FISHERS — The month of May is weeks away, but for one Zionsville family, racing is top of mind year round.
Their sixth grader is competing for first place at a national competition this weekend.
Racing 12 laps in 28 seconds flat.
Crossing this finish line first is what qualified Parker Dunn for the K1 Speed U.S. Championship, part of the company’s E-World Championships.
The 12-year-old will head to California to compete April 13-14.
“It’s a high amount of adrenaline that I get out on track," Dunn said.
The Zionsville West Middle School student got his start go kart racing four years ago.
Every month, Dunn competes in a race league at K1 Speed Center in Fishers.
“You’re going fast. You’re battling for laps. Just getting to battle. It just feels amazing," Dunn said.
Racing is in his family.
Dunn’s father is head mechanic for the No. 10 car, driven by Reece Gold at HMD Motorsports in the Indy NXT series.
“Most of the stuff that I [learned] most of my skills come from him," Dunn said.
Like many Hoosiers, every May the Dunn family makes a trip to the racing capital of the world for the Indianapolis 500.
He attended his first 500 in 2016.
He says watching the drivers revs up his excitement for racing.
“My whole goal is to get into IndyCar. Maybe even be a first time Indy 500 champion," Dunn said.
Dunn dreams of a career as a professional race car driver. Something he says is going to take a lot of time, training and money.
In his free time, he plays simulator racing games like F1, The Crew Motorfest and Trackmania.
When he zooms out to the track at nationals, he’ll have one thing on his mind:
“Win it. Win it.”
If Dunn wins nationals, he’ll head to the K1 Speed E-World Championships — an international competition that pits the best racers from K1 Speed indoor go-kart locations from across the United States against top racers from K1Speed centers in Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico.
There, he could earn an up to $8,000 prize.
