BUCKHANNON, W.Va. (WBOY) – A Buckhannon-Upshur High School senior was selected to compete in the 4th annual Lucas Oil Scholarship Shootout on January 30 and 31.
Aidan Goldsmith has been racing for seven months and is the only known 600 sprint car driver in the entire state of West Virginia. He was selected for the shootout along with 19 other racers throughout the nation.
Aidan and his family will drive 18 hours to the Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida for the two-day event. During the shootout, participants will get to learn how to drive a Lucas Oil Ray GR-RSC Formula car, receive coaching from professional driving instructors, as well as participating in the shootout race. Out of 1,000 applicants, only 20 were selected to participate in the Scholarship Shootout.
Heather Hutson, Aidan Goldsmith’s mother, told 12 News that prizes include more than $250,000 in scholarships and five additional racing opportunities for the top five drivers.
Goldsmith said he is looking forward to, “a lot more experience, and meeting new people, and seeing how the track is. Just a different type of racing honestly; it’s on asphalt instead of dirt, that we usually race on.”
Goldsmith has competed in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Florida over the past seven months and has won five feature races and five heat races. He also raced at Millbridge Speedway where 15 out of 20 drivers were professionals, as well as in a Track Championship at Blanket Hill Speedway in Pennsylvania.
Goldsmith got into racing after watching the “World of Outlaws” race. He said that it was fun to watch and was inspiring to him, and about two weeks after, he and his father, Brad Hutson, went and got a car. They have been working on it, racing it, and Goldsmith has been “tearing it up!”
If interested in staying up to date with Aidan Goldsmith and his shootout racing adventure, you can find more information at “Aidan Goldsmith Racing” on Facebook.
