MyConnection JANUARY 20, 2016
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The Need for
SPEED Ethan Endicott Makes Name for Himself on Go-Kart Circuit
BY DOUG GORMAN dgorman@newnan.com Some kids play football while others fall in love with baseball, basketball or soccer. However, 12-year-old Ethan Endicott, a seventh-grader at Coweta Charter School, gets his thrills at a little faster pace. Endicott has become one of the youngest go-kart racing champions in the country, competing at tracks all around the state, in South and North Carolina, in Alabama and in Missouri. “It’s just the adrenaline rush I get from racing,” Endicott said. “I guess that is what like about it.” Endicott inherited his racing instincts from his father, Steven and his grandfather who raced just about anything with an engine over the years. Steven entered his son into his first go-kart competition five years ago, and quickly discovered that his son had natural ability. It didn’t take long for Ethan to discover he had a gift for racing too. “I tried other sports,” Ethan said. “I played baseball for a little while, but wasn’t really that good.” The family has invested in Ethan’s love of racing. A large shop located just behind
PHOTO COURTESY OF RUTHIE ENDICOTT
Ethan Endicott has become one of the country’s top go-kart racers. Last season, he collected more than $50,000 and won 30 races. One of Endicott’s most successful events came at the 22nd-annual Thanksgiving Thunder event in which he won five classes and more than $20,000. Endicott took the checkered flag 30 times in 2015, and hopes to add more to his race accolades during the 2016 season.
Ethan Endicott
the Endicott home houses the young driver’s cars and equipment. In reality, it doesn’t look any different than a NASCAR driver’s shop. Tires, engines and other racing essentials are stored in the large structure, and picture and banners showing Endicott’s early success are also clearly on display on one of the large walls.
The RV the family owns to get from race to race is also parked inside shop, giving them all the comforts of home even while they are away from Coweta County. Ethan finished a record-setting year on the dirt-covered tracks last season, having won more than 30 races and pocketing close to $50,000. “I probably put back that much and then some,” Steven said. “It’s really no different than the parent who spends money or travel baseball or soccer for their kid. That bass fisherman, no matter how many bass he catches, probably won’t pay for that boat.” Ethan has lofty goals for the 2016 racing season. “We would love to win 40 races this year,” he said. Ruthie Endicott enjoys seeing her son excel in a sport few people
understand. “When a lot of people thinking about go-kart racing, they think about the go-kart rides at the amusement parks in Panama City,” she said. It isn’t uncommon for the gokarts to hit speeds of 80-miles an hour, and Ethan has experienced his share of bumps and bruises. However, these are more of badges of honor for the young man who as earned the moniker “Iceman,” based on the character in the 1980s hit movie “Top Gun.” Like the Naval pilot portrayed by Val Kilmer in the film, Ethan shows little fear when he gets behind the wheel of one of his go-karts. Most go-kart races are 15-laps or 15 minutes and once the race starts, Ethan seldom takes his foot off the gas.
Ethan races in several divisions at each venue, so there is little down time. “He doesn’t have too much time to think about a bad race or accident,” Steven said. “He usually has to get right back at it to race again.” However, there is much more to the sport than just loading up the RV, racing and coming back home. The Endicotts spend hours working on cars for the next event. “There is a lot that goes into keeping these go-karts up and ready to race again,” Steven said. As Ethan gets older, his Dad plans to get him more involved in the behind-the-scenes aspects of the motor sport. “There is a lot to do before each race, and he is starting to get
SPEED, page 3
Newnan’s Smith
Swap Salt for Herbs and Spices
among “most influential” Listed in “Georgia Trend” Magazine
By SARAH FAY CAMPBELL sarah@newnan.com
Easy Ways to Cut Salt from your Diet
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Herb s an Reci d Spices pes ➤ PAG E4
FAMILY FEATURES
Tuscan Pasta ere healthier choices one of your New offer easy tips and recipes to Year’s resolutions? make low-sodium meals full of Don’t forget salt. Most Americans consume about 1,000 flavor: milligrams of sodium over the amount n Beat 1/8 teaspoon herb instead recommended by nutrition and health of salt into 2 eggs before experts. New research shows cooking scrambling. with spices and herbs could help you ditch the salt shaker and meet sodium n Add oregano, garlic powder recommendations. and red pepper to no-salt added Keeping a resolution to cut salt tomato sauce for a tasty, lowfrom your diet is easy. Use simple sodium pasta dinner. spice swaps to create tasty, lown Try making Citrus Herbed sodium meals. From seasoning eggs Chicken with Asparagus, Fiesta with basil instead of salt to adding Citrus Salmon or Tuscan Pasta. spices and herbs to no-salt tomato These dishes don’t call for any sauce, the McCormick Kitchens
salt. Instead, they swap in basil, garlic powder and oregano. For more low-sodium tips and recipes – such as shaved vegetable salad with Italian herb vinaigrette – visit McCormick. com/recipes/low-sodium to keep your New Year’s resolutions on track. To see the full Anderson study, which examined the effects of a behavioral intervention that emphasized spice and herbs, and how it impacts sodium intake, visit McCormickScienceInstitute.com.
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For the sixth year in a row, Newnan’s Lynn Smith has been named to the list of the 100 Most Influential Georgians by “Georgia Trend” magazine. Smith, a Republican state representative, was elected in 1996 and serves as the chairwoman of the House Natural Resources and Environment Committee. She is also the chairwoman of the House Study Committee on Saltwater Intrusion into Coastal Aquifers. This year, Smith, whom the magazine calls a “longtime environmental champion" was recognized for her work developing the Legislative Environmental Policy Academy at the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government. Smith had been talking to representatives with the CVIOG about upcoming environmental legislation and wanted to start an
State Representative Lynn Smith
education process for her committee members so that they could dig deeper into issues outside the confines of the hectic Georgia General Assembly session. And the policy academy was born. Being named to the prestigious list for the sixth year in a row was “overwhelming for me,” Smith said. “It was very, very surprising this year.”