Colby Lewis' Need For Speed

Author:
SI Staff
Publish date:
May 1, 2015

Texas Rangers pitcher Colby Lewis has a go-kart track in his backyard in California that provides fun for drivers of all ages

My dad used to drag race back in the 1960s and '70s, and my brother started racing about 15 years back. He semi-retired five years ago, and that's when I said we need a go-kart track in the backyard so we can still have fun and get that adrenaline going. I appreciated my wife, Jenny (above), being supportive of the idea. We moved in around that time and built the dirt track and then remodeled it after the 2011 World Series. My brother Zack Forster and our friend John Piker did all the leveling and the dirt work. We have more than a dozen go-karts now, and there's about four I can fit in.

I've gotten to know NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick, and he's raced at the track. He loved it. He beat everybody, including me. I'm 245 pounds, and he's 180 pounds, so there's a big weight difference when we're running the same amount of horsepower.

The night before Thanksgiving, I put on a race called the Turkey Classic. I get hats and shirts made and trophies done for first, second, and third. I usually have between 60 and 80 people. It's all guys who race cars or who raced go-karts when they were younger. It's super competitive, but it's just a good time.

We started letting the kids race when they were about three, 3½. This is where they get out and get their feet wet and learn the ABC's of racing. I can't beat my son Cade anymore. He only weighs 60 pounds. He leaves me in the dust now.