Mini Tyrrell is entering his first NASCAR Truck Series race at Daytona on Friday night at age 21, but he has a lot of miles under his belt. The Manassas, Va., native entered his first Late Model Stock Car race when he was just 9 and won his first race at 10.
Tyrrell, the winner of Ram’s “Race for the Seat,” was racing karts, Bandoleros and other small race cars when he came across a Late Model Stock Car in a garage while helping a family friend with some farm work.
“I said, you know, hey, Sam. You know what, when can I drive that? And he goes, well, I tell you what, kid. You know, you get a seat built, and we’ll put you out there on the racetrack,” Tyrrell said during an appearance on American Cars And Racing’s The GAS podcast.
He got the seat and Sam modified the car for him. “I’m vertically challenged, but, you know, I was very, very tiny,” Tyrrell said. “So we had it all custom fabricated. Pedals were extended. I was as far forward as I could be, just up on the wheel.”
The only issue was that you need to be at least 14 to race at their local NASCAR-sanctioned track, so they made their way across the state to Shenandoah Speedway to enter a race.
“I walked up to the gate, and I said, “I’m the driver,” and I’m little and the lady’s like, “oh, you’re so cute.” Like, my dad was there with me, and he’s he’s like, “no, he’s the driver. And she’s like, “yeah. that’s great. Fill this out.” Didn’t think anything of it.
“So, I ended up racing, and it kinda just went on from there. Went on to win two races at 10 back to back and won my first championship at 10, 11 years old, and then went back the following year to Shenandoah and won another Late Model Stock championship.”
Mini was racing in the CARS Tour at age 14 and is set to run the full 25-race NASCAR Truck Series this year for Kauling Racing, along with some ARCA Menards Series races.
He talks about all that and more on the latest episode of The GAS, which you can find on your favorite podcast platform.
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