short track
STARS
BEAU BEGNAUD ONE LAST MOUNTAIN
Photo: Ron Skinner
Spring, Texas
By Ashley Zimmerman
IT’S NO SECRET that grassroots racing takes a village behind the scenes to get to the track each weekend. Deep in Texas where some of the nearest tracks for drivers are a three hour commute, the commitment and dedication by teams runs deep through their village. For young Beau Begnaud, it’s taken balancing not just work but at times school, family support from sacrifices to becoming crew members, and a lot of willingness for mentorship and improvement. Begnaud has never backed down from the challenges, and while he’s young in his late model career, consistency has begun to pay off and he’s climbing yet another mountain through another division. DIRT EMPIRE: Let’s start from the beginning. How did you get your start? What was the evolution of cars that got you to the point of running a late model? If you had to do it over again, is there something you would do differently? BEAU BEGNAUD: I believe we did everything the right way. I started in karts, and then my parents moved me into a four cylinder rear wheel drive class, mini stocks, then stock cars, and after
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that on to modifieds and from there to the late model. I went through the ranks and I feel like that was the best way to do it. I was around ten when I started in gokarts. I had a really good start, and I’m really thankful for that. DE: Many grassroots drivers are faced with having to balance a day job and racing. For you, you’ve also had to balance school, a job, and racing. What has that been like for you? BB: I graduated from school last year, but while in school I worked a part time job at Smiley’s, our local race shop. It wasn’t too hard to balance in high school. I was a dual credit student, so a lot of my stuff was through the college, and I could make my own schedule and plan around it. Now, I work at a custom trailer manufacturer and work Monday through Friday. My boss is nice enough to let me off at noon on Fridays so we can go race Friday and Saturday night. Then Sunday is our wash day and then we do it all over again. DE: Did having a job in a race shop like Smiley’s help you learn anything?
DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 06 - 2021
BB: It definitely helped me meet a lot of people in the industry; it led to some sponsorship, some big and some small. My boss now is also into motorsports, so he’s great at listening and helping me out in any way he can. DE: With having just graduated, what kind of long term goals do you have? Do you want to attend college? Do you see yourself with a job in motorsports? BB: I’m kind of in an in-between phase
