WARRNAMBOOL teenager Will Carroll is swapping the dirt for the bitumen and Australia for America.
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The 19-year-old is weeks away from leaving his homeland bound for the United States, where he will join Florida-based X-Team Racing.
He will drive a pro late- model car in 20 meetings at New Smyrna Speedway near Orlando as part of the All-American Series.
The series is considered a development class for drivers wanting to rise into the top National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) ranks.
Carroll said he was selling his V29 Maxim sprintcar, which he drove into fifth in the C main at the Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic, to fund his trip.
He said the adventure had its origins last August, when he went to the US to watch the Knoxville Nationals and chase a spot with a sprintcar team. But the longer he thought about the trip, the more the former Emmanuel College student wanted to chase a dream to drive in the NASCAR.
“I thought about it, I looked on the internet for a while, looked into NASCARs and how you could get into them,” he said.
“I came across a few teams, wrote up a big email and they got back to me saying they were interested and to come and meet with them.
“I’m trying to chase my dream more than anything. I want to race NASCARs, it’s what I’d love to do.
“I’d rather try and make it in that than a sprintcar. If you can make it to the top, you can make a career out of it.”
Carroll said he had followed NASCAR since he was a youngster racing go-karts around south-west Victorian tracks.
“I’ve always been a NASCAR fan. I used to get up in the morning and watch it on TV. I’ve always been a fan. It’s what I want to do,” he said.
He will have an interview to receive a visa on Thursday and will head to the US with his grandfather Graeme Rodger when it arrives.
His first race is set for March 22 while the last is on November 1.