GRANITE QUARRY — Aside from Charlotte-based meteorologist Larry Sprinkle or Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt, one would be hard-pressed to find a person with a more fitting name for their profession until they meet Fastrak racer Colby Quick of Granite Quarry.

At only 19 years old, Quick recently became the Fastrak National Touring Champion for 604 crate late model racers.

Crate refers to the motor of the engine. It is a sealed engine that has not been modified in any way, so all the drivers have the same power under the hood. The cars are pretty basic inside, with no bells and whistles or extra accessories. They don’t even have a speedometer.

“All we have is like an RPM tach,” Quick said.

Raceways in the Fastrak Racing Series vary in length and shape.

“It varies at what track you’re at, depending on how big or small it is,” Quick said. “On a tighter track, you are still pushing pretty good speeds.”

Fastrak racing is just like other forms of the sport.

“You start out with qualifying, and where you qualify is where you end up in your heat race,” Quick said. “Then you run your heat race and where you finish in your heat race is where you start in the feature, the main event.

“Qualifying is very big in our sport. All the cars are about the same, same power and speed, and basically the same motor. To be in the front row makes a big difference.”

Quick comes from a long line of racers.

“It’s always been in the family,” Quick said. “My grandpa raced. My dad (Cory Quick) and his side of the family raced. Ever since I was a little kid, I have always known about racing.”

Quick, who was about four years old when he first hopped in a go-kart, has always been drawn to the sport.

“My dad asked me when I was younger, ‘Do you want to play football or do you want to race?'” Quick said. “Mainly racing was my No. 1 deal.

Quick encourages anyone who might be interested in the sport to go to a race and see it in action for yourself.

“Look at the environment and see what you think about it,” Quick said. “If you are passionate about racing, follow your dreams. It’s a lot of headache and heartache.”

Working on his racing career has opened the door to extended bonding time with his father.

“We are out in the shop every night working, trying to find something we can be better at than someone else,” Quick said. “It’s just me and my dad. We do everything.

“I have learned a lot from him. He knows so much, and I have been lucky to learn about what goes into a race car, how to do things differently and how he does things. The way I look at it, he knows so much I can grasp off of what he is doing. If it weren’t for him, I would not be racing.”

Quick said that he has relished that time and looks to his father’s own racing experience for guidance.

For those who may be interested, Fastrak racing is not inexpensive and features a cost-prohibitive barrier to entry. Quick said that as the sport has advanced, it has only gotten more expensive.

“It wasn’t that expensive when we first got started, but as things have gone on, it has gotten more and more expensive,” Quick said.

Being an active competitor in the Fastrak circuit is a costly undertaking. Sponsorships had made Quick’s pursuit of his dream possible. One sponsor, People’s Gas and Grill in Ridgeway, Virginia, is one of Quick’s sponsors.

“We have sponsors who back us and make it possible to go racing,” Quick said. “We have known the sponsors for a really long time. They always helped us out in any other way that they could with racing. They actually helped me when I started out racing go-karts.”

Quick has come a long way since his go-kart days.

“(Fastrak racing) is way different,” Quick said. “I had to change my driving style when I first went to a racecar. It’s totally different. You are slinging around. In a go-kart, you don’t move your hands much because it kills speed. In Fastrak, you are moving left and right all the time. When you turn through a corner, the car hikes up … that is how your car rotates through a corner.”

Quick has a few races coming up, and he is looking toward the future of the sport and his place in it.

“My next race will be in Elkin, NC, at Ultimate Motorsports park,” Quick said. “Then, at the end of October, we will be at the dirt track at Charlotte Racing.”

He’s still got his eyes on the bigger prize.

“My future is to run the next class up, same car, bigger motor, lot more horsepower. That is my end goal. If I could find someone to let me drive their car, I would do it for a living.”