Welcome to Momentum, a motorsports podcast powered by High Gear Success. I'm your host, Heather Wilson Schiltz Here we share the stories and strategies that keep the world of motorsports moving forward. And my guest today is Cole Peterman and his mom, Kristen. And Cole is an 11 year old road racer who lives in Florida and competes in the South Florida Mini GP and WERA Road Racing Series. So thanks for being here. Thank you. So Cole, can you tell us what classes that you compete in in those series? For South Florida Mini GP, I do GP160, Super Mini, Stock 125, and Spec 65. So you have some really busy race days it sounds like. How old were you when you first rode a motorcycle? I think I was five years old. Yeah. do you remember that first time? No, I feel the same way about, you know, I started riding dirt bikes when I was five, but I don't really remember it that well either. So I can totally understand. do you remember the first time that you ever went racing? A little bit, not a lot, but it was at Herrin compound in Georgia and I was racing a PW50 and we rented a suit and a helmet and boots and gloves because we didn't really have any of that. And I ended up taking 15th, but that was when Ella Dreher and Mac MacClugage were racing in my class. So you had some tough competition then. Yeah. And for your first race, it's always really nerve wracking, right? Yeah. yeah. We used a paper plate for like a catch. We had, we had nothing. were woefully unprepared for that first race. My first race is also where we met DMS Yep. That is we've met some, we met some great friends at that first race. And that was definitely, it was an South Florida mini GP race. And it was definitely a good first introduction to that whole world. Cause everyone was just so friendly. Yeah. That's always really helpful when you can meet new friends and they can kind of show you the ropes and any form of racing. So obviously you've met a lot of friends, but do you have a favorite part about racing? Like, why did you grow to love it so much? Going fast and also battling with all my friends. Gabe Datis is one of my favorite friends to battle with. Yeah. So did you guys have a little rivalry sometimes about who's going to beat each other? It's mainly like friend rivalry. So we're both like pushing and then one of us stands each other up to pass. But it's not really like serious, oh I'm gonna win this and crash you. It's just like in practice mainly we're just like passing each other to get. for bragging rights. Yeah. So we talked about the classes that you race, but what motorcycles do you have? Because it sounds like you have a lot of motorcycles. So I have a Moriwaki 250 for WERA So DMS provides two of my bikes. For stock 25 would be a Z125. And for supermany I race a... CRF150R for a Spec 65, a KX65 and a GP160 and Ohvale 160. So are you taking all of these bikes to the racetrack every time you race? Not all of them, but usually for my brothers too. We usually take all four of my classes and usually either the PW or the CRF and the 110. We only, except for big bike or WERA races, we only take the 110 for pit bike and the 250 to race. Can you tell us what a typical race day looks like for you? Do you have any routines when you get to the track? I'm trying to stay calm. Yeah, that's a big part of it, right? But it's really busy because I'm just like always on a bike because usually my classes are back to back. So I would get off the track. A race would go and the races are only 10 laps for the main race. So a race would go. I would get on a bike and I think the only time I have a break is for from I think Supermini to Stock 125 is the only class I really have a It's still a short break, but it's longer than all the others. So you stay busy all day long. You talked about staying calm. So what are some of the ways that you do make sure that you stay calm? breathe, like heavy breathing, and then just if I am in first by the last lap, I'm usually calm, but if there's somebody right behind me, I'm still a little jittery. Do you like to listen to music or kind of jump around and get all the nerves out or is it just really practicing your breathing and mentally making sure you're prepared? I do a lot of I do breathing. um I try to ride my bike around a lot at the races with Gabe And I also do listen to a lot of different kinds of music. Nice. do you have a favorite track that you've raced at? It's, that's a tough question because my first ever race at Herrin, that's one of my favorite tracks. But I got my first win at Anderson and, but I also got one of my first WERA wins at Bush, or at Barber. And I really do like Barber because of how flowy and fast it is. So out of all of them, probably Barber. is actually on my bucket list. I have not been there yet, so I really want to go check out the museum, maybe go to their vintage festival at some time. I think they're having Supercross next year there too, so ah yeah, that schedule just came out so that was pretty cool. But it sounds like you like Barber, and that's a pretty cool track that I'll have to check out. Can you describe what it feels like when you're out there on the track? What are you thinking about when you're riding? just trying to pass and get up front. Yeah. Is there any sort of strategy that you're using to get around people or try to get a good jump off the line? I usually be patient and towards like I just stay on their tail and towards the last lap they start like trying to get away from me so they start making more mistakes. Those mistakes can cause me to be able to pass them and win. Yeah, absolutely. Capitalize on other people's mistakes when maybe they're getting a little nervous or making, making little mess ups, right? Yeah. Have you ever had any crazy moments during a race where you were like near crash, but you were able to recover? There was one race, it was two years ago, and me and Gabe on the 110s were, I think we were like 10 seconds ahead of everybody. We were both battling and trying to beat each other. And then at Bushnell, I came in, so there's this chicane, and then like a 90 degree corner up towards the bridge. And I shifted and I... didn't know it was in third instead of fourth. So when I shifted, I shifted down to first and it just slid out and I slid all the way to the dirt and then got back up and I don't know if, I don't remember if I beat him or got second. Yeah, I've seen some pretty gnarly road race crashes when those bikes go down. It hurts. you're dirt. It does hurt on dirt, but dirt you... There's a little bit of give. Yeah, like it's not, cause if you're racing on a rough track, your suit can like just grab the track and you'll go rolling. Dirt, have hit a couple of rocks when I crashed, but not as much as road. Cause most of the we race at, they're like go-kart tracks and most of them either care for the track too much and it ends up messing up their track or they just don't really care about their track. Yeah. Track surface. That can be a big factor in racing, right? Tell us what it's like having your family at the races with you. You said you have some siblings that race as well. So it makes it a little bit more crazy because my youngest brother, he has one race right after mine. So I have to pull off the track. We use the same transponder. So I have to pull off the track, give him my transponder. He goes and then right after I have another race. So he has to pull off the track and my dad has to run out, grab that transponder and put them on. That sounds definitely crazy to keep all that straight. you like hanging out with your family at the races though? Is it fun to go away for the weekend? It is really fun because usually we have like two hotel rooms and we all just like pile up and want to play around. Get to hang out? Do you play video games at all? Yes, a lot. ah Do you help work on your bike at all or do you leave that to your parents? I help with tires and stuff, but usually I'll help take bolts off and since I have small hands, I help my dad reach stuff that he's not able to reach. I do help a lot on the bikes, but when it comes to engine stuff, I don't really touch much on engine stuff. Yeah, me neither. neither. What do your friends think about you being a racer? Have you met a lot of new friends through racing? Yes, most of the kids from SFL and oh some of my kids at school, but we just kind of like met each other. We didn't really meet through racing, but oh it took some people a while to actually find out that I was racing because I don't really like talk much about it at school as much as I do with my friends here. Do you have a favorite snack or treat after a race? Is there something that is like your go-to? Um, anything we can really get out of gas station pretty much the first place we always stop after a race. Cause usually keep the truck running. So after somebody gets off the track, they can go hang out in the AC. So we're always low on gas when we leave. So when we leave, we just stop at a gas station to get snacks and food and fuel all up and move. Completely practical. totally understand that. Do you have a favorite Moto America or Moto GP racer that you look up to? uh For MotoGP definitely Marc Marquez. oh For MotoAmerica I do really like PJ Jacobson. those are two very good racers. So those are pretty good idols to have. um Kristen, were you around or involved in racing before Cole started racing? No, not at all. This was definitely, um, we moved, uh, from New Mexico to Florida in 2020 and there was just no sports, here because of, you know, the lockdowns and stuff. So most of the rec sports were closed. And my husband, Nick found SFL and they were still holding the race late, late that year. Um, and here we are with a garage full of motorcycles now. your husband familiar with racing or it was all new to him as well? Yeah. Oh yeah. I think he said, um, that like in high school, I don't know if the racing cars was, was legal. Yeah. I think that was more like telling you what not to do. Yeah. But, um yeah, no, we, I know I was in no way, I think my husband knows all about motors and that kind of stuff, but, I do not. Yeah. So kind of like a whole new atmosphere for the whole family to be in. Yeah, but it's great. It's such a family friendly, like I think they've dabbled in some other sports and I definitely feel like the race family is just a little bit closer. How do you balance the demands of racing with everybody's school and work and family life? Not well. it's a lot. is, um, cause I have, we have four, he's the oldest. So Cole's 11. have a nine year old daughter, seven year old son and a five year old son and the seven and five year old race at the smaller races and my daughter does ballet. and they're at three different schools. So it's a lot. Um, But I do appreciate that the race weekends, it's just like a whole weekend for us to spend together as a family. My mom and dad come down from South Carolina. my husband's mom comes, so it's all of us together and it's just, it's nice to be able to like unplug for that weekend. Yeah. That's what I always enjoyed as well. Like growing up, my dad raced and I, I rode dirt bikes, but I never did any like racing myself, but we were always spending time together. as a family at the racetrack or camping, or we had the box trucks. So, um, yeah, that's just like a very cool thing to do as a family and get to hang out with each other. Yeah. So your role on race weekends, are you pit crew? Are you cheerleader? Are you coach? Like, how are you keeping it all together? I am usually cheerleader for sure, but I'm also usually wrangling the other kids and now. that our youngest is racing, it's just physically impossible for Nick to do all the things. So I am kind of learning a little bit about how to do things. am woefully bad at anything motor sports related, but I'm learning. And I think that, yeah, I would say I make sure we have all the food and any sort of beverage anyone could need at the races. Yep. Are there any routines or rules that you have to kind of help keep Cole focused and safe while he's racing? Well, his new rule is that um one of us will be putting his gloves on because he just had a pretty, bad accident. So he hasn't actually ridden since then. eh At the last SFL race, we were in Gainesville and yeah, so we were right near. a major hospital system. em And yeah, he it was a total kind of freak accident. And I guess the bike maybe stalled in front you and somebody stalled I hit them somebody else came over and hit me while I was going over the handlebars so the tires hit they shot my glove off and then my hand went through the brake rotor geez. Yeah. So he got a lot of stitches. the Shands Hospital, the pediatric hospital there, they were wonderful. We were in and out in probably not even two hours. I was shocked. And so I have a feeling that sometimes gloves don't get put on as tight as I would put them on. So yeah, there'll be some duct tape involved, I think from now on. you do you get nervous when he's out on the track? Are you getting used to it by now? I wasn't, I was doing really good. last, the last six months to a year, uh, when he first bumped up, when he turned 10, he bumped up to the, um, I guess adult classes. Uh, that was really stressful for me. but he's been doing really well. I will say I have not gone to any of the WERA races. Yeah, I haven't. And so uh That's probably why I haven't been nervous. So I haven't actually seen him ride on the big bike yet. I haven't been able to hype myself up enough to go to those. but we've really, he has the airbag suits now and he has the quick release helmet now. All those things. So we're doing everything we can from a safety standpoint. It's still, it's, it's scary. I can understand that. Do you have one of your proudest moments so far watching Cole race? What's been the coolest for you to see? Well, his proudest moment, I think, is when he moved up to the adult class. I gave him a little pep talk that was premature, apparently, because I was like, oh, you know, it'll be OK if you don't podium this first season. Like, these are adults. These are people. Like, I did not expect him to podium at all. And he won his first championship that first season. I was not expecting that but my honestly my most proud moments are when he Let's say he's involved in an incident with the racer and the other racer crashes or anything like that Cole always will go over and make sure they're okay and if he ever feels like there's a conflict or not even a conflict just like hey what happened out there He'll go up to other racers and just be like, hey, and I mean, adults, cause he's racing with adults now. And so just seeing his confidence being built, because I know as an 11 year old, I would not have done that. I don't know what I was doing at 11, it wasn't any of this. And so that is what makes me proud is just seeing, and the friendships that he's made, like to be able to race, like his friend Gabe, his friend Willie, all the other people he races with at South Florida, just they compete. But then they get off the track and there's none of that, you know, tension. They're just friends. And I love that. I think that's really cool. There's a lot of relationships built through racing and, and like being able to talk through situations too, instead of, uh, just having this like lingering tension, like you said, on the track is a really good trait to have. Is there anything that you do to help him stay positive after a tough race or a maybe a crash? I give him space. I don't know if he'd call it a routine, but when he's on race day, he is in the zone. His helmet is on, he is sitting in a chair, he has his fan. And so he doesn't really, feel like at lunchtime, you know, he turns into an 11 year old kid again. But in between those races, is not, he doesn't really want to be messed with. doesn't, you know, and so I definitely think giving him a minute to kind of figure it out on his own, what happened. Um, but then also reminding him like it's club racing. Like I know it's important and it is, but all of this is building up to the bigger races, to the, and so right now I think, and usually if he isn't winning, it's his friend that is. So we still happy for them. So racing can obviously be a really big commitment for family. How do you manage everything that goes into it? Especially probably the travel involved. Yeah, there is a lot of travel for us. we live in the panhandle and so The closest track we race at is about six hours away. Everywhere we go is so far. There used to be a flat track near us that we rode out that they, I think they switched just to go-karts or something. So there's really nothing. There's nothing to even practice at anywhere near us. So we... have a parking lot that we practice at when we don't get kicked out by the fire department. But outside of that, the travel is a lot. Nick, his dad, my husband, they go a lot, just them two or one of other smaller boys, because it would just be too much for all of us to haul and the dog. To haul down there for a track weekend. But honestly, Cole doesn't get a lot of. seat time outside of those race weekends. That's why I do love both Wera and SFL. I love that they have the, um, day that they practice. and then they have a race day. And so I appreciate that because he can actually get just some track time. Have you found, you mentioned kind of friends earlier, but have you found like a really strong sense of community in the paddock, not just with the, between the kids, but also between the parents? Oh, absolutely. um Gosh, just the very first race we were ever at, we randomly were next to um some guys that were from Fort Walton Beach, like the middle of, you know, so far away where we were and they own a motorcycle shop. It's at DMS Motorsports. And just from day one, they have Zach is the guy that owns the shop, but everyone there that helps with that. They have created such a community and they are so supportive of the kids. And I just love it. They invite them down to the shop. They can come work on the bikes at the shop anytime they want. He is constantly helping with all of the, I guess, motor stuff that's above, you know, above our pay grade. And then... the track outside of that, I've made really good friends with a lot of the kids' moms and everyone's just supportive. Everyone checks on everyone else's kid when they get hurt. The kids are always, you know your kids can run around and it's safe. somebody is going to be wagging a finger at them if they're doing something wrong and I appreciate that. It's just everyone makes it such a safe environment. Do you have any advice that you would give other parents whose kids want to get into racing? It's expensive. I, my biggest bit of advice I think would be to go to a club track. Like if you're in Florida, like South Florida mini GP. I think New Jersey has their mini GP up there. Um, a lot of times they have rentals for the bikes, the gear, everything. And so you can put your kid on the track and see if they actually like it before you shell out thousands of dollars. Um, I feel like I had no idea that road racing was a thing. no one knows when I tell them my kids race dirt bikes, they immediately assume that they're motocross And I'm like, Oh gosh, no, like that's terrifying to me. which is funny as I let him ride a 250 you know, around the track, but. Motocross is terrifying to me. There is a motocross track near us and I think we went twice and I was like, this isn't, this isn't for us. Our bones are not made for this. oh I've been twice because I got nervous. I love watching it. Yeah. Our middle son, Ben, he's seven. And I think if things go his way, he wants to motocross. I don't know. I don't know about that, but my advice. Yeah, it would be to go and try somewhere and, try it out first and see what kind of motorcycle riding they like, because there's the option. Road racing is an option. And I just feel like not everyone knows that. I always find it funny. And I say this often, like between the disciplines of racing, we all have our opinions about it. Like some people would be like, I would never put my kid on a four wheeler. And then the four wheeler parents say, I would never put my kid on a dirt bike. Or like I grew up riding in the woods, so motocross isn't for me, but I've also never road raced. I have a street and adventure bike, but I have not done any track days or anything. And that's really intimidating to me. So I kind of feel like it's what you know, as to like what you learn to accept, but it is very interesting. Uh, so Cole, your race season is kind of winding down. How has this year gone for you? Other than my crash, pretty good. I was leading. I just won the super mini championship and I'm leading the stock 125. I need to win the next two races for the GP 160 because at that race in the main race, my shifter actually fell off coming out of turn one and spec 65. They put me as a DNS because the crash red flagged the race. So I need to win the next two races for the spec 65. Now I need to win the next two GP 160 races and one of my friends has to get below fourth. They've got it all mapped out. Yeah. So you've got some, uh, high pressure races coming up then. Yeah. besides just ending out this season, kind of what are your future racing goals? Get to MotoGP. where I can actually really get noticed and get on a good team. So that's going to require a lot of work, huh? Yep. Absolutely. So when you're not racing, what else do you like to do? Riding my bike, sometimes play baseball, but my friend just moved. So we really like to play basketball and stuff together. But we have these like dirt jumps and they're actual, they're huge jumps. And I either take my mountain bike and my BMX bike down and ride through them. But we also have this creek near us and We either play in the creek or fish at the creek. So you like to be outside a lot. Yeah. Cool. I also heard that you have a science fair project that's focused on tire warmers. So can you tell us about that? So, we're using Dunlop Moto 3 tires and we're going to set the tire in different room temperatures and what uh my hypothesis is the coldest one is going to drop the tire pressure the fastest because every 10 degrees you lose 1 psi you'll have to keep us updated after you run the whole project on how that actually turns out. Tell people where they can follow your racing progress. So I think I saw you have a Facebook page or maybe Instagram. Peterman Racing on Instagram Very cool. So I'll be sure to link that in the show notes as well. Thanks for being on the show. Thanks for talking all things road racing, and I'm excited to see where your racing career heads the rest of the share and beyond. So thanks to everybody for tuning into Momentum. This has been a production of High Gear Success. If you want to connect or recommend a guest, head to MomentumMotorsportsPodcast.com. Until next time, keep the momentum rolling.