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Hermitage dad, daughter compete on TV series
Kart Racing
Video Set
By GUY D’ASTOLFO
HERMITAGE, Pa.
A Hermitage man and his daughter are featured competitors on the new TruTV reality show “Kart Life.”
Derek and Savannah Fitzgerald are one of eight family-based teams highlighted on the new series, which premiered last week.
New episodes of “Kart Life” air every Wednesday at 10 p.m.
The Fitzgeralds were the focus of this week’s episode, which will be repeated at 9 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday.
The show follows the teams around as they travel to races.
Derek Fitzgerald said Savannah 13, has been racing karts — miniature race cars driven by children — since she was 5. The small-but-fast vehicles whiz through hairpin turn-laden tracks at up to 70 miles per hour.
The father-daughter team was discovered by Bodega Pictures, the production company that makes the series, while at a race.
“A few years age we went on a national tour,” said Derek. “It was a big step for us. We were in Mooresville, North Carolina, for a big national race and [Bodega] heard about me and chased me down and asked if we would be a part of the show.”
Based on the footage made by Bodega, TruTV picked up the series, which was filmed last spring, although additional filming is still going on. “They were up here two weeks ago to do a clip in my motor home,” said Derek. The first season will have 10 episodes.
Kart racing has long been a big part of his life.
“I’ve been in racing all of my life,” he said. “I grew up with it. I started doing Soap Box Derby as a kid and, by the time I was 24, I was one of the best derby car builders in the country.”
Derek’s stepfather was a midget car racer and he therefore spent a lot of time hanging around tracks as a child.
Today, Derek owns and operates Zero Error Racing of Greenville, which builds race car components.
Savannah is an eighth-grader at Hickory High School.
Derek said their home track is Pittsburgh International Race Complex in Wampum.
The Fitzgeralds’ appearance on “Kart Life” makes them the second local team on a race-based reality TV show. “Fat N’ Furious,” which airs Mondays on Discovery Channel, features Christmas Automotive of Boardman.