{"id":42734,"date":"2020-09-17T07:00:28","date_gmt":"2020-09-17T11:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/?p=42734"},"modified":"2024-03-25T11:22:17","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T15:22:17","slug":"destined-for-speed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/showcase\/2020\/09\/destined-for-speed.html","title":{"rendered":"Destined for Speed"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As a\nkid, I dreamt of pursuing all of the most fascinating careers, from an\nastronaut to police officer to (of course) a racecar driver. When we are young,\nwe don\u2019t recognize that we have the power to actually be what we dream of\nbeing. Some people are born to act, some are born to teach, and some are born\nto ride. For most of us, family influences our decisions. We might follow in\nthe footsteps of a parent or a loved one, and in doing so, we are not the sole\nauthors of our future: Our family helps hold the pen, too. It\u2019s not so often\nthat we hear of a four-year-old locking in a career that no one in the\nimmediate family has followed, but that\u2019s exactly what happened to North\nCarolina\u2019s very own Gray Leadbetter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Gray doesn\u2019t come from a family of racing or motorsports, but, somehow, she convinced her dad to give her a dirt bike in exchange for her cooperation with potty-training. Once she mastered the potty, she ditched the training wheels and hopped on a pw50.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Young\nand unburdened, enlivened by the wheels on the road, it was at this moment that\nGray knew she would dedicate her life to motorsports and racing. Throughout the\nyears, she would ride four or five days a week and race on the weekends. The stereotypical\nlife of play dates, tea parties, sleep-overs and vacations was left in the\ndust for her love for racing. Gray\u2019s father, Stephen, wasn\u2019t involved in\nmotorsports and had no stake in Gray\u2019s involvement with racing. He saw her face light up, and he recognized how much she loved it. Because of this, he was nothing but supportive of his daughter\u2019s need for speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A\nrained-out moto season pushed Gray into indoor karting. She was six and karting\nwith adults. The Friday fast group coached her, and, in no time, she was\nrunning with the fast club. Within the year, everyone around her began to\nrecognize that she was something special behind a steering wheel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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At\neight, with Championships in Motocross and Karting already behind her, Gray\nwent from karting to full-sized cars. From there, she attended the DirtFish rally\nschool at 12 years old and drove a Viper at Bondurant. Well-known racing\npros Buddy Rice and Johnny Greaves took note of her skills and began to support\nher, teaching her the ins and outs of racing. Now, the lot of Leadbetter, Rice and\nGreaves consider each other family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo Credit: Landon Grant Productions (@LandonGrantProductions<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Gray\u2019s skills are so far advanced because of her attitude: She is willing to drive anything. If an opportunity comes along to race something, she races it. She is now often behind the wheel of UTVs, Mini Outlaws, Go Karts and Rallycross. She even has a secret training program that gives her the competitive edge in those off-road events without her using any of those vehicles. The secret? Train with a Dodge Challenger SRT\u00ae<\/sup> Hellcat 6-speed on a closed course. With this practice, she\u2019s clocked over 12,000 miles in an SRT Hellcat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Last\nyear, before every rally race, she made it a point to go to Bondurant and pound\nlaps in the SRT Hellcat. Working with a higher horsepower and a heavier vehicle in\ncomparison to what she would normally race served as strong physical and mental\ntraining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When\nwe asked Gray about where she wants to go next with this dream come true, she\nanswered, \u201cWherever it takes me.\u201d While Gray is very interested in rally, she\nhopes to try and learn about all of the dynamics of racing from whatever\nopportunities that come along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo Credit: Landon Grant Productions (@LandonGrantProductions<\/a>) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Gray\nLeadbetter is able to claim over a decade\u2019s experience in the racing world, and\nshe is only 15 years old. Humble for her age, she is always willing to share\nher experience and tips with those just starting out. (Her recommendation is to\nstart small, then go to the karts, and always network.) We\u2019re sure this\nisn\u2019t the last we will write about Gray, and we can\u2019t wait to see what sort of\nspeed she brings into the next ten years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more on Gray, or to follow her adventures, check her out @GrayLeadbetter<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n