Eric Veralrud: Third Generation

Throughout my childhood I was always around race cars. This is something my cousins Austin and Ryan Veralrud shared with me. Our fathers are brothers and shared many race cars before racing separately. Growing up my favorite day was Friday, because Friday was race day. I would get out of school and run off the bus to our house where my dad would be waiting with the car on the trailer and ready to go. We would take off to the race track in West Fargo. Once we would arrive I would go to the stands to sit with my grandparents and cousins. During the summer months being at the track was something we looked forward to every weekend.

As my cousins and I got older we knew that we wanted to get the chance to get in a car. At the young age of 14 and my cousin Ryan being 15 with the help from our fathers we built a race car called a road hog that takes two people to drive. One steers and one controls the pedals. We built the car in about a week and spent hours getting it ready. The night before the race my cousin Austin decided to have some fun with our car and blew it up driving down a gravel road. Our opportunity was gone but we would someday do it again. The next year Ryan built a car called a hornet and raced for 1 year before joining the military. The following year Austin started to race go-karts. Austin raced go-karts for two years at local tracks. I knew this was only the beginning for Austin's racing career. Austin soon decided to join the hornet class. This is an intro level class where many young beginners can start to develop their driving skills.

The past two years have been a big turnaround for Austin and racing. Two years ago Austin bought an old car from a friend called a pure stock. A pure stock is a big step up from a hornet and a bigger car often means bigger money and more time. Like many drivers Austin turned to sponsors to help him fund the car and his race season. A few of his sponsors are Corwin, The Bowler, and Reile’s transfer. Time is also an issue in the racing scene. Every week something may need to be fixed or tweaked and figuring out a setup that makes the car work the best can cause much tension.

Austin is not in the sport alone. Being that my father and uncle have raced for many years they have been a huge amount of help. Before the season my father and uncle spent many hours helping Austin get the car ready for the season. Once the season started myself, my dad and my uncle would be in the pits to help Austin with whatever he needed. Austin would turn to our fathers and other veteran drivers for advice. I found it interesting to learn how much can be done to a car and how differently minor changes can affect the way the car handles on the track. The education on what changes to make comes with experience. Being that our fathers have much experience Austin was able to have an advantage over some drivers.

This 2015 season brought Austin success and much progre

ss in his racing career. Austin was able to win many heat races and his first feature win along with many top 5 finishes. One of Austin's best races was in Devils Lake when he started 21st and finished 3rd. Next year is going to be another great season as Austin is going to be jumping in the seat of a newer pure stock that he is currently building.

Austin's passion for racing started at a young age and has never left him. Racing is something that he truly enjoys doing and is in his blood. In years to come Austin will have success and many mistakes but that is what racing is about. Austin recently had a son who is already following in the same path. I enjoy seeing that his son will enjoy the same passion as we did at a young age and can learn about the sport and hopefully someday be a fourth generation Veralrud race car driver.

Even though Austin, Ryan, and myself all grew up around racing together we did not take the same path. Austin is currently the only one racing between the three of us but I hope to be racing alongside him within the next couple of years. It is something that I have always wanted to do but have been focusing on finishing school before I race. I know someday my time will come and then I will decide if I still have the passion for racing that I have had my entire life.