Local motorsports park trains future top racers

NEW CASTLE, Ind. – The Month of May kicks off a long-honored tradition across Indiana: racing! The Indy 500, which airs on FOX59, draws in young fans, some of whom will later try their hand at the sport, and that’s where New Castle Motorsports Park (NCMP) comes in.

In 2004, a driver with the Indy Racing League (NTT INDYCAR SERIES) opened the 50 acre facility to advance motorsports, and it’s already trained champions in several series.

Among Mark Dismore’s first racers: 2-time Indianapolis 500 champion Josef Newgarden, Hoosier IndyCar driver Conor Daly, and 3-time Formula One (F1) Grand Prix winner George Russell.

Now, a new generation of kids wants to do the same thing: train and win.

“Watching the drivers climb the fence after they’ve won, and drink the milk— I don’t know— that’s just always been one of my dreams,” said Luke Powers, an amateur teen racer with NCMP.

The 15-year-old just got his learner’s permit, but the first vehicle he drove, a go-kart, took him up to speeds of 100 miles per hour.

During the pandemic, he and his dad took up an outdoor hobby, go-karting.

“We came out here about five times a week and everybody thought we were crazy,” he remembered. “But we just kept pounding laps and met some driver coaches and they really helped me develop as a driver.”

This May, the 6’3″ teen driver will run his first Formula 4 (F4) race, and he’s made sure to learn every aspect of the sport.

“As the weekend evolves, the track rubbers in with all the tires and hotness so just tuning into the kart and learning about the carburation from the engine– how the weather changes is really important to know,” Powers detailed when asked about the mechanics of his car and his preparation for competitions. “You can be good at driving, but if you don’t know how to set up your motor or kart then it’s pretty pointless.”

Foundation is key for any athlete, and motorsports is no different. On the one mile road course in New Castle kids, like Chase Thixton, learn the basics and get their start.

Asked what he would call himself, the 5th grader grinned and quickly answered, “Fast!”

It was not the official title FOX59’s Beairshelle Edmé expected, but it is the confidence NCMP does expect from its athletes.

The 10-year-old from Fortville wants to be a Formula One (F1) driver.

“I just kind of got my start when I was 5 and practiced for a while and decided I really wanted to do it,” he said. Racing “just pushes you to the limit.”

• Follow 10-year-old racer Chase Thixton here
• Follow 15-year-old racer Luke Powers here

These NCMP drivers learn to curve past those limits. They’re taught how to go fishing, and not for seafood. It’s the name of a racing technique. It’s when a driver falls behind another racer to let them take the bait and then the driver speeds ahead down the track.

The youth also mastered curbing the track’s corners and not burning out, which are the same lessons NCMP’s founder got when he started racing.

Asked if he can see himself in these new and upcoming drivers, Dismore joked, “I’m so old I don’t see anything anymore. I miss those days.”

“There are kids here on a regular basis running our club races that I’m pretty sure you can look for one day, whether it’s sports car races, INDYCAR races,” said the racing veteran, who also runs Comet Kart Sales in Greenfield.

The former driver, whose dad was an amateur racer, has now made this sport more of a family affair; his son-in-law is NCMP’s general manager and his 19-year-old grandson, Logan Adams is a NCMP instructor and a racer hoping to make his professional debut.

“The whole time I’m out there with them (the kids) and I’m standing on the track three feet out or sometimes on the track to get them to go a certain way or do a certain thing through the corner,” said Adams when discussing the four hour classes where kids learn the basics. “At a certain point, if they’ve got all that down, I jump in a kart. We kind of battle back and forth because you can qualify third if you have the speed, but if you don’t know how to race, it doesn’t do you much good.”

New Castle Motorsports Park teaches kids more than just how to race. It shows youth how to barrel past their comfort zones, to change gears when life drives you off course.

Dismore did just that after his 1991 Indianapolis Motor Speedway crash that nearly killed him; now he’s at a new starting line with these kids.

“I’m proud of myself that I had the courage to get back in the car, and prove to me how much I love the sport, which is why this place is here is because I love this sport,” he reflected. “And I’ll be here ’til the day I die.”

To learn more about NCMP, which also offers adult courses, go-kart rentals, plus recreational and competitive races, visit here.