COMMUNITY JOURNALISM: Kendig, Drake are friendly rivals in kart circuit

Editor's note: Tysen Kendig of North Liberty is vice president for Strategic Communications at the University of Iowa, and the father of go-kart racer Austin.

By Tysen Kendig, community contributor

PEVELY, Mo. - Austin Kendig and Talan Drake started racing go-karts competitively at the tender age of five, hundreds of miles apart.

Fate brought the pair together when the Kendigs moved nearly three years ago to North Liberty, just up the road from the Drake's Riverside homestead.

Skill has made the boys virtually inseparable ever since.

That was emphasized one more time in the final kid kart race weekend for each young racer - Austin, now a veteran at age 8 and Talan at 7 - when they took the 2012 Kid Kart Nationals by storm.

For those unfamiliar with karting, kid karts are the entry level class into this form of open-wheel racing for children ages 5 to 8. Most recognizable Formula One and IndyCar stars got their start in karting. While the small chassis vary slightly among manufacturers, all run similar 50cc Comer motors, reaching speeds in excess of 40 miles per hour.

Speed has never fazed the Iowa boys, however. They logged one thrilling finish after another at 61 Kartway, their home track in Delmar.

Austin was the first to break out on a larger scale, winning the rookie restricted class at the 2010 Kid Kart Nationals, the nation's only kid kart-only event that crowns national champions in sprint kart road racing.

His stunning national championship run in 2010 in his first major event away from home turned out to be just the beginning of success for the pair.

Talan began racing on regional circuits and captured major race wins of his own, on his way to the regional Route 66 Series season points championship in 2011. Austin hit the road as well last year, with mixed results in the World Karting Association's Midwest Sprint Series, which staged races in Indiana, Wisconsin and Illinois.

That experience set the stage for 2012, which would culminate in one more shot at glory for both young drivers: last month's Kid Kart Nationals championship, drawing more than 40 of the very best young drivers from 13 different states.

Austin and Talan competed in the unrestricted class, the event's marquee division.

After a full day of practice on the opening day, Austin set the bar high during the next day's qualifying round, earning an outside pole position. On the final day, both slogged through their respective heat races in a downpour, putting them in the middle of the starting field for the national pre-final - the results of which would set the grid for the national championship final.

In that pre-final race, run on a dry track, Austin roared from 15th to finish third in the race while Talan brought home his yellow No. 18 machine just ahead in second place.

In the championship final, the Iowa duo flexed their muscle in charging to the front right away, building a sizable margin over the field while they traded the lead several times, often swapping position four times in one sequence of corners. As the laps wound down, it was clear this year's national championship would be coming to Iowa.

Running second going into the last hairpin turn on the 15th and final lap, Austin made his move. He swung wide into the corner to pull inside of Talan some 50 yards from the finish and pinning his friendly rival behind a lapped kart. Although Talan would skillfully avoid the slower kart, Austin had all the advantage he needed, keeping his nose just ahead as the two drag raced to the line.

The margin between the two was an astonishing 17 thousandths of a second - a couple inches on track, at most.

With the dramatic victory, Austin became the first driver in U.S. karting history to win kid kart national championships in two different classes.

It was a perfect way to end his kid kart career.

“It was awesome,” said Austin, who is sponsored locally by Laura Soride Real Estate Services and Deery Brothers Chrysler Dodge Jeep and Ram of Iowa City. “This is what I came back to win. Racing with Talan made it really cool.”

For Talan, it was his third straight top four finish at nationals - no small feat in and of itself for the budding racing star who is in the running for more regional series titles later this year.

If you think such intense, close competition - which has become a hallmark of these two, who unfailingly race each other hard and tight but seldom with any contact - would strain their friendship, think again. Moments after the race, both were laughing and playing together on scooters with other teammates from Excel Racing, a national race team based in Minnesota that has supported both drivers since 2011.

“Talan is my best friend in racing,” Austin said. “He gives me a challenge and we always have fun.”

Both now will graduate to the Yamaha KT-100 division of karting, featuring larger karts with faster 100cc motors that they can race into their teenage years, if they wish.

After what they've shown thus far behind the wheel, don't expect that jump to faze the “Iowa Gang” of American karting one bit.