Racing is what gets Blake Lothian's engine going.
"Every single day— I'm always waking up early in the morning, working out, watching race film, just trying to figure out what I can do to gain a tenth or a thousandth on the track."
When he's on the track, Lothian is able to seamlessly bob and weave past other cars. The result is a room full of trophies.
"I just love that feeling of competition. When you get up to victory lane, it's the best feeling in the world because there's only one winner."
The eleventh grader has loved racing, and winning, since he was three. His mom, Cindy, says his love for the sport began when they were watching TV.
"We were flipping and we came to a NASCAR race and he said, 'Mama!' And he'd see the cars going around and he'd just sit there, mesmerized."
He first got behind the wheel, of a go kart that is, at the age of five. And Lothian's mom says he's been enthralled ever since.
Local
In-depth news coverage of the Greater Boston Area.
Lothian was recently selected to race in the NASCAR Rev Racing Drive for Diversity Development Program.
"I just kind of want to be the one kids look up to— that look at me and say, 'Hey. This kid looks like me. Maybe I should take a shot at NASCAR,'" he said.
NASCAR has few minority drivers. Lothian's parents say he can change the course other children may take.
"In order for young people to feel as if there's a pathway from a dream to reality," Lothian's dad, Dan, said. "They have to see someone that looks like them."
"He puts 100% into it. He works really hard. To see him be passionate about something and to love something and put in all the hard work, that just makes me so happy," Cindy said.
And his parents are happy driving him to practice, since he still doesn't have a license.
When he's not out on the course, Lothian is practicing in a simulator, which replicates any of the five to eight different tracks he races on throughout the year.
Lothian's coach, Michael Cammara, believes in Lothian just as much as his parents.
"He can go all the way!"
Lothian's dad believes it's his son's passion that can fuel him to the top.
"I love to see the fact that my son is good at what he does, but he really loves what he does, too."
