THE KING FAMILY
Kid: Kody king, 14 Years old
Parent: Shay & Brian
CLEARLAKE, IA
Kody started out in Go-Karts, racing regionally and after a phenomenal stint he moved “up the food chain” and started racing nationally. After three successful years in Go-Karts he started racing Bandolero cars, earning himself multiple state championships along the way. Once he graduated from Bandolero racing into legend cars. Now he’s cutting up the oval track in his family’s late model asphalt car. Although new to late model racing, Kody is extremely proficient behind the wheel, as he’s been coached by dad from day one.
“Most of the time you just do it and don't really realize quite how much you are giving up,” Kody admits. His parents are split on his racing. On one hand dad is all about Kody behind the wheel, whereas mom is a nervous wreck. However, she shows up to each and every race and has plenty to say about Kody’s racing. The good and the bad. She’s involved and active in Kody’s racing, despite her trepidations. Mom and dad also grapple with just how hard to push their son. If they push too hard, they worry that he’ll burn out or that he’ll miss out on being a kid. But if they don’t push hard enough, how will he improve and succeed? And there’s so much money on the line, each and every race, they continually ask themselves: why do we do this? The amount of time, money and sacrifice just to be defeated? Give them some time on the track and eventually they’re reminded of their, “why”…every time Kody wins.
It’s a dangerous sport, and Kody knows that all too well. Several years ago he rolled his race car and was sent to the hospital. Although he’s fine now, it’s a reminder that people can and do get hurt in this sport. Kody and Brian love it too much to give up now. They are competitive with every other racing family out there and are doing everything they can to put Kody on the first place podium. The plans for 2022 are to race with Lee Faulk racing and development team and plan to attend 18-20 races in the South East in their asphalt late model. In addition, the family plans to race 15 more races outside of Lee Faulk on their own.