Speedy showing

When 11-year-old Cassidy Takacs is flying down a racetrack in her dragster, winning is never at the top of her mind.

"I feel all the wind coming to my lungs and I just focus on where I’m going," said the Grade 6 Nor’wester View Public School student. "If you think ‘I want to win; I want to win’ down the track, you’ll just lose and then get really mad over it. I just keep trying harder and harder."

Usually one of the first three racers to cross the finish line, Takacs brought in her racecar for a unique show and tell Wednesday afternoon.

"I always wanted to show my class ever since I got a car," she said.

Her presentation was a suitable introduction to a unit on motion coming up in the science curriculum. Grade 6/7 teacher Kristi Lees said it also fit in with the students’ language lesson on how to write a report based on Takacs’ presentation.

"It’s nice to see some of the interests the students have to make their learning in school exciting and definitely more hands-on and get away from just paper and pencil work to make it more fun for them," she said.

Takacs has been racing since she reached the eligible age of eight and the love of drag racing runs in the family.

"My parents raced; that’s how they met," she said, adding her brother, Christopher, 13, also races and her seven-year-old sister Camryn will be racing after her next birthday.

Her father John said he’s always had a car and always been into racing.

"You figure while the kids are at the race track, they might as well do something useful, too," he said.

The Takacs family races at the Terrace Bay drag race festival every year and they also make trips to the race track in Brainerd, Minn.

And racing is something Cassidy sees herself doing for years to come.

"When I watch on TV, there’s national (championships) and that’s for the professional racers," she said. "I want to keep going so I’m as good as them."