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Jake after winning in Stockton, California.

What were you doing when you were 5 years old? You probably were drinking warm milk, eating graham crackers, napping, and clinging to your mom. When Jake Andreotti was 5 years old he was winning championships in a quarter midget car. Now 13, he is winning championships racing a micro sprint car.

Jake acknowledges the crowd after winning in Lemoore, California.

A resident of Castro Valley, California, Jake first became interested in racing when his dad took him to nearby racetracks. Jared Andreotti, Jake’s father, had done some drag racing back in the day. He also built hotrods and is currently building starters, alternators, and electric motors for Buchanan Auto Electric in Oakland, California.

He doesn’t have much time to build hotrods or drag race these days because he is Jake’s crew chief. Others involved in the crew include Jenni Andreotti, Jake’s mom; Hank Andreotti and John Smith, Jake’s grandfathers; Jenelle and Juliana Andreotti, Jake’s sisters.

Jared bought the first quarter midget car for Jake when the boy was 4 years old in 2007. By the time he was 5 he was competitively racing it.

In his first year racing quarter midgets, he won 14 main events. He won his first non-competitive class race in 2008 and he won championships in the Bay-Valley Series.

Jake family and friends celebrate Jake’s win at Lemoore.

At the end of 2008, Jared bought Jake’s second quarter midget, another NC Chassis, so he could race two different competitive classes beginning in 2009.

During the 2009 race season when he was 6, Jake won 19 main events. He won his first Jr. Honda main event at a Capitol Dirt Track event at Roy Hayer Memorial Track in Rio Linda, California. That’s the track that famed racer Jeff Gordon raced quarter midgets. He won the Junior Stock Championship for the Tri-Valley Quarter Midget Club of Livermore, California and the Junior Stock Championship for Region 10.

From there, the wins and championships piled up year after year. He raced a total of three different quarter midgets in various different classes from 2010 through 2013 and then graduated to the micro sprint car in 2014. He raced in the three-quarter class at Plaza Park Raceway in Visalia, California; Lemoore Raceway in Lemoore California; and Delta Speedway in Stockton, California.

In 2014, his rookie year, he had to gain comfort and confidence in his new micro sprint car. During the 2014 season he won nine main events and set fast times 18 times during the season. He won the King of California Title, Plaza Park Championship, Rookie of the Year at both, Plaza Park and Lemoore Raceways; Super 600 Championship in the restricted class, Bud Cup Championship, and the Turkey Bowl Championship.

In 2015 Jake got permission from track promoters to graduate to the Super 600 class. He needed permission because the minimum age for racers in that class was 13 and Jake was 12.

At the tender age of 13 he has already experienced pressures and emotions that have been felt by racers in their 40s. For example, the last night of the inaugural California Speed week in 2015 he won the feature race after overtaking the leader in the last lap.

Racing a new car for the first time in a 2015 CS9 competition, Jake set the fastest time and finished 4th in the main event.

In the Tulsa Shootout this year, Jake earned the Hard Charger Award in the Outlaw class for passing the most racers in the event. He started 20th and finished 6th.

So far this year Jake has won three events. Many scheduled races have been canceled due to rain, but will most likely be rescheduled. Jake noted that he plans on participating in more than 49 races this year, mostly in California, but also the prestigious Tulsa Shootout in Tulsa, Oklahoma in December.

K&N Engineering has been sponsoring Jake Andreotti for three years and has supplied him with oil, air, and crankcase filters (part numbers KN-303, E2990, 62-1010 and 62-1015).

“K&N has helped a lot,” said Jake. “They have given me new air and oil filters every weekend and my car has the K&N logo painted on the exterior. K&N has helped to promote me and we’ve done what we can to promote K&N.” For example, Jake has appeared in some of the company’s advertising.

He has appeared in Sprint Car Magazine, has a website, Instagram and Twitter accounts, and has his own YouTube channel. He has even begun selling Andreotti T-shirts and hoodies on his website.

He is considering a jump to sprint car racing next year. “You have to be at least 14 years old to race sprint cars,” he said. “It’s a bigger car with a lot more horsepower than the micro sprint and the tracks are bigger.”

He is considering a jump to sprint car racing next year. “You have to be at least 14 years old to race sprint cars,” he said. “It’s a bigger car with a lot more horsepower than the micro sprint and the tracks are bigger.”

In 2010, Jake won:

• 16 main events in the Junior Honda and Junior Stock classes
• Region 10 Junior Stock Championship
• Tri-Valley Quarter Midgets Junior Stock Championship
• 29th Annual Scott Key Memorial Junior Honda Championship
• 29th Annual Scott Key Memorial Junior Honda Trophy Dash
• California Monza Junior Honda Championship
• California Monza Junior Stock Championship

In 2011, he won:

• 21 main events in the Junior Stock, Light 160, and Junior Animal classes
• Western Grand National Championship – Junior Animal Class *First in QMA history
• Tri-Valley Quarter Midgets Light 160 Championship
• Tri-Valley Quarter Midgets Junior Stock Championship
• California Monza Junior Stock Championship
• California Monza Light 160 Championship

In 2012, he won:

• 27 main events in the Light 160, Light World Formula, and Senior Animal class
• Western Grand National Championship – Senior Animal Championship *First in QMA history
• Dirt Grand National Championship – Senior Animal Championship *First in QMA history
• Tri-Valley Quarter Midgets Light 160 Championship
• Tri-Valley Quarter Midgets Light World Formula Championship
• California Monza Light 160 Championship
• California Monza Light World Formula Championship
• Region 10 Light 160 Championship
• Region 10 Light World Formula Championship
• Winter Nationals Senior Animal Championship

In 2013 he won:

• 10 main events in the Light 160, Light World Formula and Senior Animal classes
• Tri-Valley Quarter Midgets Light 160 Championship
• Tri-Valley Quarter Midgets Light World Formula Championship
• West Grand National Senior Animal Championship

In 2014 he set fast times in 18 events and won:

• 9 main events
• King of California in three-quarter restricted class
• Plaza Park Championship
• Rookie of the Year at the Plaza Park Raceway
• Rookie of the Year at the Lemoore Raceway
• Super 600 National Championship in the three-quarter restricted class
• Bud Cup Championship in the three-quarter restricted class
• Turkey Bowl Championship in the three-quarter restricted class at the Delta Speedway, Stockton, California

In 2015 he won:

• King of California in Super 600 class
• Lemoore Championship in Super 600 Class
• Budweiser Grand Prix championship in Super 600 Class

He was the first racer to repeat The King of California championships in two different classes.

Chris Eggleston does a burnout after winning the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race at Orange Show Speedway in San Bernardino, California.

It took four NASCAR K&N Pro Series West races but Chris Eggleston found the checkered flag. The reigning NASCAR K&N Pro Series West champion won his first race of the season, taking the lead before a green-white-checkered finish at the Orange Show Speedway in San Bernardino, California. He passed Ryan Partridge for the lead on lap 142 of the Sunrise Ford 150 and held the lead for the last nine laps of the race. The green-white-checkered flag finish extended the length of the race to 151 laps.

Chris Eggleston, the reigning NASCAR K&N Pro Series West champion, won the race at Orange Show Speedway in San Bernardino, California. It was his first win of the season.

“It was a battle all night,” Eggleston said. “This quarter mile Orange Show Speedway is a tricky little place.”

Rookie Todd Gilliland, one of the drivers selected to the NASCAR Next class, won the first two NASCAR K&N Pro Series West races of the season. He won four K&N Pro Series races in row, including the season finale in 2015 at Phoenix International Raceway and the K&N Pro Series East opener in Florida. Ryan Partridge snapped Gilliland’s winning streak by taking the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race at Tucson Speedway in Arizona.

It looked like Partridge had the car to beat again at the Orange Show. He won the pole and led the first 105 laps of the race. But Partridge spun out trying to pass lapped cars in traffic. Eggleston and Partridge fought for the lead until lap 141. Partridge and Rich DeLong tangled on lap 143. Eggleston finally passed Partridge and held on until the end.

“I feel it is as sweet as the first one last year and the year before,” Eggleston said. “Any time you can get in victory lane in the K&N Pro Series is really special, near and dear to my heart. It’s really cool to get our first win of the season and hopefully we can gain some momentum, keep clicking them off.”

Chris Eggleston celebrates after winning the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race at Orange Show Speedway in San Bernardino, California. He led for 11 laps including the last nine laps of the race.

Gracin Raz was the runner-up at the Orange Show. It was his first top-five finish in four races.

“It came down to who wanted it more,” Raz said. “It was a really, really rough race. Restarting on the outside was definitely where we were most of the night.”

Noah Gragson, another driver in the NASCAR Next class, was third and posted his second top-five finish in four K&N Pro Series West races. The drivers in the NASCAR Next class are considered to be the rising stars of stock car racing. Industry executives, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Drivers Council, and media select who becomes part of each NASCAR Next class.

“We definitely have speed,” Gragson said. “We came up a little bit short. Definitely have speed to work with. Hopefully we’ll get more checkered flags here in the future.”

Gilliland was fourth and maintained his lead in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West standings. He has a four-point lead over Partridge. Partridge recovered after spinning out late in the race and crossed the finish line in sixth place.

Rookie Julia Landauer, who was also selected as a driver in the NASCAR Next class, was fifth, her second top-five finish in four K&N Pro Series West races.

The next race for the K&N Pro Series West drivers is the Toyota/NAPA Auto Parts 150 at Colorado National Speedway on June 11.

Kyle Benjamin won the first NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race of his career at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee in 2015.

NASCAR K&N Pro Series East driver Kyle Benjamin and his team are considering changing their course after the first five races. Benjamin leads the K&N Pro Series East standings after a fourth-place finish at Virginia International Raceway on April 30. When the season started, the race at Virginia was not on Benjamin’s schedule. His team, Ranier Racing with MDM, scheduled seven K&N Pro Series East and seven ARCA Series races for Benjamin.

Kyle Benjamin won the pole and was the runner-up at the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race at Greenville Pickens Speedway in March.

Even though Benjamin has yet to win a race, he is the leader for the K&N Pro Series East championship. He has four top-five and two runner-up finishes. His latest race on the road course in Virginia proved that he can post impressive results off the ovals. Now his team has a tough decision to make: Keep racing toward the K&N Pro Series East championship or focus on winning races in the ARCA Series.

“He’s a phenomenal little driver,” said Lorin Ranier, the team owner. “He’s very experienced. He’s been racing at a high level in late models since he was about 14 and winning races. At 18 now, he’s a very experienced young driver with a couple of ARCA wins. He’s got one K&N win and obviously a lot of good finishes. It’s a real good race team, a championship group.”

Benjamin won his first K&N Pro Series East race in 2015 at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee. When Benjamin returned to Bristol in April, he was the runner-up to Chad Finchum. More importantly, Benjamin had the lead in the K&N Pro Series East standings by three points over Justin Haley.

Kyle Benjamin, in front row second from left, is one of 11 drivers recently selected to the NASCAR Next class.

“We had a real fast car. We were beat all day by Chad Finchum. He had a really strong car. He just had us beat,” said Benjamin, one of 11 drivers recently selected to the NASCAR Next class. “It is one of the coolest tracks on the schedule. It’s just a really big deal to win that race. I really wanted to get that win again. If you can win twice at Bristol it means a lot.”

Kyle Benjamin won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2015. He started eighth and took the lead on lap 45 in the PittLite 125.

The drivers in the NASCAR Next class are considered to be the future stars of NASCAR and stock car racing. They are selected by industry executives, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Drivers Council, and media.

After Bristol, the team was preparing for its next ARCA series race. The plan was to skip the K&N Pro Series East race at Virginia. Two days before the race, the team changed its mind. Ranier leased a car and took it to Virginia International Raceway. With no practice and little track time, Benjamin qualified seventh, finished fourth, and fell into a tie with Haley for the lead in the K&N Pro Series East standings.

“You have an opportunity to go for it,” Ranier said. “That’s kind of where we are. Don’t want to give up the ARCA schedule. We have to weigh our options.”

Winning a K&N Pro Series East race would make Ranier’s decision a little easier. His team’s budget only afforded 14 races split between the K&N Pro Series East and the ARCA Series. Winning a race would increase the team’s budget. Benjamin said his team’s confidence is high, but winning that first race has been elusive.

Kyle Benjamin raises the trophy after winning the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee in 2015. He led 81 laps, the most of any driver in the race.

Winning a K&N Pro Series East race would make Ranier’s decision a little easier. His team’s budget only afforded 14 races split between the K&N Pro Series East and the ARCA Series. Winning a race would increase the team’s budget. Benjamin said his team’s confidence is high, but winning that first race has been elusive.

The next race in the K&N Pro Series East at Dominion Raceway in Virginia later this month will be pivotal in Benjamin’s future. If he wins, the chances of Benjamin continuing his pursuit of the championship will improve greatly. If he still has the lead in the standings, his team might add some more K&N Pro Series East races to his schedule. Regardless, racing in the K&N Pro Series East is preparing Benjamin for the next level in NASCAR.

“I’m really glad to pick the K&N series to race in,” Benjamin said. “It’s really stout. The competition is stout. There are a lot of good drivers, a lot of good teams. The field has a lot of depth. It’s really difficult to win. Each race it takes a lot. It’s such a strong effort. I know how strong the K&N series is.”

Jesse Iwuji, a Surface Warfare Officer in the US Navy, races the No. 36 List Group Chevrolet in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West.

Jesse Iwuji is a relative newcomer to NASCAR. He has only been driving competitively in late models and with the K&N Pro Series for the past two years. He only has five K&N Pro Series West races under his belt. But he has aspirations of racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and one day in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. That day may still come. But for now, the 28-year-old driver from Texas is playing a big role in one of NASCAR’s biggest races.

Jesse Iwuji has started five NASCAR K&N Pro Series West races. He was 14th in the race at Kern County Raceway Park in April.

Iwuji, a lieutenant in the United States Navy, will host a military family at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coca-Cola 600, dubbed the 600 Miles of Remembrance, at Charlotte Motor Speedway over Memorial Day weekend. He will take the family on tours at the race track and be a NASCAR ambassador through the practices, qualifying, and races. Iwuji is part of NASCAR’s An American Salute program. During the NASCAR races at Charlotte Motor Speedway, teams, drivers, fans and track partners will honor members of the US Armed Forces, veterans and their families. It is a two-part program to pay special tribute to fallen service members. The second part of the program will take place during the NASCAR races at Daytona International Speedway over the Fourth of July weekend.

“They feel I can relate to some people,” Iwuji said. “That’s why they want me to be the guest host for the big group of people they bring in that weekend.”

Iwuji will also be handling a branch of social media for NASCAR during the race weekend, relaying his experience with fans. “I will be all over the place,” he said. “Basically, wherever they want me to be, wherever they want me to take the families, that’s where I will be.”

Iwuji took a unique path to NASCAR. He attended the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., before starting his racing career. It wasn’t until he graduated from the Naval Academy that he started pursuing a career as a professional race car driver. He was a safety on the football team and ran on the track and field team at Annapolis. When he graduated, he served as a Surface Warfare Officer with two tours in the Middle East.

On his leave from tours, he started racing dragsters. He bought a Dodge Challenger for drag racing when he lived in Maryland, but that didn’t last long. He moved to San Diego for Mine Countermeasures training shortly thereafter, before being deployed to Bahrain with the Mine Countermeasures Tour Exultant in 2010. When he returned, he decided to test his driving skills at the Mojave Mile. He drove a car 200 mph on the desert track in California, becoming one of a select few to accomplish the feat. He moved to Monterey, Calif., and was assigned to the Naval Postgraduate School in Student Services.  There he joined a NASCAR team and began working toward becoming a professional race car driver.

Jesse Iwuji will host a military family at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway over Memorial Day weekend. Iwuji is a lieutenant in the US Navy and has been racing in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West for the past two years.

“I have already done my four years of sea duty, so now I am on my shore duty tour,” Iwuji said. “That’s what has given me all this latitude, all this freedom to be able to race. I don’t have to worry about going out to sea for a few weeks and coming back. That gave me a lot more freedom to actually go out and go racing.”

In addition to racing in the K&N Pro Series West, Iwuji is racing late models at Meridian Speedway near Boise, Idaho. He is racing Outlaws, Street Stocks, and Modifieds on dirt tracks. He said his goal this year is to gain as much experience as he can in as many different types of race cars that he can.

“I want to get to the point where whatever car I jump into,” Iwuji said, “I can maximize the capability of that car to its fullest potential.”

He has raced at Irwindale Speedway in California in the NASCAR Whelen All American Series. He earned his license to drive in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series in 2015. He made his debut in the K&N Pro Series West at Evergreen Speedway in Washington that same year. He has started five NASCAR K&N Pro Series West races and is coming off his best career finish, 10th place at the Orange Show Speedway, in San Bernardino, Calif. In the K&N Pro Series West race at Tucson Speedway in Arizona on May 7, driving the No. 36 Red List Group Chevrolet, owned by Kevin McCarty, he was 15th. His previous best finish came in the K&N Pro Series West race at Kern County Raceway Park, in April, where he came in 14th.

Jesse Iwuji, a driver in the K&N Pro Series West, will be part of NASCAR’s American Salute program at Charlotte Motor Speedway over Memorial Day weekend.

Iwuji said he knows he has a lot to learn about racing in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series. The drivers he is racing against have much more experience. They are more familiar with the tracks and some have been racing since they were 6 years old. Iwuji sets personal goals every race. He is not so interested in winning races as he is in improving every time he is on the race track.

“My goal is I need to race against myself, and not always be worried about everybody else,” Iwuji said. “They are going to be fast. They’ve been there, they’ve done that. They have a ton of experience.”

Iwuji added that he is more concerned with learning the new race tracks on the K&N Pro Series West schedule. He is also focusing on how to prepare his car for each track and what he can learn when he returns to each track.

“It’s been a good learning experience, let’s put it that way,” Iwuji said. “It takes a little while to get up to speed on that.”

K&N sponsored lawnmower racer Ken Jones.

I would guess that after mowing your lawn on a nice weekend afternoon you sit down on the couch with a nice tall drink of lemonade and watch motorsports events on television. Ever wonder if you could be a competitor in a motorsports contest? Well, you ride a lawnmower, don’t you? That’s right! If you can ride a lawnmower, then you can compete in lawnmower racing.

K&N sponsored lawnmower racer Ken Jones.

The sport has actually been around since 1973 when the British Lawnmower Racing Association was created. The British group was serious about it and even had a 12-hour lawnmower-racing event back in the day.

In 1992 the executives of Gold Eagle Company, makers of STA-BIL, a fuel stabilizer product that is used in lawnmowers, heard about the British endeavor and thought it would be a good idea to create the United States Lawnmower Racing Association (USLMRA).

With tongue in cheek, the association was introduced in an announcement on April Fools’ day in 1992. Gold Eagle appointed its public relations and event and marketing manager Bruce Kaufman to be president of the organization.

“We said that if we are going to do this, than we are going to do it right,” explained Kaufman, who still serves as president of the organization.  “So we decided to have the first ever national championship race for lawnmowers and we decided to be serious about it and create rules, offer insurance to venues who held events, and set up safety guidelines.”

So the USLMRA was founded as the sanctioning body for lawnmower racing in the United States. The association started with one race a year. The race received a lot of media coverage from such well-known companies as CNN, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and famed radio personality Paul Harvey. Recently, the guys from the famous YouTube Channel, Dude Perfect, came by and competed in their own race. The guys took on pun filled monikers like Mowhammad Ali, The Turfanator, Mr. Mowjangles, Ace of Blades, Weedy Gonzalez, the Lawn Ranger, Mowdacious, and Sodfather.

“We started getting calls from fairs, festivals, and venues who wanted to present a race,” said Kaufman, “and it grew from there.”

Since then races have been broadcasted on ESPN2, Fox Sports One, TNN, Speed Vision, and on local cable stations. Through the years the number of races a year has ballooned to a couple hundred, said Kaufman.

Regular people who happen to cut their lawns with a riding lawnmower were attracted to the concept.  “It provided a sense of adventure and it was affordable,” said Kaufman.

Kaufman noted that people who used to compete in motorsports events like micro and sprint, motorcycle, ATV, auto, and other types of racing have come out of retirement to give it one more go, racing lawnmowers.

“They wanted to get back into motorsports, but they didn’t want to spend a lot of money. Lawnmower racing is the most affordable motorsport there is,” Kaufman noted.

Kaufman also claimed that younger people about 10 to 12 years old are attracted. “They are kids who never raced before. Now they’re racing with their dad and grandpa,” he said.

There are 10 different classes of racing in the USLMRA’s rules. According to Kaufman, the classes run the gambit from mild to wild.  Competitors can race their stock lawnmower in the first few classes. The association allows the mowers to be modified and as a mower grows in sophistication it goes on to the next class right on up to the final class that has the most souped up mowers.  Racers must prove to the association that they will be able to handle their mowers safely as they go into the next class.  The association sets caps on how sophisticated modifications on a lawnmower can be. Moreover, they have very thorough technical inspections at every race to ensure the competitors race within the rules.

There are three categories of races –- State and National Series, which goes around the country and has the top racers; Mobile Chapters, which are races that are performed within a region of the country; and Affiliated Clubs, which are races presented at local or home tracks.

The association offers a turnkey program for venues that want to present an event. “Venues contact us and then we set up everything from the marketing and promotion to the race itself. The venue doesn’t get involved. All they do is present the race, explained Kaufman.

He pointed out that lawnmower races have been held in some of the most legendary tracks in the country including the Charlotte and Atlanta Motor Speedways. Races have taken place in speedway motor properties as well as state parks, added Kaufman.

K&N Engineering has been a sponsor of the USLMRA for about 10 years. In fact, K&N sponsored a racer named Ken Jones before it sponsored the association.

“When we started K&N was sponsoring Ken Jones out of Braceville, Illinois. In fact, they still are to this day. So about 10 years ago we asked K&N to sponsor the association. We have a great relationship with them and they hang K&N banners at all our races,” said Kaufman.

Kaufman noted that he is “mow-tivated” about next year’s events. “In 2017 we will be celebrating our 25th anniversary and we have a lot of special plans, one of which involves the British Lawnmower Racing Association,” he said.

“In the long term I think the future looks bright as long as we keep things safe and affordable,” he concluded.