Midget Race Makes Pit Stop in Cumming, Ga.

Burning Rubber for a Good Cause

By: Abby Wood

February 28, 2011 

CUMMING, Ga. — Eleven-year-old Dawson Gay pulled his covered car from the driveway to reveal a black tubular-framed, single-cylinder racecar.

His face lit up.

Gay, a racer in the North Georgia Quarter Midget Association, will be among those burning rubber in the upcoming 8th annual Spring National Kids Racing for Kids Charity Race on Saturday, March 12 at the Cumming Fairgrounds racetrack on Castleberry Road.

His parents, Amy and David Gay, said Dawson developed a passion for the racetrack from the moment he joined the racing club in April of last year.

"He just loves it. He gets in there, and he just loves it," said Amy Gay, a volunteer for the Quarter Midget Association in Cumming.

Dawson and other drivers, ages 5 to 16, will compete in order to raise donations for two charities -- Victory Junction Gang Camp and Shriners Hospitals for Children.

Race registration fees, concessions and T-shirt sales on the day of the race will all go toward the charities, said Amy Gay.

The Region 3 race will bring drivers from out of town to compete at the racetrack. In 1999 and 2005, there were 36 different states represented in the races.

"We try to draw more people in to have a big race," said Bill Thomas, a racetrack builder. "We hope we have a good turnout this year."

There will be about 15 drivers representing Cumming.

"We usually have 25 drivers, and each driver can drive two different cars," said Eric Kimbarl, president of the North Georgia Quarter Midget Association.

The race is free and open to the public.

"It gives me a sense of pride to see my son race for this cause," Kimbarl said. "There's a deep satisfaction inside me to see him do good."