Ryan Bernal is six years from retirement in Quarter Midget
racing. He is moving on to the next class, but not before going out
in grand fashion.
Bernal, 10, has recently switched to the Modified Midget cars,
racing against drivers older than him.
Ryan Bernal is six years from retirement in Quarter Midget racing. He is moving on to the next class, but not before going out in grand fashion.
Bernal, 10, has recently switched to the Modified Midget cars, racing against drivers older than him.
The American 9- and 10-year-old All-Star catcher and second baseman has been either running around the bases or racing around the track this summer.
“I like racing better because there is more action,” Bernal said.
Despite battling the odds the whole time, Bernal was still able to win his final Quarter Midget race at the Grand Nationals in Sacramento for the second consecutive year.
He has done quite well for himself in the five years he has been racing, attracting the attention of GT American Race Cars in Fremont, whose cars he drove.
After his baseball team was eliminated by Saratoga in Santa Cruz on Monday, July 19, Ryan and his dad, Rick, drove right from the game to Sacramento.
“I was pretty tired,” Bernal said.
“We had thoroughly planned to be driving back and forth if the All-Stars kept going,” Mr. Bernal said.
His dad made a trip before hand to the race course to drop off the car. But he had a small problem. No engine.
“Our engine that we ordered from back east never showed up at the race track,” Mr. Bernal said. “We had to borrow an engine to get into the race. While we were at the baseball game, people at the track found out. So I had about five or six calls from people offering us motors. I picked one I thought would be the best, and as it turned out he won with it. That’s the way it went all weekend.”
Bernal was able to qualify with his car even without making either of the practice sessions on Sunday and Monday. He also hadn’t raced in the car for three months because he was busy racing in other cars.
After his son went to bed Monday evening, Mr. Bernal put the motor in the car and had it ready for him to race in the morning.
In the qualifying round on Tuesday, Bernal was the ninth fastest out of 52 racers and qualified for the B Main event Friday.
It was in the B Main race that trouble started for the young driver and his pit crew.
While making a pass for second place, Bernal’s motor stalled. Bernal came in under a yellow flag, and the motor builder checked it out and made some adjustments to the carburetor.
As soon as Bernal was back on the track, a car ran into him on the next lap, breaking the left shock.
Bernal needed five spots to qualify with 13 laps left. But he was able to get the fifth, and final transfer spot to move on to the A Main event on Saturday.
Starting last in the 10-car race, Bernal was able to work his way to the front.
But after tangling with another car, he dropped back to last place but was able to climb back up.
As he was nearing the lead, a car spun out in front of him and caused his foot to hit his foot hard on the brake pedal, breaking it.
The crew had three laps to get the car together and then had a little extra time after the racers didn’t line up straight. The crew got it fixed and Bernal was able to get out just as the flagger threw the green flag.
He again moved his way up. Bernal led the race for just six laps at the end. But it was enough to give him the hard-fought win.
Since he recently started racing his new car, he has won three of the seven races he has been in. After he won the first race he was in with his new car, he decided he liked it and wanted to continue racing it.
After his 13 championships and five Nationals titles, Ryan and his his dad were looking for a new challenge. Bernal has competed in 11 states and won his first National title when he was just 6 years old.
“He’s done pretty much everything that he can with these cars, so we figured it was time to move on,” Mr. Bernal said.
Now because his age, he can only race at Delta Speedway in Stockton. But he is being evaluated as a rookie this weekend in Visalia.
In the first time out in the the new 675-pound car his parents bought him, the 75-pounder won the race and wanted to continue racing it. The seat had to be customized because of his height.
“After I got in the bigger car, I liked it better,” Bernal said. “I like the dirt and sliding through the corners.”
Bernal has his future all planned out. After watching the World Series, he is determined to play baseball at Stanford and then he hopes to become a professional NASCAR driver. The fifth grader at Sunnyslope Elementary School is well on his way as an honor roll student.
