When Alex Green鈥檚 siblings were buying candy, he was secretly saving up for his first dragster.

His father, Brook, remembers thinking it odd his son was not tagging along to the store 鈥� then Alex showed him what was in his drawer.

鈥淥ver the past two years, all those times his brothers got money and spent it right away, he had been putting it in a jar,鈥� Brook said. 鈥淗e had over 100 bucks saved, which for a five-year-old is pretty amazing.鈥�

Alex, now six-years old, came first in his first-ever competition at Mission Raceway Park鈥檚 Doorwarz Jr. Thunder event on Saturday, July 3. On Sunday鈥檚 race, he was runner up.

He received his license with the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) three weeks ago, and is one of the youngest kids to have one. He took home $150 in prize money, competing against racers up to twice his age.

Brook, who鈥檚 been racing his whole life, described how he felt watching his son win.

鈥淜nowing how tough it is, that he鈥檚 been able to 鈥� with no driving experience 鈥� step into a vehicle right off the bat and learn that process 鈥� is pretty impressive,鈥� Brook said.

Brook has been taking Alex to racetracks since he was a baby. He said his son鈥檚 wanted to race since the first time he sat in a junior dragster at the Kelowna Pacific Raceway three years ago.

鈥淗e started saying, 鈥楧ad, when can I run one of these?鈥� And I told him he could run it when he was six. Pretty much every summer since then he鈥檚 been holding me to it,鈥� Brook said.

鈥淟eading up to his sixth birthday, we picked up a junior (dragster), and me and him started (re)building it together.鈥�

It took five months to build, Brook said. They took it apart to the bare frame, painted it, and put back the hundreds of parts together, replacing and updating the safety parts as they went.

He said it was a bonding and teaching experience he鈥檚 always wanted to have.

鈥淎 lot of the people that I鈥檝e raced with, you know, they鈥檝e been going to the racetrack their entire lives, and have been learning from their dads or their parents,鈥� he said.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 know too many teenagers who like hanging out with their parents 鈥� but everyone I know that races seem to be a pretty tight knit family.鈥�

Alex鈥檚 only previous driving experience has been two years on a dirt bike, and on four wheels, a plastic motorized gator.

Now he鈥檚 gained a major sponsor in Iron Horse Truck & Transfer, and wants to race internationally in other junior leagues once borders start opening.

Brook said they hope to race once or twice a month in the future, and are looking at races in Seattle, Oregon and once a year in Vegas.

He said it鈥檚 a big relief that Mission Raceway Park is back open.

鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of the biggest thing so far, you know, feeling like things are starting to get back to normal again,鈥� Brook said.

鈥淥ne of the big lures of moving to Mission was knowing that you have a racetrack in your backyard.鈥�

patrick.penner@missioncityrecord.com
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