LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Las Vegas is no stranger to big-time races and racers.
With F1, NASCAR, rally cars, funny cars and more professional circuits everywhere, the driver with maybe the most momentum around is only eight years old.
“What makes me so good?” asks second grader Baron Schlemmer. “I always keep my foot on the gas. Always. Without braking. If we brake, it slows down.”
That makes enough sense, but it’s not easy to do. For Baron and his little brother Brandt, though, it comes pretty naturally.
“They like that adrenaline, to go fast,” Baron’s grandpa, William Farnsworth, said of the two kids. “I think that comes from us.”
Farnsworth and his daughter Marlo have been racing since they were kids, with William starting at age 15 with funny cars in Las Vegas. Marlo took her kids out to see how they liked it.
“I wanted to let them try go-karting, and it stuck,” she explained. “They really enjoyed it, and they picked it up very, very fast.”
It’s not just good genes that make it happen for the Schlemmers.
“Dario brings it to another level,” Farnsworth said, referencing Baron’s coach, Dario Capitano, a pro racer who teaches kids in Southern Nevada how to win in karts.
“I like to say it’s like painting,” Capitano explained. “You want to be precise, and you need to know what to do. That’s what we do. That’s what I teach kids.”
Capitano has been working with Baron for only about half a year, but in that short time, he sees something different in him compared to other kids.
“At that age, what is important for me as a coach in this case is to see the commitment and the patience for the sport,” Capitano said. “He definitely has that.”
Baron has been winning race after race against kids five years older than he is, and he basks in the positive reaction from his family.
“When I win first place, second place or third place, they say, ‘Wow, you’re pretty good out there,‘” he recalls. “And they give me hugs and all that.”
Baron has some competition on his tail, with six-year-old brother Brandt saying he’s faster, and that Baron spins him out when he’s behind Brandt.
“I was upset because I wanted to get that first place gold medal,” Brandt accused.
Baron denied the accusation tongue-in-cheek. Meantime, he’s ready to keep winning on even bigger stages.
“As long as he’s still having fun and enjoys every second of it, he’ll be doing this for a while, I think,” his mom Marlo said.
Baron’s next big race is in California at the end of April, when he’ll be racing in the Junior Nationals. If he places well enough there, he’ll advance to the world championships, where he’ll be racing for an $8,000 purse.
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