Pitching a go kart sideways on a dirt track is nothing new to
7-year-old Tony Gualda, a Hollister resident and student at
Sunnyslope Elementary School.
Pitching a go kart sideways on a dirt track is nothing new to 7-year-old Tony Gualda, a Hollister resident and student at Sunnyslope Elementary School.
Gualda races a QRC Wing Go Kart, powered by a Briggs and Stratton Animal motor similar in appearance and set up to a Sprint car. Gualda is safely equipped with a racing helmet, arm restraints, harnessed seat belts, a fire suit and the HANS device that is mandatory in NASCAR racing.
Gualda’s first season of racing started in February 2006 and he raced the full fall 2006 season in Chowchilla with the Chowchilla Barn Burners, a dirt oval cushion track run by Joe Diaz, who is a former racer himself. Quads and motorcycles also race at the same location.
It is a family-oriented sport that both of Tony’s parents, Joanne and Tony, enjoy with their son. Tony spends a lot of time getting the car ready the night before each race while Tony sleeps so he can awake at 4:30am and leave for the track.
Gualda’s first full racing season was a big accomplishment as he received the Most Improved Driver Award and also took second place in the Series Championship.
The 2007 Winter Series ended on March 24 with a first place championship for Gualda in the Intermediate Youth Wing Kart division.
