Dad And Son Adventures Racing Mini­Sprint Cars

By Cookie Steponaitis

photo by provided Sean Beinhaur.

photo by provided Colby Beinhaur.

photo by provided

photo by provided

photo by provided

It was about a year and a half ago when Colby Beinhaur and his father embarked on a new project. While there are no racers in the family the pair has found that they share a passion for Mini­Sprint cars and racing. “I have learned an incredible amount,” shared fourteen year old Colby, who can most mornings be heard at school talking with friends about gears, torque, speed, and oil and welding parts. “We do all of it together,” remarked the young racer. “Dad and I built my car from the ground up and I have learned how to change oil, work with all kinds of different parts and how to alter different motors to achieve different levels of performance out of our engines. At one time we had twelve different motors and were working on most of them.”
    Colby and his dad race at the Granite State Legion Speedway. They enter heats which are ten laps around the track and then qualify for the feature races which are twenty. “Racing Season runs from May 14­September 16 and we were going to share a car,” explained Colby. But he got hooked on it too and now he has his own Sprint car and races too. When asked to share who is his favorite driver Colby thought for a moment and concluded, “It would have to be my dad,” he shared. “I love learning about it and racing with him. But if someone wants to get into Sprint Car racing, Colby suggests that you do some research and shadow a racer first. “It takes a lot of time and it can be expensive to get into,” concluded the young racer, “but dad and I just love it.”
    Sean Beinhaur grew up in Pennsylvania and was raised around Sprint cars. He wanted to race even as a child but found the cost of the sport too prohibitive and most of the cars had huge corporate sponsors. When son Colby expressed an interest the search for how to make the sport viable began. Sean Beinhaur searched the Internet and found Sprint cars and a series of local Mini Sprints Racing Clubs. He bought a car for $400.00 described as a train wreck and Colby and Sean worked to build the car from the ground up. When it was time for the test drive he  stepped aside to let his son have the honor and young Colby piped up and remarked, “Not until you drive it first Dad,”  which was the turning point because Beinhaur senior was hooked as well. Colby is fascinated with anything with gears, motors and wheels and loves to tinker with cars and truly is learning to be a mechanic from the ground up. Sean Beinhaur shared, “We spend a ton of valuable time together when we race. Colby and I continually share info on track conditions, racers and possible improvements we could do to go faster and it's great! Our family functions as a mini race team with everyone filling their roles. Colby is the first driver and I only drive my car if he is all set to race. I race in a different class than Colby. I run a 600cc car and he runs a 500cc car. I am the team owner/strategist and Karen is the safety pit crew because Colby and I are always in one car or the other. My father even hops on occasionally too as pit crew. It’s a great family event. We spend countless hours working on our cars away from the track but always try and break free from them once in a while to keep it from becoming common place.”
    Both father and son feel it would surprise the readers to know that the sport is very affordable and kids as young as twelve can get into it. “You can get into this sport as cheaply as $1500 if you do your homework,” clarified Sean Beinhaur. “When I attend car shows with the club one of the questions I always ask is ‘What do you think the cost of this is?’ Nine out of ten times people usually say 15000­ 20000 dollars. We are far from it. Highly competitive cars are in the range of five to ten thousand dollars and the average cars that most are running are between three to five thousand dollars. I am currently trying to get these cars started at Devils Bowl Speedway in Fair Haven. It is taking a little while due to racing season starting and Colby and his Sprint car are poised for the summer season. It started out that dad and I and may not develop for a couple years but we are trying. I am always willing to show people what these cars are and educate them on how to get into this great family sport.” The Valley Voice congratulates this father and son team for spending time together and finding a shared passion for gears, motors, wheels and racing. As Father’s Day approaches the paper will be sharing other father­son or father­daughter stories of spending time and sharing a hobby together.