RHYS Baxter remembers scooting around the go-kart track with Corey McCullagh and Jye O’Keeffe as juniors.
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The Cobden driver is now battling his childhood friends on the Victorian sprintcar circuit after making his debut in October.
The trio is poised to go head-to-head in the state title battle at Allansford’s Premier Speedway on Saturday night.
Baxter, 27, said he raced go-karts between the ages of seven and 21 before a four-year stint in the wingless sprints.
“A lot of my mates who I used to race with are in sprintcars now,” he said.
“Corey and Jye, we went through go-karts together. I did envy them a lot (when they started sprintcar racing) and now I get to race with them.”
Baxter is keeping expectations in debut season in check.
He said the was just grateful to get a start in a class which is financially demanding.
Melbourne couple Kevin and Maureen Schrembri are backing him.
“If we finish at the front of the C-Main or in the middle of the B-Main, we’d be pretty happy,” Baxter said of the Victorian title.
“I’d like to be able to make an A-Main by the end of the year but there’s no pressure.”
The state title will be Baxter’s fourth race in his new class.
“I expected it to be daunting but it’s not as bad as I thought it would be,” he said.
“I don’t want to pump up my tyres too much but I think I am going not too badly.”