Barbara Lawlor, Gilpin County.  Dillon Archer couldn’t tie his shoes when he was five years old but had already begun making hundreds of decisions in a second while zooming around a race track. Last spring, he finished first grade and made his first career decision: to continue Go Kart racing for the summer instead of other options

“Racing gets in your blood,” said his dad Chris Archer. “It’s like a disease you can’t get rid of.”

On Sunday, July 12, Chris and Dillon enjoyed a sunny day at the Gilpin Carwash, managed by Dillon’s grandmother, Tami Archer, at a fundraiser for the Colorado Junior Karting Club. Members of the club washed cars and sold burgers and hot dogs for donations.

The young drivers had their bright shiny Go Karts lined up in front of the carwash, attracting highway traffic along with the dozens of balloons.

Chris says his dad worked on race cars, the enduro types, like demolition derby cars, so by the time Chris was 15, he was racing a circle track stock car. He advanced to become a professional full body race car driver.

“But then we had Dillon, and I gave it up for him. He started last year and I feel as much pride in him, even more, than when I was racing. The amount of joy I feel watching him would melt anybody’s heart.”

When Cole Tuttle was nine years old, his uncle gave his son, Cole’s cousin, a Kart. “I wanted one too,” remembers Cole, who is now 10. “So I got a tiny one that I could drive around the block. We went to races and had fun and made friends at the track.”

On April 28, 2014, Cole’s grandparents thought Go-Karting was a good idea and bought him one. Five months ago, that Kart was replaced by his new, bright yellow Cosmic that travels 65-70 miles on the straightaway. No driver’s license is necessary, because the only place the Karts are driven is on the track.

“My lessons were from my uncle,” says Cole. “But they were in a big car so I could get used to clutches and all that. But on a Go-Kart there are no clutches to shift.”

When the kids race they wear a protective kevlar body vest and a helmet attached to the neck brace. They do not wear a seat belt; in fact, the driver is thrown out of the Kart in an accident and they are prepared for that. Cole says that in the last year he hit a barrier with the nose of the Kart and ended up with the tail in the air and the nose in the ground. When he fell out he had a minor bloody nose but no other injuries. He wears the crash like a badge of honor.

There aren’t many girls in the club, but that hasn’t stopped Bridget Weidner, 12, who has won four third-place prizes including ones at the Centennial Track and Bandimere Speedway. This is her first year racing and her dad, Jamie, says she told him she wanted a horse and he said to get a Go-Kart. “You can turn it off and put it into the garage when you’re done.”

Bridget says the only time she crashed was in her first race when she had a tire roll and hit the brakes too hard. She wasn’t hurt, but it scared her and she learned not to go over the track lines. Bridget drives a Kart with a Shockwave Chassis and a Briggs and Stratton L0206.

Why do they want to race?

Cole Tuttle says, “I like the feeling of the wind rushing into my face and pushing me from behind.”

Dillon’s dad Chris says that he and his son will be racing as far away as Grand Junction this summer. “Dillon is in it full-fledged, but if he ever decided he doesn’t want to do it anymore, that’s okay too.”

The carwash event was held to raise funds to help pay for racing officials and to introduce the carwash to residents and visitors.