The races at Kinross have been rained out three out of the last four weeks, but 12-year-old stock car racer Taylor Babcock's drive to race had her motoring south to Onaway Speedway Saturday, June 26, where she took first in a six-car dash and fourth in the feature race. The six-car dash features the six fastest cars in each class racing for six laps, with the fastest car winning. It's a Friday night and the Kinross Speedpark is a blur of colors. Blacks, purples, reds, and whites spin by in carousel as race cars maneuver to move to the front of the pack. The number 56, painted on the side of a blue 1982 Ford Mustang, captures Mike and Pam Babcock's attention, their eyes following the two digits wherever they go.

At the wheel of this car is their daughter, 12-year-old Taylor Babcock, who has broken single-lap speed records at the Kinross Speedpark and Onaway Motor Speedway on her way to three third-place finishes and one fifth-place finish in her first year of racing four-cylinder stock cars. Her consistency in placing in the top five has her second in points with 10 more races left to go.

Inside of the car, Miss Babcock's concentration is unwavering. She is aware of the other cars around her and looking for that opening to get out front. To her, racing is a passion so intense that whatever thoughts she has during the process are forgotten as soon as she steps off the track.

Miss Babcock wouldn't be able to take to the track Friday and Saturday nights if her parents didn't believe in her abilities.

“A lot of people say, 'I don't know how you let your daughter do this,' but I've seen her race throughout the years and am confident with her as a driver,” Mrs. Babcock said.

This opportunity to race stock cars against adults came about in large part because of Miss Babcock's patience both on and off the track. She came up through the ranks in a natural progression from one type of vehicle to another.

“The people who think this is crazy don't know her background and haven't seen her race,” Mr. Babcock said.

Growing up on the race track with a father who enjoyed participating in and watching races, Miss Babcock was at home among exhaust fumes, revving engines, and glinting metal. Whether it was snowmobiles (her father's vehicle of choice), stock cars, or go-karts, the youngster dreamed of racing it all.

She got her first 120 Polaris snowmobile at the age of four and followed in her father's footsteps, racing it by the age of five, even earlier than the age he started: 15.

“It's got to be in her blood,” her mother said. “I don't see anything exciting about going in high speeds with all those other vehicles around you doing the same.”

From snowmobiles, her racing career moved to go-karts, which she has raced the last two years.

In her first year of racing them, the racer dubbed “Tornado Taylor” was second in points. Last year, she was crowned the track champion.

The transition from go-karts to stock cars came when Miss Babcock was offered an opportunity to trade her snowmobile for a 1982 Ford Mustang. The car needed some work, but the Babcock family envisioned its potential.

Taylor jumped at the deal, saying she had outgrown the snowmobile and was eager to pursue her next challenge.

While her older sister and mother counted laps, Taylor endeared herself to those in stock car racing by volunteering to sweep the track and fetching food and beverages for the racers, and when she needed permission to race from Kinross Speedpark president Jerry Liscomb, he gave it to her.

The family's insurance company allowed her father to decide whether to allow his daughter to race.

The fundamentals she had learned racing go-karts have enabled Taylor to do well at the next level, her father said. A high level of control is required of gokart drivers, since the vehicles are fast and drivers are relatively exposed.

“In go-karts, they are taught not to touch and rub,” Mr. Babcock said. “Racers learn to not do anything that could slow them down or make them lose control.”

This smooth racing style helped Miss Babcock learn to navigate corners seamlessly, an essential skill at the next level, too.

“If you can't go around the corners fast, you're not going to go through the straightaways fast,” Mr. Babcock said.

From the time Mr. Babcock donned his first racing helmet, he has choked and coughed with nervous energy before each race. Still competing in racing circuits himself, he now finds himself coughing for two.

“I still choke and cough when Taylor's out there,” he said. “My little girl is out there, going toe-totoe with adults.”

There are two factors that put Mr. and Mrs. Babcock's minds at ease. One is their daughter's racing style, the other is the car.

“Taylor is patient, very patient,” Mr. Babcock said. “She doesn't want to be that young driver causing wrecks out there. Everybody was watching when we were at our first test and tune to see what she would do. Taylor proved to all of the drivers that she wasn't going to be a liability out there.”

Mrs. Babcock said other racers seem to agree.

“I was surprised with the drivers,” she said. “We thought we might hear more negative feedback about them not wanting to race with a 12-year-old girl. They see she's not a hazard out there, that she's a patient racer.”

The closest calls Taylor has had were a spin-out at Kinross and swapping paint with a cement wall at Onaway. While she is careful, her car is bound to get a few dents and scrapes, her father said, and her car is reinforced as much as possible to protect her, heavier than most.

“She's safer in the car than she was in the go-kart,” Mrs. Babcock said. “There's a roll cage and it's reinforced and braced in such a way that we know she'd walk away from a rollover or crash.”

Stock car racing allows the father and daughter to enjoy a rare bond. Mr. Babcock can share his passion and wisdom with his daughter, who is far more patient, he says, than he was at that age.

“I tell her to drive her race and not rush things. When the right time comes, she'll win,” he said.

“In the meantime, she learns patience and sportsmanship. It doesn't matter if you win or lose, as long as you are having fun.”

Mrs. Babcock has coaxed a standing agreement out of both of the racers in her family, who promise to leave the sport once it ceases to be fun for them.

Miss Babcock is a straight-A student whose aspirations include becoming a NASCAR driver and an anesthesiologist. She has standing offers to race on dirt tracks, where many professional drivers get their start, and is capturing the interest of more sponsors all the time.

It's a balance, Mr. Babcock said, of trying to win the circuit she's in now or jumping at the opportunity to race on dirt, an experience that could get her closer to her dreams. One of her goals is to race at Aldora, a dirt racetrack in Ohio owned by NASCAR driver Tony Stewart.

While Taylor Babcock's road to racing stock cars seemed like a natural progression, her parents realize there are other parents out there who wouldn't let their children seize this opportunity.

“You've got to support your kids,” Mr. Babcock said. “If they think they can do it, you've got to let them at least try.”

Miss Babcock will continue to race Friday and Saturday nights, at racetracks throughout northern Michigan, for the rest of the summer.