Whit Albrecht, an eighth grader at the Spooner Middle School and seasoned drag racer, will be getting his certificate qualifying him as a basic certified technician for Arctic Cat this spring.
Whit, named after race-car legend, Whit Bazemore, who raced in Indianapolis in the 1990’s and won 20 National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) national event titles in nearly 20 years of driving, influenced his parents, Brian and CeCe, so much they named their son after him.
Spooner’s Whit was hooked early, having his first snowmobile ride when he was only a few months old, thanks to his mom and dad who have been snowmobile and ATV enthusiasts for years.
This family of five, two daughters and a son, moved from Janesville several years ago for the same reason many people do, the peace and quiet of the North Country. “Janesville is getting so big,” says Brian. “There’s more and more traffic every year.”
Brian was smitten with racing when he was just a kid and the money from his paper route went towards the purchase of his first snowmobile. He got a job at the local Arctic Cat dealership as soon as they would hire him, sweeping floors and taking out the trash. Now he has his Master Certification for snowmobiles, ATV’s and side by sides.
He’s the service manager of Wild River Sport and Marine in Trego and his son is following in his footsteps when it comes to machines.
The family has created their own race track on the lake ice where they live so Whit can practice his moves. He’s raced in the Junior Class for several years, acquiring points based not only on speed, but how well he reads the track and passes other racers.
At fourteen, Whit not only builds engines but can repair every part of the machines. Once he blew his engine and before he rebuilt it, he brought the parts to class and demonstrated what happened to it and what it would take to fix it. Which he proceeded to do and raced a few days later with it.
He’s raced in Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota and the family is planning on going to Canada next.
Mom CeCe is just as enthusiastic about snowmobiles and racing in general as the rest of the family and with his family’s full support, it looks like he’s got his career sewn up, no doubt topped with an electric green Arctic Cat bow.
Last Update: Apr 03, 2017 8:51 am CDT
