week begins with a return from a race on Sunday, washing the car on Monday, and checking out the car during the week. That includes making certain that the nuts and bolts are tight, that there are no fuel leaks, and that the car is running right. By Thursday he is cleaning up and loading the trailer. He heads off to his next race on Friday or Saturday.

K&N Engineering has been sponsoring Tyler since he was 5 years old. “They’ve been awesome,” he said.

Tyler Clem’s midget sprint appears to be moving sideways as it takes on the dirt track.

Racing for only eight years, he has a total of 41 sponsors including Vahlco Wheels, Hedman Hedders, Rocket Chassis, Sunoco, Keyser Manufacturing, Whelen, Ferrea Racing Components, Elder Ford of Tampa, Leaf Race Wear, Zero Error Racing, Winters Performance Products, Bell, Impact, Dan Olson Racing Products, Racing Optics, Redline, dB Plugs, Toyo Tires, Durst Motorsports, NGK Spark Plugs, and Braille Batteries.

His total career to date includes 12 wins in dirt, 6 track championships in Florida in the Midget Division, and two wins in Late Models.

He expects to continue racing midget cars in 2017. His goal is to race NASCAR within four to five years or continuing to compete in dirt races “for the rest of my life,” he concluded.

Last year’s fan prize was a special edition 2016 Toyota Tacoma.

Drag racing traces its roots to the backroads and dry lake beds around America. The human spirit is driven towards competition. Get two guys together with cars and before long you will have a race of some sort. Back in 1947, drag racing pioneer Wally Parks organized the Southern California Timing Association and so began the modern era of drag racing. SCTA events were held at the Bonneville Salt Flats as well as the Santa Ana Drags, America’s first drag strip.

Greg Anderson took home $50,000 as the 2016 K&N Horsepower Challenger winner, defeating his KB Racing teammate Jason Line.

By 1951, the sport had grown big enough that regulations needed to be put into place and Wally Parks was at the forefront of it. At the time, Wally was the Editor of Hot Rod magazine and had the backing to create the National Hot Rod Association. The NHRA would go on to be a leader in the motorsports industry and set a number of precedents that would shape the way the industry was regulated. Today, NHRA has over 70,000 members and more than 40,000 licensed competitors and has led drag racing to be one of the most popular motorsport events in the world. Being on top of the motorsports world draws a lot of companies looking to sponsor drivers, series, and events. One of those sponsors is K&N Engineering.

K&N is another well-known name in the automobile and motorsport worlds. Only a few years younger than NHRA, K&N has made a name for being the World’s Best Air Filter. Making filters for just about everything from chainsaws and lawnmowers to car, trucks, boats, and helicopters. K&N has been a sponsor in NHRA for over 30 years.

The fan assigned to Greg for the 2016 K&N Horsepower Challenge and the winner of the prize Tacoma was Eva Mack, of New Hope, Pennsylvania.

Along with sponsoring drivers, K&N is the title sponsor of the K&N Horsepower Challenge. Essentially a race within a race, the K&N Horsepower Challenge allows the top seven Pro Stock drivers in points and a driver voted by the fans to compete for a chance to win $50,000. Along with the driver portion, 8 lucky fans are chosen at random to be a part of HPC. These fans are flown to Las Vegas, where the event is held, and each one is paired with one of the competing drivers. The fan who is paired with the winner of the K&N Horsepower Challenge wins a custom truck. This event is extremely popular among the drivers and the fans who enter for a chance to be chosen.

The NHRA and K&N have come to an agreement for K&N to extend their sponsorship of the K&N Horsepower Challenge through 2018. “We are very excited to continue our relationship with K&N and bring NHRA fans more of the K&N Horsepower Challenge,” said Graham Light, NHRA Senior Vice President of Racing Operations. “The K&N Horsepower Challenge is one of the most exciting all-star bonus events of the year and a fan favorite. The best Pro Stock racers in the world compete for a $50,000 purse and the fans have the opportunity to get directly involved with the racing by picking the eighth finalist with a fan vote.”

Greg Anderson, in his Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro, beat out Jason Line after Line had to shut down due to fluid leaking from his car.

“K&N Horsepower Challenge is a monumental event for the NHRA Pro Stock class and we’re excited to see K&N’s involvement continue into 2018,” noted Caitlin Clement, Track and Series Support Manager for K&N Engineering. “The HPC is a very unique event that blends driver competition with fan excitement that is unmatched amongst all of our promotions. We’re looking forward to giving the fans a chance to win big again next spring!”

K&N is no stranger to working with NHRA. After the 2015 season, NHRA announced the new rules for the upcoming 2016 season and one of the big changes was the switch to electronic fuel injection for the Pro Stock class. K&N worked closely with NHRA, the OEMs, race teams, and chassis builders to build an intake system that would allow the switch to be made from carburetion to fuel injection.

This year’s K&N Horsepower Challenge will be held during the NHRA spring race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Check back for more information on this and other K&N sponsored NHRA drivers and events.

The smile on Jared Mees’ face as he stood on the first place podium was proof positive that he was more than pleased with his win at this year’s X Games in Austin, Texas.

Motorcycle racer Jared Mees was on his way to winning the first ever Harley-Davidson Flat-Track race at the 2015 X Games, in Austin, Texas. But in the last lap, near the finish, Jared’s bike suffered mechanical problems and he had to watch as Bryan Smith crossed the finish line and claimed the gold medal.

Yes, the gold is real on the first place medal won by Jared Mees in the 2016 X Games.

Mees was less than 15 seconds from the finish and negotiating turn two of the last lap with a 2.34-second lead over Smith. Mees had led for 18 of the 20 laps. As he pushed the throttle to get the victory burst, his Harley-Davidson died. “It felt like I hit false neutral,” Mees explained later.

He originally thought that the chain of his bike broke. Instead a nut blew off his Flat Track XR750 Harley Davidson forcing the sprocket to disconnect from the hub. Although the chain and the sprocket remained on the bike, they were no longer connected to a power source.

To make matters worse for Mees, a rivalry had developed between him and Smith. Mees has won the AMA Pro Flat Track Championship over Smith two years in a row. The two live about 15 minutes apart in Michigan and there have been issues between the two as they competed for a series championship. To say the least, Mees was angry about the X Game result.

“Having mechanical problems in the last lap was a huge bummer,” he said. “So I focused on the 2016 X Games to redeem the loss.”

The 30-year-old has won four AMA Grand National Championships and has been racing motorcycles since he was 6 years old. That’s when his father, who also raced motorcycles, gave him his first bike – a Yamaha PW50.

Jared Mees waits in anticipation for the start of the Harley Davidson Flat Track Race at this year’s X Games.

He said that he didn’t prepare any differently for the redemption match up. “I just made sure that I didn’t repeat the mistake I made last year,” he said.

Mees explained that he does a lot of physical training to prepare for a race. In addition, he said that he rides a motocross style motorcycle at a motocross track near his home during the week.

“It’s kind of like cross training,” he said. “I don’t ride my Flat Track Harley during the week because the bike is very expensive to maintain.”

The day that would permit him to put last year’s disappointing loss behind him came on June 2 of this year. This time, there were no mechanical issues and Mees won a close race by only 0.369 of a second over Kenny Coolbeth Jr. and Brad Baker.

“It was a fun race. I got off to a decent start, then had to make some passes. Coolbeth was breathing down my neck during the last laps, but I kept it up and was able to get the win,” he said.

Jared Mees’ race team celebrate the victory at the 2016 X Games in Austin, Texas on June 2, 2016.

He admitted that the race was close, but he added that it was not the closest race in which he has competed.

Michael Kirkness, who would ultimately be the fifth place finisher, took the lead at the start and led the field of 12 racers into the first turn when Smith, who was favored to win the race, snagged the toe of his boot on the edge of the track. He fell to the ground taking Sammy Halbert with him.  Jake Johnson grabbed the lead and led for the first four laps before Baker jumped out front going into Turn 4 with Mees right behind him. When Baker ran wide on lap 8, Mees took advantage and grabbed the lead.

It wasn’t long before Coolbeth started to challenge Mees and that’s how it went for the last 10 laps of the 20-lap race.

“This race was something I really wanted to win. We won and got the redemption we were looking for,” Mees concluded.

By the way, as a result of his spill Smith finished 11th.

Although he’s not sure where the X Games will be held next year, Mees plans to compete.

After two races into the Formula Drift season, Matt Coffman and his Coffman Racing team, backed by K&N Filters, are in 25th place in the Pro standings.

Matt Coffman was excited about the first event on the Formula Drift schedule. It was on the Streets of Long Beach, one of his favorite circuits. He maneuvered his K&N Filters backed Nissan through the course during qualifying on the Friday before the race with tremendous confidence. It was raining and Coffman was in his element.

Matt Coffman lost in the first round in the Formula Drift season opener at the Streets of Long Beach, in California. He lost in the first round at the Formula Drift event at Road Atlanta, in Georgia.

“I feel like I’m the only professional out there when it rains,” Coffman said. But the online comments he read after qualifying were not flattering. They were extremely critical. Drivers were crashing and spinning out. Coffman was one of the few drivers who did not have any problems. He said the people making online comments were talking nonsense about Formula Drift. “I have been trying to tell people don’t drag me down with them,” he said, “I’m not like them.”

It has been a bit of a slow start for the Coffman Racing team. Coffman is 25th in the Formula Drift Pro standings after two events. Vaughn Gittin Jr. leads the pro standings with 155 points. After two races into the Formula Drift season, Coffman entered a rally race in Washington. It gave him a little diversion from the Formula Drift scene. Plus, it gave Coffman a chance to compete in the form of racing he really loves.

Coffman lost in the first round battle to Forrest Wang at the event on the Long Beach Grand Prix Street Course in California in April. Wang advanced to the quarterfinals and lost to Kenshiro Gushi. In addition to the rain and slippery track, Coffman said his emotions took over in his first-round battle against Wang.

“The first round was good for us because it rained substantially,” Coffman said. “All the other drivers were wrecking and they were changing tire pressures, they were jumping around on the suspension changes, all sorts of stuff. They were still crashing and still laying down terrible runs. We were going out there and absolutely killing every run consistently.”

When it came time to race, Coffman was already running on high gear. He couldn’t wait to get on the track. Because his emotions were running so high, he made some mistakes. Looking back, Coffman said he wished he dialed it down a bit before his first run.

“Something in my mind will tell me to go 1,000 percent more,” Coffman said. “It cost me to mess up on that round, unfortunately. That round, I can’t blame the car, I can’t blame anything except for myself on that one. That was me just pushing 10 times harder than I needed to.”

Coffman admits Wang took advantage of his mistakes. Wang didn’t overdrive the course and kept his car and his emotions under control.

In addition to racing in Formula Drift, Matt Coffman entered a rally race in Washington. He is headed to Orlando, Fla., next week for another Formula Drift event.

“Forrest was actually doing pretty decent,” Coffman said. “When I went against Forrest, he did a lot better than I thought he was going to. I didn’t take the line that I should have. It was my mistake.”

“Forrest was actually doing pretty decent,” Coffman said. “When I went against Forrest, he did a lot better than I thought he was going to. I didn’t take the line that I should have. It was my mistake.”

“He really did run away faster than I thought he was going to,” Coffman said about his first-round race against Stoneback. “If you talk to anybody, it was a very evenly matched run. He just had more distance on me than I had on him. But as far as mess ups, there weren’t mess ups on either side. It was a very even battle.”

The next Formula Drift event is in Orlando, Fla., at Orlando Speedworld from June 3-4. Coffman said he is looking forward to competing on a wide-open, fast track, like Orlando, as opposed to the tight, choking tracks at Road Atlanta and Long Beach.

“It is the only track where I legitimately have to modulate throttle toward the end of my second run otherwise I will run out of tire,” Coffman said. “I like really high-speed tracks.”

In addition to starting the Formula Drift season, Coffman and his team entered a rally race in Washington. He recently competed in the Olympus Regional Rally, a three-day event in the Pacific Northwest. Driving with Michael Kulawiak, the team finished in 18th place overall in their 2008 Subaru Impreza STI in the first of two North West Regional Rally races at the event. The team ran into trouble on the course on the second day and did not finish. Coffman and Kulawiak were entered in the Super Production class and was the runner-up in the division.

 “Whenever we kind of get a little bored of drifting, we are all like maybe we should probably go back to a rally race,” Coffman said. “Rally racing is almost like a confident knowledge that we win every single time.”

While Coffman said he doesn’t know when he will enter another rally race, he prefers it over Formula Drift for a number of reasons. If anything, it helps improve his devotion to auto racing and motorsports.

“In rally racing, I can just get out of the car and I can turn around and I am just in this gorgeous valley or forest,” Coffman said. “It really has become a spiritual thing for me, rally racing. It is something very special to me.”

The K&N Filters his team uses in his Formula Drift cars really make a difference on the track. Coffman said before he started using K&N air filters, his team had a hard time creating decent air flow through the cars.

“Our engines would be nothing if they couldn’t breathe,” Coffman said. “There was nothing we could find that wouldn’t suffocate the motor or take away from something at one point. They were the only company that offered us a box that made it perform perfectly.”

But Coffman said he notices a big difference using K&N filters in his rally cars. The K&N air filters have to be efficient in all types of environments, from high-altitude forests to swamps and valley riverbeds.

“With our rally car, we have to keep three-quarters of a ton of dirt out of the air box,” Coffman said. “The only thing standing between that and the motor is the K&N filter really.”

Kyle Benjamin won the pole for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race at Dominion Raceway, in Virginia.

Spencer Davis won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race at Dominion Raceway, in Virginia, by the narrowest of margins. Track officials needed to review a photo finish to determine the winner. Davis crossed the finish line 0.005 seconds ahead of Justin Haley.

Spencer Davis won the first NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race of his career at Dominion Raceway.

For Davis, one of the drivers selected to the NASCAR Next program, it was the first win of his career. It came in his 10th career K&N Pro Series East start. He was the runner-up in the first two races of the 2016 K&N Pro Series East season.

“That long dramatic pause was about to push me over the edge,” Davis said. “When I heard my name over the intercom, everyone started screaming over the radio. And it was the best burnout I’ve ever done.”

Davis led the last 13 laps of the ComServe Wireless 150. He took the lead on a restart following a multicar crash on lap 138. Kyle Benjamin, the pole winner, was collected in the four-car crash and was knocked out of contention. Benjamin, who entered the race as the leader in the K&N Pro Series East standings and another driver selected for the NASCAR Next program, led the first 137 laps of the race. After the crash, he fell to last place and finished in 23rd place.

Davis and Haley battled for the lead over the last 12 laps of the race. Davis didn’t forfeit the lead, but the two drivers were neck-and-neck on the final lap around the .4-mile track. The two cars crossed the finish line simultaneously, but Davis edged Haley by a fraction of a second.

Spencer Davis, one of the drivers selected to the NASCAR Next program, led the last 13 laps and won the K&N Pro Series East race at Dominion Raceway, in Virginia.

“He shoved me off into the corner, just like I would do it if I were in that position,” Davis said. “Everyone is going for the win. That was old-style short track racing right there, beating and banging coming to the checkered. I don’t think you could have scripted something better.”

The end of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race at Dominion Raceway in Virginia was a photo finish between Spencer Davis and Justin Haley. Davis, in the No. 41 car, won the race by 0.005 seconds over Haley.

Noah Gragson was third, his first top-five finish in six K&N Pro Series East races. Kaz Grala was fourth, followed by Austin Theriault in fifth.

Haley moved into first place in the K&N Pro Series East standings. He has a 19-point lead over Benjamin after six races. Haley has five top-five finishes and one win in six races. Benjamin finished outside the top 10 for the first time this season.

Davis moved into third place in the K&N Pro Series East standings after winning his first race of the season. The 17-year-old rookie is 23 points behind Haley for the lead in the K&N Pro Series East standings.

The next K&N Pro Series East race is the Stafford 150 at Stafford Motor Speedway, in Connecticut, on June 17.