OHSWEKEN, ON — Brantford’s Riley Mercer realized a few weeks ago when the 15-year-old Assumption High School student turned his first laps in a sprint car at Ohsweken Speedway. Mercer, who has raced go-karts for more than eight years, recently graduated from the beginner and box stock divisions into full open modifieds. He also secured a ride in the Open Wheel Modified Pro 4 class in the Ontario-based BCW Lumber Series for Jim Bray Associates.
Last month, Mercer and his parents purchased a crate sprint car and spent weeks rebuilding it from the ground up. Together with the help of local sprint car veterans and a personal trainer, the family worked to ensure the car met their standards for safety and reliability.
“It just shows dreams do come true,”
Mercer said. His father added: “Tenacity, hard work and persistence sure help.”
During the outing, Mercer suited up for his first practice session, strapping into a car that dwarfed him. Clad in full safety gear, the teenager remained calm while his parents looked on nervously. The push truck fired the engine, and Mercer rolled onto the high-banked clay oval he had only ever watched from the grandstands.
Over the course of practice and his first heat and B-main races, Mercer stayed at the back of the field, focusing on learning lines, track conditions, and how the car handled. By the end of the night, he showed more confidence, experimenting with both high and low grooves.
The results didn’t matter. For Mercer and his team, just getting on track was the goal.
“It was like something he had been preparing for all his life,” one crew member said. “To see him finally out there was a proud moment for all of us.”
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