YAKIMA, Wash. — Pit row might seem like an awfully loud and busy place for a little kid, but Cedric "Bubba" Richey, a third generation racer from the small town of Toledo, Washington, feels right at home.
"Cedric was at his very first race at 18 months old," his mother Mary Richey said. "From the time he was little we were going to the race track."
"Watch how fast my wheel goes around," Cedric said, spinning his front wheel with his hand. "When you steer a lot, it like turns your car a little bit."
At 6 years old, Richey is already a standout on the quarter midget racing circuit.
"He's always trying to be first," his father Jonathon Richey said. " He's always trying to be the best."
It's not just the way he races that gets Cedric noticed. There are also his long golden locks.
"That's his super power," his mother said. "It's his identity. It's his personality. He's got nicknames at school. He's got nicknames at the track It's the 'Mullet Bullet', 'Mullet Man.'"
Cedric spends many weekend chasing down that checkered flag. But there has always been someone standing in the way.
"Piper Andruss has been the front runner all year," Jonathon said. "All year she's been on the podium. She's been winning the races."
"What do you think happens when the two of you are on the track at the same time?" we asked Andruss.
"We might get into a wreck," she said.
"You always want there to be that one kid that makes your kid better but they are best friends off the track," Jonathon Richey said.
In fact, just before the main race, Andruss walked over to Richey and said, "We might be in the same class, but good luck!"
"Thank you," Richey said, giving a thumbs up.
"He'll go into tunnel vision is what we call it," Mary Richey said. "He gets distracted very easily so we just tell him, 'put your tunnel vision on, focus on what's in front of you' and he does. He gets his game face on. He plays little theme songs in his head."
"It's 'Ghostbusters,'" Cedric said when we asked him his theme song this weekend. "I think about 'Ghostbusters' when I'm racing".
This year Team Cedric has a special mission, "Racing For Nana." His grandmother recently suffered a stroke and is recovering in Puyallup with her husband Joseph Richey by her side.
"I love the fact that my grandson is racing," Joseph Richey said. "I love seeing it. This is a great sport and I feel he can go far. He can do anything he puts his heart into and we will continue to support him. His nana is one of his biggest fans."
The cars are all built the same. Top speed: 25 miles per hour. Roll bars for safety. Even so there are spinouts and wrecks. Halfway through the day's final race Cedric gets clipped from behind and runs directly through a wall. Race officials moved him down to last place. Then, while trying to make up ground, he gets in another accident.
Once again Piper Andruss takes the checkered flag.
Cedric's dad runs over to his son's car to console him.
"Hey, you rebounded from a really bad race to finish second, dude. That's how you persevere through hard luck during a race, right?"
The defeat. The rivalry. They vanish moments after the race. After all, these are 6 year olds and there's a football to throw around.
The 6 year olds meet again Nov. 4-6 at the Yakima County Fairgrounds for The Duel in the Desert.
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