The sounds of the engine humming, the tires screeching at every turn, and the idea of just going fast is what makes Reilly McCarthy want to be a race car driver.

There are not many people that attend Bowie who have such a passion for racing. McCarthy’s love of the sport began when he watched the races on TV as a young kid.

“I have always been interested in racing since I was a little kid. My passion came from watching racing on TV and seeing some of these guys kind of like heroes, I used to watch Jeff Gordon on the TV all the time,” Mccarthy said.

Bowman Brannon, McCarthy’s former algebra teacher, has witnessed his love of racing.

  “He revealed his love of racing in our Algebra class last year, where he would occasionally mention things about NASCAR or a driver in the series,” Brannon said.

Racing is not an easy sport to get into, but once McCarthy saw it on TV he knew that was what he wanted to do.

“I haven’t known many students to show such an interest in racing, and I certainly have not heard of another student who was actually involved in the sport,” Brannon said.

Racing is a sport that not everyone is willing to do because you have to be brave because it is such a dangerous sport, junior Jacob Santiago explains.

“A racer has to be courageous and be able to not get that nervous because they reach such high speeds through tight spaces. Also they have to be able to manage their stress because of the high amounts they go through each time, knowing one wrong move could injure or potentially kill them,” Santiago said.   

McCarthy races as much as possible, usually on the weekends, to reach his goal of being a professional driver.

“My goal is to get to at least sprint cup which is the Nascar  division. But I will continue to race because it is a lot of fun,” said McCarthy

It is hard to find time amidst school work, family, and a social life to  practice, McCarthy usually has to spend time on the weekends to practice.

“He spends time on the weekends making his mom anxious, screaming around turns in speeds of over 60mph down at Central Texas Speedway,” Brannon said.

Like anything else to reach your top goal you have to start on the bottom, McCarthy started racing go karts and has now moved on to stock cars.

“Last year I started gokart racing .Then as I spent more time at the track I realized go cart racing could lead to something bigger; stock car racing. Finally, just recently I fixed up a car and started stock car racing ,” said McCarthy.  

McCarthy owns a dark green and yellow lettered car he recently fixed up and got some new safety gear.

“Reilly has his own race car (even though he doesn’t even have a driver’s license yet), a racing team, and all of the safety gear including the innovative new HANS device. He had to buy it stock and the team he is racing with had their crew tear out the seats and insides and put in the cage,” said Brannon.

The new series that he hopes to advance in is going to be a lot of work but totally worth it for McCarthy.

“This is my first race in this series. There are usually races every two weeks. It is probably going to end up taking up a lot of my time,” McCarthy said.

To become a good racer, one has to put in  a lot of time and effort and McCarthy is doing just that in Brannon’s eyes.

“Reilly is extremely committed to the sport, always wanting to improve and practice his driving. He is an extremely hard worker, and  has a strong desire to be successful,” said Brannon.  

Although many people know what racing is as a sport and may have been to a few races many do not know someone that actually races, especially at Bowie, junior Zoe Bihan explains.

“I have been to a Formula One race and a lot of people I know play the racing of video games but Reilly is the only one I know at Bowie that races,” Bihan said.

Schooling takes a lot of time and so does racing but the sport has never seemed to have gotten in the way, from his teacher’s standpoint.

“He has never used racing as an excuse not to complete school work, which definitely comes first in his mind,” Brannon said.

McCarthy is prepared for time commitment because he has been in a sport before and was able to handle both activities.

“I will be busy working on the car and practicing but I will handle it like you would any other sport,” McCarthy said.

To be able to balance school, life, and racing McCarthy has acquired the very important trait of responsibility.

“Responsibility and hard word are a huge part of who he is within the school building and out on the track. To my knowledge, he also does a good job separating these two and commits an appropriate amount of time to each,” Brannon said.

Many people enjoy racing and think it’s fun to watch but many are afraid to participate in the actual race because of the intensity.

“It’s very scary, I went go kart racing and almost got into a bad car accident so I couldn’t imagine what it would be like in a bigger scale,” Santiago said.

Racing is something he will always have a passion for but with this sport comes many dangers.

“Worst part about racing is wrecking. Second week of practice I was going around turn four and my tires dug in too far and I tried to turn my car away from the wall but it did a 360. It only made a small scratch but I was white knuckled after that one,” McCarthy said.

Although there are dangers involved Brannon is excited to see Mccarthy perform well and continue in his racing career and is excited about what the future holds for him .

“I think it would be really cool to have taught a student who is involved in NASCAR or another competitive racing series, especially a genuine, friendly guy like Riley,” Brannon said.

       McCarthy is excited to continue racing, his true sentiment for racing comes from fulfilling a simple idea of what he enjoys.

“I love going fast and the adrenalin rush, it makes me feel great,” McCarthy said.