Stock car racer Connor Wenners, 12, of Edgecomb has been a big deal at Wiscasset Speedway this summer. He races in the 25-lap, four cylinder pro series and has been since he was 10.

“I started racing when I was 4,” the Boothbay Region Elementary School seventh grader said. “All I can remember about my first year racing is running second and then chasing the kid down and winning.”

That was back when he was racing go karts. Now, as a stock car racer, he faces opponents ranging in age from 14 to their mid-50s. That is why his first and second career wins on Aug. 29 and Sept. 9 are so impressive, especially the September one. It made him the youngest feature winner in the speedway’s history.

Asked how it feels to win back to back and to hold what may become an eternal record, he said: “Good.”

“This is all you’re going to get,” his mother Nicole McKay laughed.

Connor  was introduced to racing by his father, Patrick Wenners, as was his younger brother, Spencer Wenners, who regularly competes in the go kart category. Patrick Wenners works at Bath Iron Works.

While Connor has effectively been racing for over eight years, it is pretty clear this is just the beginning as he reckoned where he sees himself in 10 years.

“Racing,” said Connor. “Maybe in truck series, but that’s a lot of money. Maybe racing in a super late model.”

“Well, you know where you want to go to college, right?” said McKay.

“I want to go to college at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte,” said Connor.

“There’s a lot of racing there,” added McKay.

“Then definitely Oxford and Wiscasset,” continued Connor. “Maybe New Hampshire, too, because they do pro-stock races there.”

So what is it like being the mother of a young racer?

“I am a little immune to it at this point,” said McKay. “I cry and I pray a lot and invest a lot of money into safety equipment. It’s nerve-wracking, I guess.”

“We can get up to around 75 to 80 miles per hours,” said Connor.

“And that’s a number I don’t like to hear,” McKay said. “Luckily I don’t sit in the grandstands where they’re announcing that … I mean, he was driving stick at 10 years old which I figured was more than enough, but I guess not!”

Besides racing, Connor participates in other sports. He plays football and basketball as well as snowboarding in the winter. He has also been learning how to make his own car repairs when he is not behind the wheel.

“A lot of times during set up I have to be sitting in my car, so I don't do a lot, but I know how to do a lot of things. I change the oil, mount and change tires, I took the motor out a few weeks ago when it needed to be rebuilt, I can hang body panels and change shocks. I'm always with my dad when he's working on the car.”

When Connor, driver of the #4 car, is racing, he has only one thing on his mind: “It’s usually just ‘Go to the front, get to the front.’”