While some teenagers use the city of Houston as their own personal race tack, a pair of north Houston high schoolers are getting paid to push the pedal to the medal.
The Cooper School’s Alec Udell and The Woodlands Clark Toppe participated in the Shell and Pennziol Grand Prix of Houston in early October as they continue to build their resumes in the world of professional racing.
“I really got into racing when my grandfather bought me a go-kart and I just fell in love with it,” Udell said. “My dad raced, so it’s in our family. I feel at home on the track.”
Toppe’s story is much the same. When his dad, Ardee, begin racing Clark would go along to observe. By the time he was ten-years-old, he was ready to race something of his own. His parents bought him a go-kart to start practicing.
“I love being behind the wheel during a race,” he said. “It’s totally peaceful before the green light, then it’s total chaos. It’s awesome.”
While Toppe has been taking curves at high speeds for years in the competitive world, he just received his driving license to drive a car. There are several layers of competitive racing and the duo are at different places in their early careers.
Udell is older and has been in the game longer. While in go-karts, Alec earned numerous national championship titles including, Double Wins in 2010 at the Rock Island Gran Prix. In 2009, he was a Team USA representative in Sharm El Sheik Egypt for the Rotax World Finals.
Related articles
- Grand Prix of Houston (speedracersam.wordpress.com)
The Woodlands Area Student Center Blog 