Nevada kart racer comes out of nowhere with limited budget in his ICC rookie season CARSON CITY, NV - Teenage kart racer Nick Halen doesn't take racing for granted. In fact, the senior at Carson City, Nev., High School can't go racing without a straight "A" report card. This personable 17-year-old is taking college calculus in high school and he works as a mechanic in his dad Steve's auto service company after classes each day. He fits in time to work on his karts in the late evenings to stay up with his competition that sports full-time mechanics. "My dad used to race karts and he told my brother and I that if we don't do well in school and get all A's that the karts are going to be parked," said Halen, the rookie ICC class driver that has been the surprise of the 2003 Western Division Stars of Tomorrow karting series. "That is always my incentive to do well in school and on the track. I want to major in business in college. But I want to race too. I'd like to race cars in the future." Racing has been in Halen's blood since he began at age seven in the Outlaw karts on the dirt. He has a roomful of trophies from his earlier karting days to prove that he is a talented racer. "I have worked my way up through the various karts from dirt to small pavement karts," said Halen, who won the ICC Stars main event at Colorado this summer and currently ranks third in the Western Division points. "Last year I raced in 80cc Junior shifter and we jumped to ICC (125cc shifter) in 2003. It's been good season for us but we're racing a limited budgets compared to some of the top ICC teams." Driving a Birel chassis, Halen had a chance to win four ICC mains in a row but tough, racing luck has kept him out of the winner's circle recently. "I lost a motor late in the second Colorado main event while I was leading,¹ explain Halen, who compete on Sept. 12-14 at Chilliwack, B.C., Canada, in the fourth and final Western Division Stars of Tomorrow event. "Then at Infineon Raceway at Sears Point, I was second to Tom Dyer in the first main and was leading in the second main but got hit and knocked out of the race." Halen is battling against drivers with more ICC experience and a much bigger budget and is holding his own. "We know we are going against some very tough competition in the Stars of Tomorrow series," Halen said. "But the series is good and the television exposure will help get sponsorship. That is what we need now. We are spending $200 for a set of tires and some teams put on new tires for every race and qualifying. That is tough for us to do with our small budget. But we are trying to hang in there and stay up front. We get help from Billy Scyphers, Three S Racing and some local sponsors. They keep us going." Halen has proven that his limited budget isn't holding him back as he continues to impress karting insiders around the nation. Halen has traveled east to race on few occasions but he has been limited to local competition lately. "I have raced a little in the east and it is competitive too," Halen explains. "I'm trying to gain as much experience as possible. We have racing pretty much locally in the west due to finances. We ran a selected group of races last year. But we have raced against some of the best young racers too like Alan Scuito." Halen believes he can open some eyes to the high budget teams that may give him the opportunity to reach his dreams - racing cars professionally. "I'm going to stay close to home for my first two years of college," said Halen, who hopes to make his mark in the Stars of Tomorrow Championships on Nov. 1-2 at California Speedway. "That is so I can concentrate on racing too. I hope to move into cars in the near future and see if my driving career will grow. If I have the talent to make it (into car racing), I have to try and go for it. But I still want to get my college degree." Nick Halen has opened a lot of eyes already this year and another victory in Stars of Tomorrow could put the teenage phenom in his trek to the next level of racing as part of the Champ Car Ladder System. "I'd like to win that Stars Scholarship to the Barber series," said Halen. "That's my goal this year." The Champ Car 'Stars of Tomorrow' presenting by RACER karting series is the official first level in CART's driver development system and an officially sanctioned series of WKA/SCCA Pro Racing. Founded by racing star Bryan Herta and now owned in conjunction with a group of racing veterans, including three-time CART champion and Indy 500 winner Bobby Rahal, the Stars of Tomorrow serves as the first step for the CART driver development ladder. Stars focuses on recognizing the skills of the drivers rather than the technology development within the machines, using FIA/CIK International standards. 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