Aiden Greene,l 12, doesn't get pushed around on the mod truck racing circuit and has even landed sponsors. Submitted photo

From the asphalt to the dirt track, a young Maricopan making his mark on the Arizona racing scene will enter his first major circuit April 8-9 in the Lucas Oil Regional Off-Road Series at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park.

After spending the past few years setting records at the local K-1 Speed indoor go-kart track, 12-year-old Aiden Greene has said goodbye to indoor kart racing and stepped into another, more challenging series – mod trucks.

Bigger and faster than the typical go-kart, mod trucks are light-weight, high-power modified ATVs that resemble miniature off-road trucks. Aiden knew from the moment he saw the mod trucks running last year he wanted to be a part of this unique racing circuit.

Under the guidance of his father Paul, an avid racing enthusiast, Aiden took a liking to the sport. When Paul asked, “Do you think you could handle that, son?” Aiden jumped on the opportunity, and his dad began setting things in motion.

Paul Greene, who is also his son’s spotter, knows it’s typical for a father to boast about his son, but nonetheless he truly believes his son “is one heck of a driver.”

Breaking into the circuit wasn’t very difficult for Aiden. While racing at K-1, he held the fastest quarter-mile track time in Phoenix – 24.678 seconds, 16th fastest in the nation, Paul Greene said. Those track times were enough to catch the attention of a few meaningful parties and before they knew it, Aiden had a sponsor.

After attempting to purchase a truck on his own, Paul said he was approached by members of the Pinnacle Off-Road Motorsports team with a full sponsorship offer for Aiden. They put him in the driver’s seat of one of their own trucks, and covered him head to two in professional safety gear.

The safety gear alone costs nearly $10,000, not to mention the vehicle its self.

Despite recent attention, however, Aiden remains a modest and reserved young man, who plays soccer and enjoys school. And though he is almost never boastful off the track, Aiden said, when he’s on the track he can get competitive.

“When I was racing at K-1 some people thought that since I was so young they could push me off,” Aiden said. “But when they pushed me off I would just come up on their tail and hit them in a turn.”

The circuit Aiden joins this year is one of the most competitive in the youth off-road class, Greene said. The ages of his competitors range from 10 to 16 years. The idea of racing older drivers weighs little on Aiden’s mind. For him, age is relative. What matters most is the time behind the wheel.

“It’s about having seat time, what they call getting a feel for the car,” Aiden said. “You just practice and get to know the car so you can go out there and win, win, win.”

With almost four years of kart racing experience under his belt it may very well be his competitors who are worried.

This story appears in the April issue of InMaricopa.

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