ASHEBORO, N.C. — Do you miss the excitement of watching a baseball player hit a home run out of the park? Or the rush you get as a race car whizzes past on the track’s straight away?

You are not alone. The athletes are itching to get back on the field or behind the wheel as much as we are. 

“It’s been a challenge for me because I’m always wanting to be in a race car every weekend,” said Chase Robertson, a race car driver in the state’s sportsman division. His passion was put on hold during the pandemic when tracks shut down. 

Racing is in Robertson’s blood. He’s a third generation racer. His grandfather started racing in the 1950s, and passed down the love of racing.

“They’re what I strive to be as a race car driver,” Robertson said of his dad and grandfather. “I can look for advice from them and I know they have my back.”

At 16, he lives and breathes the sport. He tested at Caraway Speedway in Asheboro several times over the past few months, and plans to start competing again when tracks open this summer. 

Robertson sees his dream within reach and has his father’s full support.

“We don’t do anything else — we don’t golf, fish, hunt,” said Mike Robertson, Chase’s dad. “I can’t do it for him. That’s the thing about a race car driver. I can’t drive it for him. Once he straps in he’s on his own.”

They haven’t let the pandemic sideline their goals.

“It’s definitely a dream but it’s gonna take challenges, and I think I can do it,” Chase Robertson said. “Hopefully this pandemic will get behind us so we can go back to normal living.”

All three generations of the Robertson’s have raced at the well-known Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, and Chase Robertson plans to race during its reopening night on June 5.

Gates will open to fans at 6 p.m.

You can find the track’s COVID-19-related regulations and fan information here.