#3WideBlog #HighsideSeries: Garrett Marchant

     The "Highside Series" feature is to showcase up and coming drivers who you may or may not have heard of, from a variety of racing disciplines, and their journey through this awesome sport. Sometimes the ups and downs of the sport we all love, force these up and coming drivers to take the "highside" to their goals.

Garrett Marchant (via race101.net)

     I haven't been on Twitter very long, but for almost the balance of the duration I have been following Garrett Marchant ( @GMarchant77 ), and that's what prompted me to write my next "Highside Series" on him. Garrett is from Roanoke Rapids North Carolina and he is 15 years old. If you wanted to find Garrett racing right now, head over to Southern National Motorsports Park in Lucama North Carolina where he is currently racing the full Limited Late Model season. Garrett currently sits 6th in the overall Limited Late Model points standings there, and is 1st in the Rookie of the Year race. I had the chance to exchange e-mail with Garrett, and also learned a lot about him via his website www.GarrettMarchant.com. Here is what I would like to share with you.


#3WIDEBLOG: To start tell me about yourself, where are you from and anything else you would like people to know:

GARRETT MARCHANT: "My name is Garrett Marchant, I'm from Roanoke Rapids NC, and I'm a 15 year old NASCAR Whelen All American Series Driver working my way through the racing ranks the hard way. I'm kind of an average teenager I guess you could say (besides the fact I race every weekend.) I enjoy hanging out with my family and friends, bowling, and going to church!"

#3WIDEBLOG: How did you become interested in motorsports? 

GARRETT MARCHANT: "It's really a family tradition, I'm a 3rd generation driver so it's in my blood for sure!"

     I looked further into his family tradition, and pulled this quote from his website

WWW.GARRETTMARCHANT.COM: "Garrett is from a racing family where his grandfather works on the car during the week and Garret’s dad is the boss at the track. His grandfather used to race on dirt tracks in the 1970’s and to this day his father, Burney Marchant, runs in the Limited Late Model Series in North Carolina. It was through this love of racing that BMR Motorsports was started for the three generations of racers."

#3WIDEBLOG: Take me through your career to this point, where did you start? What were your stepping stones and how did you get to where you are now?

GARRETT MARCHANT: "I began my racing career in 2010 at Coastal Plains Raceway and East Carolina Motor Speedway in the Young Guns division. In 2010 I brought home 9 top 5's and 10 top 10's in 10 starts. 

Garrett Marchant and his #77 Limited Late Model
(pic via Twitter)

    
    In 2011 we made the decision to race at South Boston Speedway and Orange County Speedway in the Pure Stock division, where I had horrible luck to be honest. In 11 starts I racked up: 2 top 5's and 4 top 10's. It definitely was not the season I had hoped for but as I said I had HORRIBLE luck. I had plenty of good runs though which led us to making the decision to make my Late Model debut on September 24th at Orange County Speedway. (Which was at least a 200 horsepower difference, maybe more.) I would begin the race in the 13th spot and finished 10th. 

So I guess it's pretty obvious that now I do race full time in Limited Late Models at Southern National Motorsports Park.  In 12 races so far I have: 7 top 10 finishes with a best finish of 6th. I sit 6th in the point standings and am currently leading the Rookie of the Year race!"

     I also learned from his Twitter profile that Garrett is a Race 101 Scholarship recipient. I looked into that too, and here is a quote from www.race101.net

     "RACE 101 is an acronym for Research, Analyze, Consult, and Educate, 1 On 1. The brainchild of veteran racer, crew chief, and mentor Tony Blanchard – the business was developed to serve as an educational program for aspiring racers while allowing Tony to consult with race teams, manufacturers, drivers, and anyone else interested in improvement. Like motorsports, RACE 101 constantly evolves. Through networking and the success of students, clients, and partners, RACE 101 has become a well-known and highly respected name in racing circles."

     With only 20 scholarships handed out to students each year, and the talent that has been shown thus far, I believe Garrett Marchant is a name you might just be hearing more soon. If you would like to learn more about Garrett like I did you can follow him on Twitter @GMarchant77 or check out his website www.GarrrettMarchant.com.  Spread this story and help an up and coming driver! Thank You for taking the time to read. 

Some content via race101.net & GarrettMarchant.com