Young karters rack up awards with mom, dad as pit crew

For a small community, Ramona boasts quite a few young standouts in a variety of sports and activities. One of the latest hometown champions is 9-year-old Taylor Gibson, who races go-karts throughout San Diego and Riverside counties.

In one of the final races of the 2014 season, Taylor nabbed the title of Junior 1A Champion for the Pacific Karting Association out of Perris, Calif.

In the 2014 San Diego Karting Association Championship, Taylor was selected Most Improved Cadet Driver while his younger sister, Kayla, was voted Kid Kart Rookie of the Year.

It’s a family run race team with mom, Elissa Gibson, and dad, Robert Gibson, acting as pit crew, mechanical engineers, race organizers and transporters for both young drivers who compete in 10 or more races a year.

Kart racing, also known as karting, is usually done on scaled-down circuits and is seen as a starting point to the higher ranks

of motorsports. The karts vary in speed from 30 mph in the 5- to 7-year-old bracket where Kayla races to 160 mph in the oldest classes. Taylor runs in the 8- to 12-year-old class reaching speeds of up to 60 mph.

For safety, all drivers are required to wear full faced helmets, skid resistant race suits or jackets, racing gloves, a padded neck brace and high top race shoes or tennis shoes.

“It is a challenging sport,” said Elissa Gibson. “There is a lot to think about while driving at high speeds. In a split second, a driver must make a decision about when to pass, when to brake or what to do when something unexpected happens on the track.”

Taylor and Kayla, students at Barnett Elementary, enjoy the challenge and look forward to racking up more awards.

“Racing is really fun, and each race just makes me want to drive more,” said Taylor. “It was really exciting winning the championship and getting a trophy as big as me!”