A girl on the go
BY RICK FOSTER SUN CHRONICLE STAFF
Monday, November 29, 2010 2:17 AM EST
Alex Gamache, 16, of Attleboro is one of the top go-kart racers in the country. The AHS sophomore is hoping to eventually move up to bigger, open-wheeled cars and become a professional race car driver. (Submitted photo)
AHS sophomore a top driver on go-kart circuit
Most high school athletes are just beginning their seasons of competition this fall, but 16-year-old kart racer Alex Gamache already has two new championships to crow about.
Gamache, the daughter of Attleboro residents Greg and Debbie Gamache, is looking ahead to bigger things as she celebrates winning the F1 Boston Outdoors club junior go-kart championship as well as defending the 125-lap endurance racing championship she won in 2009.
She's also the newly-crowned champion of the Northeast Rotax Max Challenge junior series.
The Attleboro High School sophomore, whose series point totals put her fourth in the nation, is also the first female to capture both the F1 and endurance titles in the same year.
She also had a good showing at the Rotax carting nationals in Indiana this summer before a mechanical failure dropped her to a 28th place finish in the final.
The up-and-coming racing talent says she's fired up about her season and looking forward to pursuing winter racing in Florida and a possible move into full-size open wheel cars next year at the Skip Barber Racing School in Connecticut.
"It's been exciting," Gamache said. "After the nationals, I kept progressing. I'm taking racing even more seriously than I did last year."
Her ultimate ambition, she says, is to become a professional race car driver.
A racer since the age of 9, Gamache's budding career has flowered with the help of her parents and her contractor father, who doubles as chief mechanic on
her race cars. Her younger brother Troy is also a driver.
Although most people identify go-karts with carnival amusement rides, the streamlined, high-horsepower versions driven by the Attleboro teen and other competitors are anything but girly-girl.
Speeds of 85 miles per hour and higher are common in competition and crashes are a clear and present danger. Last year, Gamache went airborne after rubbing wheels with a rival, but was unhurt.
Many of today's top-level racers, including ex-Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher, made their start in karting.
Gamache's talent and fearlessness are drawing attention far beyond her hometown. Earlier this year, she participated in an invitation-only training academy with women's Indy car pioneer Lyn St. James. She was included in a celebration of women in racing at Daytona Motor Speedway.
Her racing also caught the attention of IndyCar competitor Jay Howard and Ogden Racing Engines USA, which has agreed to provide power for Alex's CRG race cars.
In the next year, finding sponsorship will be a key to the up-and-coming racer's progress to bigger and more competitive series, her dad says.
"As the cars get bigger, so does the expense," he said.
Gamache, an honor roll student, says pursuing her racing dreams requires some sacrifice.
"Because of the travel, I have to leave school early sometimes, which means the more work I have to take home or make up," she said. "I also don't have as much time to hang out with my friends, although I make as much time as I can."
But Gamache says, with her parents support, she'll pay the price to pursue her racing passion.
"There's pretty much nothing else I would rather do," she said.
More information about Alex Gamache and her racing career can be found at
alexgamacheracing.com.
