Cutting Corners

The surface was muddy and the car started to slide, the rear end slipping to the right such that a spinout - or worse - seemed the likely result. Craig Crossette, making it look easy, simply made the necessary adjustments and straightened the car out. Drivers handle such occurrences all the time, so there is nothing remarkable about the story - except for Crossette's age at the time. He was 5. Sure, he was only driving a little Wal-Mart go-kart in an open field, but Crossette's dad, Carl, was struck by the obvious feel that his son had behind the wheel at such an early age. "You could just tell he had some natural ability, the way he handled the car," Carl Crossette said. "We knew there was a good chance he would drive cars someday." Someday is now. After tearing through the competitive go-kart ranks, the 15-year-old Crossette has become a force in micro-sprint racing in just three years of competition. (For the uninitiated, a micro-sprint car is similar to the familiar World of Outlaws sprint cars, but only about half the size.) Crossette, a sophomore at Valley Center High School, races year-round in both the restrictor and A classes all over the Midwest, including the well-known and competitive Port City Raceway in Tulsa, Okla. Racing only part-time at Port City, Crossette has won two feature races and finished in the top 5 three times this year, his dad said. In the most-recent Tulsa Shootout at Tulsa Expo Raceway, which attracts some of the best racers in the country, Crossette placed second in two qualifying heats in the restrictor class and appeared headed to the 20-car final when he spun out with five laps to go. All in all, the adjustment from go-karts to micro sprints has gone smoothly. "At first, we struggled a little bit, because it was so new," he said. "The first year was pretty tough. There's more horsepower, and you're doing a lot more throttle control and the level of drivers is better. But it's starting to click." Crossette says he enjoys working on his car, and seeing the payoff on race day, and he likes that the sport allows him to spend quality time with his dad. But he's a teenage boy, so of course there is another attraction to racing his black No. 99 car. "The speed," he said enthusiastically. "When you get out there, you're going so fast and there's all this adrenaline. I love it." Even so, Crossette has an impressively mature attitude when it comes to racing. He obviously understands the need for speed, but he appears to be a thinking man's driver - which is what he says separates the good drivers from the great ones. "Some people go out there and just run the car as hard as they can, but you have to think too," he said. "You have to look at the track, look a corner ahead, and see what's coming." There is, of course, a fear factor involved in racing micro-sprints. Crossette's car has a Yamaha R6 engine and, while speed is dictated by track size, it can reach 70-75 mph down the straightaway on the dirt tracks. His mom sometimes can't bear to watch the races. "I'm not gonna lie - I've been scared before, but it comes with the sport," Crossette said. "You have to accept the fact that you're probably gonna crash. That's why you spend so much money on safety equipment. There are always wrecks out there, always somebody flipping, but very few times does anybody get hurt. You just have to use common sense and everything will be fine." Everything is going according to plan for Crossette, who hopes to make a living behind the wheel someday. He is winning races, gaining experience at a variety of tracks, and steadily improving. He has other interests - he plays baseball and wrestles for Valley Center - but has his sights set on being a professional driver. "Right now, we're setting a slow pace," he said. "We want to keep moving up the ranks every year. Someday, I want to be racing professionally."