Youth enjoys life in the fast lane
Adam Kekich @ Sharon Speedway


Adam Kekich races in the limited sprint series at Sharon Motor Speedway
TEEN RACER
Sharon Speedway
STORY & PHOTOGRAPHS
BY GEOFFREY HAUSCHILD
HARTFORD
Most 15-year- olds driving a motor vehicle at speeds approaching 100 mph would earn themselves a strict talking to from their parents, if not a judge.
But if your last name is Kekich, it earns you cheers of support and the 2009 rookie of the year title at Sharon Speedway.
Adam Kekich, now 16, is in the midst of his second season as the youngest driver racing in the limited sprint class at Sharon Motor Speedway, a 3/8-mile dirt race- track in Hartford.
“Every Saturday is the same,” Adam says. “I don’t care if it’s 20 degrees out or the middle of summer. We’d always be out in the garage on Saturday. … You win races in the shop.”
The “we” may be the most understated yet important part of that sentence.
As Adam’s car sits in the garage, next to his family’s Hermitage, Pa., home, it’s not alone. Another car, bearing the same paint job and “5k” number, sits alongside it and belongs to another Kekich, Mike, Adam’s father, who races in the stepped-up 410 sprint division at the speedway.
“He showed me how to work on a race car,” Adam says.
Mike Kekich is simply passing along the tradition.
His father, Paul “Putzy” Kekich, also found himself behind the wheel of a car racing at Mercer Raceway Park. Located in Mercer, Pa., Mercer Raceway Park not only introduced Mike Kekich to racing but also to his future wife, the track owner’s niece, Shelly.
“Yeah, I’d say somewhere in there it’s a family tradition,” Adam adds with a laugh.
Like his father, Adam began his racing career with go-carts. “I can remember I ran it right through mud puddles,” Adam said of his first race. “I had mud caked all over me.”
Nevertheless, Adam went on to win that first race. After starting in third, he passed the second-place car and caught a break when the driver running in first had mechanical problems.
Five years later, Adam decided to leave go-carts behind, but he’s not letting go of the mud. “Five years in go-carts — it’s a long time,” Adam says, “and I was ready to move up.”
Sharon Speedway is one mile east of the intersections of state Routes 7 and 305. Turn right onto Custer-Orangeville Road.