Anna Lynn and Kevin Houk named their son Ayrton Houk (pronounced like Howk) after the late three-time Formula One champion Ayrton Senna. However, the path the teenager is taking is decidedly even more old-school than Senna. With IndyCar Series aspirations, he’s steering midgets on both pavement and dirt. He does so with good reason.
“I went to the Lucas Oil School of Racing Scholarship Shootout, where you compete for a full year in the Lucas Oil Formula Car Series,” said Houk, 17, of McCordsville, Indiana. “After switching from a go-kart to one of those cars, I had very little handle on the suspension and body roll of a race car.
“We had a friend that was racing the Mel Kenyon Midget Racing Series. I went out for a test day [in their car], and it was a great fit. We thought it would teach good car control, with a short wheelbase and quite a bit of horsepower.”
Back in the day, many IndyCar drivers came from the open-wheel oval-track ranks, including Indianapolis 500 winners Mario Andretti, A.J. Foyt, and Al Unser. Houk hopes to follow in their footsteps. He’ll compete in the Mel Kenyon Midget Racing Series while honing his road racing skills in the F1600 Championship Series.
“There are a lot of kids going into the Road to Indy [development program] with little to no oval experience,” Houk said. “So, combining the formula car [experience] with the midget car, we’re getting both aspects of the racing world.”
Houk enjoys both disciplines of racing.
“The most challenging [car to race], from a driving [point of] view, would be the midget on dirt,” Houk said. “[With the midget,] you’re wrestling with the true limits of the car, always right on that line. The most challenging, from the racing point [of view], would be the 1600. [You’re racing in] such a tight pack that if you make one mistake in any corner, you’re going straight to the back.”
Ayrton Houk can already claim victories with both types of cars. He earned a win with the midget at Indiana’s ¼-mile Anderson Speedway in April. Last October, In his first race with the 1600, he won an SCCA event at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington. The well-rounded Ayrton Houk hopes to continue gaining experience and race his way toward the Road to Indy program.
The Outside Groove Executive Editor has covered motorsports since 2000. His many awards include the 2019 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Jim Hunter Writer of the Year and the 2013 Russ Catlin Award for Excellence in Motorsports Journalism.
