By Bert Lehman

Editor, Full Throttle Magazine

A year ago Seymour’s Ty Majeski was a successful go-kart racer, racing at area dirt go-kart tracks — GSR Kartway in Clintonville, Hi-Go Raceway in Cecil and Meadowview Kartway in Hilbert. Occasionally he’d travel to different states to race go-karts.

After all, Majeski, 15, started racing go-karts when he was nine years old, and had been racing them for a little over four years. During that time he says he won a national championship in the Mid-America Series. But his biggest accomplishment in a go-kart came last fall.

“We went down to Mississippi and I won three out of five events there,” Majeski says. “That was pretty big.”

Majeski is being modest when he says those three wins were “pretty big.” That’s because those three wins helped him get into a Limited Late Model stock car in 2010.

“In Mississippi we won three out of five races and Bobby Waltrip was down there, Michael and Darrell’s brother,” Majeski says. “He saw how I did and he gave us a call.”

Majeski says he was very surprised when Waltrip called. “I was speechless. It was definitely exciting for me,” Majeski recalls.

Arrangements were made for Majeski to travel to North Carolina in February to test a Late Model. When it came time to test the Late Model Majeski admits that he was nervous.

“Yeah, I was nervous,” Majeski recalls. “I mean it was my first time in a stock car. I didn’t even have my drivers’ license. It took me about 20 laps but I got used to it. I started busting out some good lap times.

“They were really impressed. The driver of that car went out there to shake the car down to make sure everything was ok and he ran a certain lap time. By the end of my test session I was running faster than that time.”

The test session went so well, in fact, that Majeski says Waltrip wanted them to move to North Carolina so Majeski could race there this summer. But Majeski’s family didn’t want to make that move.

“So he found a team associated with Matt Kenseth,” Majeski says. “We went with them to the shop and we worked something out. I’m teammates with Ross Kenseth, Matt’s son. He races Super Late Models but a lot of the notes are the same.”

Majeski doesn’t race the Limited Late Model at any one track weekly, but has raced at Columbus 151 Speedway, Dells Raceway Park and Madison International Speedway. He says the season is going “really good.”

“We’ve impressed the team so far,” Majeski says. “We raced at Madison last Friday (June 25) and that’s a half-mile so that’s a big track. That’s a big jump, it’s really different. We started in the back on purpose because it was my first time on a half-mile. There were 25 cars and I came up to 15^th. It’s really hard to pass. We had a fast car and I kept up with the lead pack, so it was good for my first time.”

Majeski readily admits he wouldn’t have received this opportunity if he hadn’t raced go-karts. He says racing go-karts has helped him become smooth with the wheel in the stock car. He says go-kart racing also allowed him to learn the basics of racing as well as the importance adjustments can have on how a go-kart or stock car drive.

“It helps me with my line where I run on the race track,” Majeski says. “Arc it into the corner, go-karts help with that a lot. It helped me out a lot with the car.”

But not everything about go-kart racing transfers to racing a car.

“Some stuff you have to leave in a go-kart,” Majeski says. “You can be a lot more aggressive in a go-kart. In a car you have to give more room. More patience is needed in a car for sure. In a go-kart it’s fast, fast, fast. In a stock car there are 40 laps and you have to save your tires for the end.”

Majeski knows this is a big break for his racing career, that is if he wants a racing career.

“I just take it one step at a time,” Majeski says. “I don’t want to get really big dreams yet. Last Saturday (June 26) was my fifth or sixth race and I want to make sure that I even want to do it first of all. I think I do, but it’s just going to come with time.”

(This article first appeared in the July 2010 issue of Full Throttle Magazine.)