It’s pedal to the metal time for a rising Okotoks star on the karting circuit.
Okotokian George Deadman is preparing for his biggest test yet next month as he competes in the Junior 1 division at the Canadian Karting Championships at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park near Bowmanville, Ontario from Aug. 15-18.
“My goal is to get higher than 10th,” Deadman said. “Because there are going to be lots of drivers, we’re going to have some good mechanics and some good mentors and lots of people that have been to the championships before me. They can tell me how the track is.
“I hope to get some good attention from sponsors and other people so they can bring me out to other places and race there.”
Deadman finished second at the Western Canadian Championships in 2018, but it was his time as a Grid Kid at the Montreal Grand Prix last summer that paved the road to nationals.
“You have to join a team to race in the nationals,” said Paul Deadman, George’s father. “When we were at the Formula-1 the national champion there was one of the Grid Kids, Callum Baxter from the East Coast. We got friendly with their family.
“They saw how well we did at Westerns, we had a couple email exchanges with the dad, Callum has gone up to Junior 2 and they said ‘hey we’ve got a spot on the team if you want to come out.’”
In Montreal, George got the opportunity of a lifetime to interact with the elite in F1 racing and was personally assigned to Danish superstar Kevin Magnussen.
“He was really nice to everyone,” George said. “When he was on the grid he told me to not get angry at yourself when you’re racing. When you get down a position you don’t have to get angry, just fight back and try to get it back.”
George will look to use the sage advice when he transitions to being on a team with the Gerald Caseley Racing squad at nationals.
It will be a first time racing as part of a team for the Okotokian.
“The two guys will race as a team,” Paul said. “They’ll try and dovetail each other and get away, get through the heats, get to the final. And then the final itself, hopefully they’ll get themselves to the front and then the last three laps if they’re one and two they can race each other to try and win the championship.”
Fortunately for George, team sports are nothing new.
The 11-year-old is an accomplished soccer player and trains with the Vancouver Whitecaps Academy.
“I have no experience racing with other people,” George said. “It will be an adjustment, it’s going to be fun, you get to know people better and learn how to work with other people.”
The young racers will be treated like professionals at the championships with the cart provided along with personal mechanics and chefs and data analysis.
The Deadmans hope to raise close to $2,000 to offset some of the considerable costs of travel to Ontario for nationals.
The fundraising event runs on July 13 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Okotoks Sobeys parking lot. The event will feature a barbecue with hot dogs and smokies available for $2.
To keep up with Deadman’s travels follow him on Facebook @GeorgeDeadmanRacing
